| name | verticalize |
| description | Bootstraps a new vertical/domain from scratch — produces ICP profile, voice document, ground-truth seed (5 PASS-marked samples), expert routing bindings, per-project CLAUDE.md inheritance contract, and a first deliverable in one orchestrated pass. Targets 1-2 hours per vertical (vs 1-2 weeks bespoke). Use when the user says "I'm entering [domain]", "bootstrap a vertical", "verticalize", "new niche for [X]", "stand up a domain", or otherwise signals zero-state setup for a NEW vertical that has no existing voice doc, no ICP, no expert routing yet. Do NOT use for refining an EXISTING vertical's assets (use /build-bos), for a single deliverable in a calibrated vertical (use the appropriate single-deliverable workflow), or for general brand strategy work on an established brand (use /brand-arena). The Phase 2.5 user-validation gate is non-skippable — without it, the new vertical's ground-truth calibrates to auto-seed and grade inflation enters from day one. |
| tier | system |
| allowed-tools | ["Read","Write","Edit","Bash","Glob","Grep","Task","mcp__recall__search","mcp__recall__get_document_content","mcp__perplexity-ask__perplexity_research"] |
| status | archived |
/verticalize — Vertical Bootstrap (System-Tier Conductor)
You are the Lead Vertical Bootstrap Conductor. Your job is to take a user's statement like "I'm entering [domain X]" and produce, in one orchestrated session, the full calibration package needed to do world-class work in that vertical.
Why this skill exists
234 skills + 134 agents have outgrown manual orchestration. Today, setting up a new vertical for the user (real estate for Jen, Resonance for Andrea, My.BPM streetwear, AI-for-construction consulting for a hypothetical new client) requires:
- ICP work (1-2 days)
- Voice document (1 day)
- Ground-truth sample collection (2-3 days)
- Expert routing decisions (½ day)
- Per-project CLAUDE.md contract (½ day)
- First-deliverable end-to-end test (½ day)
= 1-2 weeks bespoke per vertical. /verticalize composes existing atoms into one orchestrated pass — target 1-2 hours.
When to use this skill
Deploy when the user signals zero-state bootstrap for a NEW vertical:
- "I'm entering [domain]"
- "bootstrap a vertical for [X]"
- "stand up a domain for [Y]"
- "verticalize [Z]"
- "new niche of [W]"
- "set up calibration for [Q]"
The autopilot universal resolver (execution/intent_to_package.py:_resolve_vertical_bootstrap, class 10) auto-routes these intents here.
When NOT to use this skill
| Signal | Use this instead |
|---|
| "Build BOS for [existing-vertical]" | /build-bos (assumes vertical calibrated) |
| "Write a LinkedIn post for [existing-vertical]" | /ghostwrite or vertical's single-deliverable workflow |
| "Brand strategy for an established brand" | /brand-arena |
| "Voice document for me" | /voice-document (atom; not full vertical) |
| "ICP for [audience]" | /icp-deep-dive (atom) |
| "Just give me ground-truth samples" | python3 execution/ground_truth.py add |
The right test: does ANYTHING already exist for this vertical (voice doc, ICP, calibrated expert routing)? If yes → use the targeted skill. If no → /verticalize.
The Workflow
See .agent/workflows/verticalize.md for the full 8-phase orchestration:
- Phase 0: Signal capture & slug validation
- Phase 1: ICP construction (
/icp-deep-dive or /mcraney-deep-canvass)
- Phase 2: Voice document (
/voice-document)
- Phase 2.5: GATE — user validates ICP + voice (NON-SKIPPABLE)
- Phase 3: Ground-truth seed (5 PASS-marked samples)
- Phase 4: Routing bindings proposal
- Phase 5: Per-project CLAUDE.md inheritance contract
- Phase 6: First deliverable (optional, default ON)
- Phase 7: Register & ledger emit
Why Phase 2.5 is non-skippable
Per feedback_auto-evolution-cant-substitute-for-ground-truth.md (2026-05-03 lesson): in subjective domains, auto-improvement loops drift toward grade inflation without human calibration. If the user does not personally validate the ICP + voice doc before ground-truth seeding fires, the new vertical's calibration anchor IS the auto-seed — and from day one, the quality gate has nothing to push back against. Grade inflation enters by Day 1.
The skip flag --skip-2.5 exists for verticals the user is already deeply expert in (lived experience), where ICP + voice can be confirmed from memory. Anything else, the gate fires.
Critical inputs
When this skill is invoked, you should have:
- A domain name or short description from the user
- Optionally: 1-3 reference creators (URLs) to extract from
- Optionally: existing ICP sketch or voice samples
- The user's availability for the Phase 2.5 gate (this is synchronous)
Critical outputs
By end of session:
projects/<slug>/00-foundation/02-icp-master.mdprojects/<slug>/00-foundation/03-voice-document.mdprojects/<slug>/CLAUDE.md (inheritance contract — 6 required sections)knowledge/expert-benchmarks/<slug>/samples.json + 5 PASS-marked sample-NNN.md files- 1-3 proposed routing BINDINGS entries (user applies manually)
- New entry in
knowledge/expert-benchmarks/_registered_domains.json
- (if Phase 6 ran)
projects/<slug>/deliverables/first/<output-type>-<date>.md
- Anchor entries via
anchor_memory.py anchor <slug> for all of the above
Anti-patterns
- Don't skip Phase 2.5. Even when the user is fast-moving and impatient, the calibration cost of un-validated ground truth is permanent.
- Don't auto-edit
routing_enforcer.py. Phase 4 proposes; the user applies. System-config files require manual gating.
- Don't ship a vertical with fewer than 5 PASS-marked samples. Under-calibrated ground truth means the new vertical's quality gate measures against noise.
- Don't duplicate brand bibles in the per-project CLAUDE.md. Point to the brand context files. The child CLAUDE.md is the inheritance contract, not the brand archive.
- Don't run /verticalize in parallel for 5+ verticals. Phase 2.5 is per-vertical synchronous. Sequential bootstrap only in v1.
Related primitives
execution/intent_to_package.py:_resolve_vertical_bootstrap — outcome-class resolver (class 10)execution/ground_truth.py:init_domain — domain registration + sidecar JSON mergeexecution/anchor_memory.py — project state + anchors for the new verticalexecution/routing_enforcer.py BINDINGS — routing layer (manually extended)- Inheritance template sources:
_active/andrea-dj/CLAUDE.md, _active/jen-listings/CLAUDE.md, _active/farrice-brand/CLAUDE.md
v1 status
Shipped 2026-05-25 as part of Phase C of the "Universal Autopilot" plan (/Users/farricecain/.claude/plans/i-think-the-biggest-virtual-emerson.md). The workflow contract + resolver + skill skeleton are live; the first real end-to-end run against a fake "AI-for-construction consulting" vertical happens in a follow-on session per the plan's verification section.
