project-menu

name	project-menu
description	Project lifecycle menu. Start projects, manage them, archive them. Context-aware. Usage: /project-menu

project-menu

The project lifecycle entry point. Behavior depends on where Robert invokes it.

Execution Ownership

Relay executes this skill directly. Do NOT forward to Captain or Scribe for UI rendering.

• Relay handles: All Discord UI — buttons, modals, select menus, component interactions
• Scribe handles: Backend work — file creation, tracking updates, archiving — dispatched via sessions_spawn

If Relay forwards this skill instead of executing it, no interactive UI will render. Relay is the only agent with Discord component access.

Invoke

/project-menu              — context-aware (detects DM, project channel, or archived channel)
/project-menu <name>       — skip topic detection, go straight to project creation for <name>

When invoked with a name argument:

• Skip Step 1 (chat scanning) and Step 2 (topic suggestions)
• Use the provided name as the project name
• Go directly to Step 3's goal modal pre-filled with the name

Context Detection

When /project-menu is invoked, detect where Robert is:

1. Read shared-config.json

cat /home/node/.openclaw/shared-config.json

Get categories.projects and categories.archives IDs.

2. Determine current channel context

Use channel-info on the current channel to get its parentId (category).

• Channel is in Projects category → Show PROJECT MENU
• Channel is in Archives category → Show REACTIVATE PROMPT
• Channel is a DM or any other channel → Show NEW PROJECT FLOW

---

Flow A: NEW PROJECT (DM or non-project channel)

Step 1: Scan recent chat

Read the last 50 messages in the current channel using readMessages.

Analyze the conversation for distinct topics, problems, or project ideas being discussed.

Step 2: Present topic suggestions

Post a message with buttons for each detected topic (max 4), plus "Something else":

{
  "components": {
    "text": "Looks like you've been discussing a few things. Start a project?",
    "blocks": [{
      "type": "actions",
      "buttons": [
        { "label": "<Topic 1 - short>", "style": "primary" },
        { "label": "<Topic 2 - short>", "style": "secondary" },
        { "label": "Something else", "style": "secondary" }
      ]
    }]
  }
}

If chat history is empty or unclear:

{
  "components": {
    "text": "What do you want to build?",
    "modal": {
      "title": "New Project",
      "triggerLabel": "Describe it",
      "triggerStyle": "primary",
      "fields": [
        { "type": "text", "name": "name", "label": "Project name (short, lowercase, hyphens)", "required": true },
        { "type": "text", "name": "goal", "label": "What should it do when it's done?",     
                   
      
    
  

Step 3: On topic selection

When Robert clicks a topic button, open a modal to refine:

{
  "components": {
    "text": "Good choice. Let me get a few details.",
    "modal": {
      "title": "Project: <topic>",
      "triggerLabel": "Fill in details",
      "triggerStyle": "primary",
      "fields": [
        { "type": "text", "name": "name", "label": "Channel name (short, lowercase, hyphens)", "required": true },
        { "type": "text", "name": "goal", "label": "What does done look like?"     
      
    
  

Step 4: Create the project

Using the modal response:

a. Create Discord channel in Projects category: Use channel-create with:

• guildId: from shared-config
• parentId: categories.projects from shared-config
• name: from modal
• type: 0 (text)

b. Initialize tracking files — dispatch to Scribe via sessions_spawn:

{
  "tool": "sessions_spawn",
  "params": {
    "task": "Initialize project tracking for <name>. Goal: <goal from modal>. Create decisions/<name>.md and projects/<name>.md in workspace.",
    "agentId": "spec-projects",
    "label": "project-menu:init"
  }
}

c. Post initial scope card in the new channel:

{
  "components": {
    "text": "**Project: <name>**\n\n**Goal:** <goal>\n\n**Features:**\n✅ Approved: (none yet)\n🤔 Considering: (none yet)\n🚫 Won't work: (none yet)\n📌 Later: (none yet)\n\nLet me ask a few questions to build the scope.",
    "blocks": [{
      "type": "actions",
      "buttons": [
        { "label": "Looks good, start planning", "style": "success" },
        { "label": "I want to add more context", "style": "secondary" }
      ]
    }]
  }
}

d. Ask scoping questions — based on the goal, ask 2-3 targeted questions using buttons or modals. Focus on:

• What is the minimum viable version?
• Are there things this should NOT do?
• Any deadline or budget constraint?

e. Update scope card with answers, categorizing features into the four tiers.

f. Tell Robert where to go: "Head to # to start working. Type /project-menu there anytime to see your options."

---

Flow B: PROJECT MENU (in an active project channel)

Post a select menu with all project management options:

{
  "components": {
    "text": "**#<channel-name>** — What do you need?",
    "blocks": [{
      "type": "actions",
      "select": {
        "type": "string",
        "placeholder": "Pick an action",
        "options": [
          { "label": "Project Status", "value": "status", "description": "Health check — decisions, tasks, progress" },
          { "label": "Start Planning", "value": "plan-create", "description": "Build a phased execution plan" 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
        
      
    
  

On selection — Relay UI + Scribe backend via sessions_spawn:

Selection	Relay (UI)	Scribe (backend via sessions_spawn)
status	Display formatted result	task: "Get project status for #<channel>", label: "project-menu:status"
plan-create	Display plan card with approve/modify buttons	task: "Create phased plan for #<channel>. Topic: <topic>", label: "project-menu:plan"
task-add	Show task modal, collect input	task: "Add task '<title>' assigned to <assignee> in #<channel>", label: "project-menu:task-add"
decide	Show decision modal, collect input	task: "Log decision in #<channel>: <text>, status: <status>", label: "project-menu:decide"
decisions	Display formatted decision board	task: "Get decision board for #<channel>", label: "project-menu:decisions"
context-audit	Display audit results	task: "Run context/token audit for #<channel>", label: "project-menu:context-audit"
archive	Show archive confirmation buttons	On confirm: task: "Archive project #<channel>", label: "project-menu:archive"

All sessions_spawn calls use agentId: "spec-projects".

