gh-symphony

name	gh-symphony
description	Design, refine, and validate repository WORKFLOW.md files for GitHub Symphony projects.
license	MIT
metadata	{"author":"gh-symphony","version":"1.0","generatedBy":"gh-symphony"}

/gh-symphony — WORKFLOW.md Design & Refinement

Trigger

Use this skill when you want to:

• Create a new WORKFLOW.md for a GitHub Symphony project
• Refine or improve an existing WORKFLOW.md
• Validate that a WORKFLOW.md is correctly structured

Prerequisites

• .gh-symphony/context.yaml must exist (contains GitHub Project metadata)
• .gh-symphony/reference-workflow.md must exist (annotated reference template)
• gh CLI must be authenticated

Mode Detection

Check if WORKFLOW.md exists in the current directory:

• Not found → enter Design Mode (create from scratch)
• Found → ask user: refine existing or validate only?
  • Refine → enter Refine Mode
  • Validate → enter Validate Mode

Design Mode

1. Read .gh-symphony/context.yaml to understand the project structure
2. Read .gh-symphony/reference-workflow.md as the annotated reference
3. Ask the user these key questions:
   • Which status columns should be active (agent works)?
   • Which should be wait (agent pauses for human)?
   • Which should be terminal (agent stops)?
   • What runtime is being used? (codex / claude-code / custom)
   • Any custom hooks needed? (after_create, before_run, etc.)
4. Generate WORKFLOW.md using the reference as a structural guide
5. Validate the generated file (see Validate Mode)

Refine Mode

1. Read the current WORKFLOW.md
2. Read .gh-symphony/reference-workflow.md for comparison
3. Identify missing or incomplete sections:
   • Status Map with role annotations
   • Default Posture / Agent Instructions
   • Guardrails section
   • Workpad Template
   • Step 0 routing logic
4. Propose improvements and apply with user confirmation
5. Validate the refined file

Validate Mode

Check the WORKFLOW.md for:

• Front matter is valid YAML
• Required fields are present (see Supported Front Matter Fields)
• Template variables use only supported names (see Supported Template Variables)
• Status Map matches the lifecycle configuration
• No unsupported double-brace variable patterns (only the 8 listed below are valid)

Supported Front Matter Fields

tracker:
  kind: github-project
  project_id: PVT_xxx
  state_field: Status
  active_states: [Todo, In Progress]
  terminal_states: [Done, Cancelled]
  blocker_check_states: [Blocked]
polling:
  interval_ms: 30000
workspace:
  root: .runtime/symphony-workspaces
hooks:
  after_create: |
    git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/owner/repo .
  before_run: null
  after_run: null
  before_remove: null
  timeout_ms: 60000
agent:
  max_concurrent_agents: 10
  max_retry_backoff_ms: 30000
  retry_base_delay_ms: 10000
  max_turns: 20
codex:
  command: codex app-server
  read_timeout_ms: 5000
  turn_timeout_ms: 3600000
  stall_timeout_ms: 300000

Supported Template Variables

Use these in the WORKFLOW.md prompt body (double-brace syntax):

Variable	Description
issue.identifier	e.g. acme/platform#42
issue.title	Issue title
issue.state	Current tracker state
issue.description	Issue body
issue.url	Issue URL
issue.repository	owner/name
issue.number	Issue number
attempt	Retry attempt number (null on first run)

Important: Only these 8 variables are supported. Using any other variable will cause a runtime error (strict mode validation).

Related Skills

• /gh-project — interact with GitHub Project v2 board (status transitions, workpad comments)
• /commit — produce clean, logical commits during implementation
• /push — keep remote branch current and publish updates
• /pull — sync branch with latest origin/main before handoff
• /land — merge approved PR and transition issue to Done