playbook-template-authoring

name	playbook-template-authoring
description	Use only when explicitly authoring or revising reusable, repo-neutral playbook/template skills for deployment, infrastructure operations, data fetching/analysis, or library/API reference guidance. Do not use for normal E2E implementation, executing deployments, running infrastructure changes, one-off data analysis, or applying a library directly.
metadata	{"short-description":"Reusable playbook/template authoring","resources":["references/data-fetching-analysis-checklist.md","references/deployment-checklist.md","references/infrastructure-operations-checklist.md","references/library-api-cli-summary.md"],"templates":["templates/data-analysis-report-template.md","templates/deployment-report-template.md","templates/infrastructure-operations-report-template.md"]}

Purpose

Use this skill to create reusable playbook/template packages that other repositories can copy and specialize without embedding real secrets, production data, or org-specific endpoints.

This skill is for explicit template authoring, not for running the workflow described by a template and not for ordinary E2E software implementation.

When to use

Use this skill only when the requested output is a reusable skill, runbook template, checklist, report template, reference template, or canonical example for one of these modes:

• Deployment: CI/CD release playbooks with preflight, artifact integrity, smoke tests, staged rollout, verification, rollback triggers, and deployment reports.
• Infrastructure operations: day-2 ops runbooks with pre-check, dry-run, blast-radius controls, approval gates, phased apply, soak/cleanup, audit logs, and execution reports.
• Data fetching/analysis: repeatable analysis playbooks with scoped questions, source inventory, canonical keys, safe query patterns, limitations, and reproducibility notes.
• Library/API reference: reusable dependency references with version policy, setup/auth model, canonical commands/snippets, error handling, verification, and usage examples.

Do not use this skill for normal deploy requests, normal infrastructure operations, ordinary data analysis, ordinary library/API implementation tasks, or default-lane feature implementation unless the user is asking to author or revise the reusable template/playbook itself.

How to use

1. Pick exactly the mode(s) needed and keep the package focused.
2. Start from the preserved artifact closest to that mode:
   • Deployment: references/deployment-checklist.md, templates/deployment-report-template.md
   • Infrastructure operations: references/infrastructure-operations-checklist.md, templates/infrastructure-operations-report-template.md
   • Data fetching/analysis: references/data-fetching-analysis-checklist.md, templates/data-analysis-report-template.md
   • Library/API reference: references/library-api-cli-summary.md, examples/library-api-canonical-usage.md
3. Replace concrete systems, hosts, credentials, team names, tickets, and data values with placeholders.
4. Preserve mode-specific guardrails:
   • Deployment: no production/destructive rollout without explicit approval; no full rollout before smoke/canary verification; rollback criteria must be concrete.
   • Infrastructure operations: no apply before pre-check and dry-run; destructive actions require checkpoint approval; broad scope requires phased execution and soak.
   • Data fetching/analysis: no extraction before the question, source inventory, canonical keys, join assumptions, and secret-handling model are explicit.
   • Library/API reference: no guidance from unspecified versions; include canonical setup, success verification, and at least one failure/recovery path.
5. Add live-discovery placeholders where external tools/systems appear: current command/interface source, schema/config path, connection/auth state, version/status output, artifact/log path, and evidence captured.
6. Add gotchas in this format: concrete failure pattern, corrective action, and evidence that proves the correction.
7. Check the finished template is repo-neutral, copy-ready, and explicit about its expected outputs.

Output expectation

Return or create a reusable template package containing:

• A concise SKILL.md with narrow trigger wording and mode-specific workflow.
• Preserved or customized references, templates, and examples under references/, templates/, and examples/.
• A placeholder list or customization checklist.
• Explicit expected outputs, live-discovery evidence placeholders, approvals, and verification artifacts for the selected mode.
• Gotchas that prevent the common unsafe or non-reproducible failure modes for that mode.