comment-prototype

name

comment-prototype

description

Make a small or exploratory change FAST and show it, so you can look before committing to the merge-ready gate. Implements quickly, runs only the repo's affected-test lane (or nothing for a pure visual tweak), and surfaces the result in the real app — deliberately skipping the `review-loop` gate and the PR. When you like it, it promotes the work into `comment-feature` / `comment-bug` to harden and ship. Invoke as `$comment-prototype` / `/comment-prototype`, or when asked to "just try", "quickly tweak", "spike", "prototype", or "let me see X first". Works identically under Codex and Claude Code.

comment-prototype — fast change, validate later

For the moments when you want to see it before paying for it: a few UI/copy tweaks, an exploratory spike, a "does this even feel right" change. comment-prototype optimizes for time-to-look, not for merge-readiness — it skips the heavy gate on purpose and hands you something to react to fast.

It is the lightweight prototype path of the comment-dev family. The merge-ready paths are comment-feature and comment-bug; this skill promotes into them once the change earns the investment.

What it deliberately skips (until you promote)

• ❌ the review-loop review gate
• ❌ opening a PR / driving to merge-ready (ship)
• ❌ the full worklog ceremony (plan, decision log, review rounds)

What it still does

• ✅ a task branch off fresh origin/main (so the work is promotable, never lost) — a sensible default is proto/<name>, or the repo's branch convention (see Repo config); never main.
• ✅ a lightweight worklog note so the change is watchable and the context survives into promotion (one short comm: what you're trying + a running list of what changed). Use the session-scoped ephemeral handle via comment-identity. For a genuinely throwaway visual check the user can say "no comm" and you skip it.
• ✅ the affected-test lane (typecheck/build + the tests nearest the change), or nothing for a pure visual tweak — see Repo config.
• ✅ showing the result in the real app, which is the whole point.

Loop

1. Scope it in one line. Confirm this really is a fast/exploratory change. If it's clearly a real feature or a defect that needs a regression test, say so and route to comment-feature / comment-bug instead (or via comment-dev).
2. Open the branch (default proto/<name> off fresh origin/main, or the repo's branch convention) and, unless the user opted out, a light worklog note via worklog + comment-identity.
3. Implement fast. Smallest change that makes the idea visible. Don't gold-plate.
4. Affected lane check (Repo config) — typecheck/build when useful + the nearest test, or skip entirely for a pure visual nudge. This catches "it doesn't even compile", not "it's production-ready".
5. Show it. Surface the change in the real app the repo's way (see Repo config / the guide): the branch preview (in this repo, make dev → https://<worktree>.toofs.us), a local run, or a screenshot (/verify, agent-browser, or the run skill). Capture what you showed in the worklog note if one exists.
6. Iterate with the human. Fold feedback in and re-show. Stay in this fast loop as long as it's still "trying things".
7. Decide: keep iterating, drop it (git-clean the branch), or promote.

Promote — make it real

When the human likes it, harden the same branch and worklog through the normal merge-ready flow. Hand the promoted skill the prototype's worklog share_url and branch; it reuses that worklog as the Project Root — upgrading the light note in place to the full shape — instead of opening a second, and keeps building on the branch:

• Feature → run comment-feature. It treats the handed-in prototype worklog as the root, plans (lightly, since code already exists), runs review-loop on the diff, runs the affected-test lane, writes the non-technical design, and **ship**s to merge-ready.
• Bug fix → run comment-bug: it reuses the worklog as the root, then adds the regression test that fails without the fix (a prototype skips this; a real fix must not), review-loop, affected tests, ship.

Promotion does not restart from scratch — the code, branch, worklog, and context carry over; it adds the rigor a prototype skipped. Rename the branch to the repo's feat/… / bug/… convention as part of promotion when the repo expects that prefix (see Repo config).

Repo config

Read AGENTS.md (else CLAUDE.md) and its linked docs/TESTING.md for the affected-test lane commands, and the guide's deploy/preview section for how to run/show the app (or the repo's run skill). Use the affected lane here and during promotion. If docs/TESTING.md is absent, infer a minimal typecheck/build from package.json / Makefile, and offer comment-init to scaffold the config.

Honesty

A prototype is not validated. Never describe it as done, tested, or merge-ready, and never open a PR or merge from this skill — say plainly "this is a prototype to look at; promote it to make it real."