triage

name	triage
description	Classify task scope. Routes to trivial / standard / high-stakes lane. Auto-fires SessionStart with user task description. Output decides which downstream gates are mandatory vs optional.
triggers	{"natural":["triage task","classify task","which lane"],"code":["SessionStart"],"command":["/triage"]}
applicability	{"always":false,"triggers":{"auto_fire":["SessionStart with new user task"],"task_keywords":["I want to","let's","can you","implement","fix","add","refactor","migrate"]}}
relevance_assessment	Auto-fires on session start with task description. After triage, this skill becomes 0% — replaced by lane-specific skills.

Triage — Route to Workflow Lane

Classify task. Choose depth, not skip phases — choose lane.

Decision tree

Is task ≤5 lines code AND no behavior change?
├── Yes → Trivial lane
│         (skip Align/Brainstorm/Plan/Spec, lighter Verify, Stage 2 review only)
│
└── No → Touches ANY of:
    ├── System architecture or design pattern? → High-stakes
    ├── DB migration / schema change? → High-stakes
    ├── Auth / secrets / security boundary? → High-stakes
    ├── Public API contract? → High-stakes
    ├── Breaking change to existing behavior? → High-stakes
    ├── New external dependency (library, service)? → High-stakes
    │
    └── None above → Standard lane
        (full reasoning gates, normal execution, two-stage review)

Lane summary

Lane	Code change	Behavior change	New dep	Public API	Persistence	Skipped gates
Trivial	≤5 lines	No	No	No	No	Align, Brainstorm, Plan, Spec, Review S1
Standard	bounded	possible	No	No	minor	Brainstorm (if obvious solution)
High-stakes	any	yes	possible	possible	yes	none

Output template

## Triage decision

**Lane:** [Trivial | Standard | High-stakes]
**Reasoning:** [1-2 sentences]
**Next gate:** [What runs next]
**Skipped gates:** [What's intentionally skipped]
**Override:** State "treat as [lane]" to force.

User override

• "treat as high-stakes" → upgrade
• "treat as trivial, just do it" → downgrade (warn first; agent acknowledges)

Edge cases

Case	Default
Ambiguous task description	Standard + surface ambiguity for clarification
Multi-task request	Triage each sub-task; process highest-lane first
Hotfix under time pressure	High-stakes by default; user can downgrade with explicit ack
Exploratory / prototype	Standard (skip Spec, keep Plan)

Examples

Request	Lane	Why
"Fix typo in error message"	Trivial	1 line, no behavior change
"Add pagination to user API"	Standard	Feature, bounded scope
"Migrate from MySQL to TigerBeetle"	High-stakes	New tech, data layer
"Refactor PaymentService"	Standard	Bounded refactor
"Update Spring Boot 3.1 → 3.2"	High-stakes	New dep version, cluster impact
"Add Javadoc to method"	Trivial	No behavior change
"Fix slow query in OrderRepository"	Standard	Bounded perf fix
"Switch Redis → Hazelcast"	High-stakes	New dep, ops change
"Rename internal method"	Trivial	If not public API
"Add OAuth login"	High-stakes	Security boundary

Target: ≥9/10 on this set.

Integration

State file: .claude/memory/state/current-triage.json

{
  "lane": "standard",
  "task_description": "...",
  "timestamp": "ISO-8601",
  "reasoning": "...",
  "user_override": false
}

session-init.sh auto-invokes triage on fresh task. Downstream gates read TRIAGE_LANE env var or state file.

Related

• rules/common/lanes.md — lane definitions
• skills/preflight/SKILL.md — pre-flight artifact format per lane
• commands/triage.md — manual override