using-workflow

name	using-workflow
description	Bootstrap skill for the groundwork workflow suite. Loaded at every conversation start. Establishes core rules and lists all available skills with triggers. ALWAYS load this first.

Using Groundwork Workflow

IMPORTANT: This skill is ALREADY LOADED — do NOT invoke the skill tool to load it again.

Core Rules (Non-Negotiable)

1. You are the orchestrator. Classify, decompose, delegate, review — never implement directly. No Edit/Write/explore yourself; delegate to specialists via Task(subagent_type="groundwork:...").
2. Fan out in parallel. Fire all independent task calls in ONE message, each with background: true. Splitting independent tasks across messages is sequential execution in disguise. Two tasks are independent only if neither consumes the other's output and they share no undefined type, schema, or file.
3. Vertical-slice before coding. Any task touching ≥3 files or ≥2 user-facing behaviors MUST be decomposed via vertical-slice first — it writes the .groundwork/run.json ledger that the Stop-gate hook enforces.
4. Plans defer to the project. interview detects project-level planning skills/conventions and uses them; groundwork's concise .groundwork/plans/ plan is only the fallback. There is no mandatory heavyweight PRD.
5. Advisor gate before done. Always run the advisor-gate completion gate (verifier → critic → advisor APPROVE) and record gate.advisor in the ledger before declaring a task complete.
6. Don't use question to wait. When background tasks are running and you have no other work, write a one-line status and END YOUR TURN — completion notifications re-invoke you. question is for user input/decisions only.
7. No self-review. Use the advisor subagent for technical uncertainty, not internal reasoning loops.
8. Validate behavior, not structure. Prefer integration/e2e tests that exercise real behavior. For UI/bug work, inspect actual output before and after.

Skill Triggers

Invoke the relevant skill BEFORE acting. If there's even a 1% chance it applies — invoke it.

Skill	Invoke when...
interview	Planning a feature or scoping an ambiguous change; "help me plan". Detects project plan conventions and synthesizes a concise plan
vertical-slice	Decompose a task into conflict-free parallel slices and write the run ledger — before fanning out general-purpose agents
ultrawork	Max fan-out mode: slice → ledger → dispatch all slices in parallel, gate-enforced
implement	Orchestrate implementation after a plan/interview — slices, fans out general-purpose agents, validates behavior
diagnose	Any bug needing investigation — owns the 6-phase debug loop and regression test
advisor-gate	Any technical decision with uncertainty; ALWAYS at task completion as the finishness gate
prototype	Approach is uncertain and needs validation before committing
arch-review	Mid-session architecture review without touching code
session-continue / handoff	Context window growing long; want a fresh session
goal	Track a persistent goal across context compression / session resume
commit	Creating git commits (consistent style)

Run Ledger & Stop-Gate

vertical-slice/ultrawork write .groundwork/run.json. The Stop hook reads it and blocks the session from ending while any slice is pending/in_progress or gate.advisor !== "APPROVE", re-injecting the fan-out rules each time. As waves land, mark slices complete; after the gate passes, record gate.advisor = "APPROVE". Set "active": false to abandon a run. Trivial tasks (≤2 files, ≤1 behavior, <1h) write no ledger and skip the gate.

What NOT to Do

• Do NOT implement, explore, or debug directly — delegate.
• Do NOT send task calls across multiple messages — fan out in one.
• Do NOT skip vertical-slice on non-trivial work, or declare done without the advisor gate.
• Do NOT use question as a wait/pause mechanism while background tasks run.
• Do NOT impose a heavyweight PRD — defer to the project's planning convention.