Task modal:

Before rendering, query skill-router.sh list for the current agent roster to populate the assignee dropdown dynamically. Exclude Relay from assignee options (Relay is UI-only, not a task executor).

Fall back to the static list below if the router is unavailable:

{
  "components": {
    "modal": {
      "title": "Add Task",
      "triggerLabel": "Add",
      "fields": [
        { "type": "text", "name": "title", "label": "What needs to be done?", "required": true },
        { "type": "select", "label": "Assign to", "options": [
          { "label": "Unassigned", "value": "none" },
               
               
               
        
      
    
  

The static list is a fallback only. Always prefer the dynamic roster.

Decision modal:

{
  "components": {
    "modal": {
      "title": "Log Decision",
      "triggerLabel": "Log",
      "fields": [
        { "type": "text", "name": "text", "label": "What was decided?", "required": true, "style": "paragraph" },
        { "type": "select", "label": "Status", "options": [
          { "label": "Done - decided and implemented",   
               
               
               
        
      
    
  

Archive confirmation:

{
  "components": {
    "text": "Archive **#<channel-name>**?\n\nThis will:\n- Pin the final decision board\n- Move channel to Archive\n- Set channel read-only\n- Close the session (data kept for reactivation)",
    "blocks": [{
      "type": "actions",
      "buttons": [
        { "label": "Archive - Complete", "style": "success" },
        { "label": "Archive - Partial", "style": "secondary" },
        { "label": "Cancel", "style": "danger" }
      ]
    }]
  }
}

On "Archive - Complete" or "Archive - Partial": dispatch to Scribe's archive skill.

After archive completes:

• Close the session (do NOT delete — keep data for reactivation)
• Confirm in the channel with a final message

---

Flow C: REACTIVATE (in an archived channel)

This flow triggers when Robert sends ANY message in a channel that's in the Archives category. Relay should check the channel's category before processing any message.

{
  "components": {
    "text": "This project is archived. Want to reactivate it?",
    "blocks": [{
      "type": "actions",
      "buttons": [
        { "label": "Yes, reactivate", "style": "success" },
        { "label": "No, just browsing", "style": "secondary" }
      ]
    }]
  }
}

On "Yes, reactivate":

a. Move channel back to Projects category: Use channel-edit to set parentId to categories.projects from shared-config.

b. Remove read-only permission override (re-enable SEND_MESSAGES for @everyone).

c. Reopen/create session for the channel.

d. Read the pinned decision board and any project file to restore context.

e. Post welcome-back message:

{
  "components": {
    "text": "**#<channel-name>** is active again.\n\nHere's where we left off:\n<summary of last decision board state>\n\nType /plan to see your options.",
    "blocks": [{
      "type": "actions",
      "buttons": [
        { "label": "Continue where I left off", "style": "primary" },
        { "label": "Start fresh", "style": "secondary" }
      ]
    }]
  }
}

On "No, just browsing":

Reply with a simple text message: "No problem. The history is all here. Type /project-menu if you change your mind."

Do not create a session. Do not process further messages as tasks.

---

Proactive Archive Suggestion

Trigger this when either condition is met:

• Scribe reports ALL tasks done AND ALL decisions resolved for a project channel
• Any sessions_spawn result from Scribe contains "all tasks complete" or equivalent

When triggered, proactively suggest archiving:

{
  "components": {
    "text": "All tasks complete in **#<channel-name>**! Ready to archive?",
    "blocks": [{
      "type": "actions",
      "buttons": [
        { "label": "Archive - Complete", "style": "success" },
        { "label": "Not yet, more to do", "style": "secondary" }
      ]
    }]
  }
}

---

Dispatch Pattern

Relay dispatches backend tasks to Scribe via sessions_spawn. Skip Captain for /project-menu actions to save tokens.

{
  "tool": "sessions_spawn",
  "params": {
    "task": "<descriptive task for Scribe>",
    "agentId": "spec-projects",
    "label": "project-menu:<action>"
  }
}

Relay handles ALL Discord UI rendering. Scribe never renders components.

Error Handling

Scenario	Relay Action
shared-config.json missing or unreadable	Inform Robert: "Config file missing — can't detect channel context." Offer button: "Notify Captain"
Channel creation fails	Show error with buttons: "Retry" / "Use different name"
Scribe sessions_spawn fails or times out	Show warning: "Backend task didn't complete." Buttons: "Retry" / "Skip"
Robert abandons mid-flow (no response)	Do NOT continue prompting. Start fresh on next /project-menu invocation
Permission error (bot lacks Discord permissions)	Tell Robert which permission is needed (e.g., "Bot needs Manage Channels in the Projects category")

Rules

• /project-menu is the ONLY project command Robert needs to know
• Always use Discord components (buttons, selects, modals) — never plain text menus
• Detect context first — never ask Robert where he is
• Skip Captain routing for /project-menu dispatches — Relay talks to Scribe directly
• Keep the select menu options to 7 or fewer — cognitive overload defeats the purpose
• After every action, remind Robert: "Type /project-menu for more options" (but not annoyingly)
• On archive: CLOSE session, do NOT delete. Keep data for reactivation.
• On reactivate: restore context from pinned decisions + project file, do not start blank

Intent: Responsive [I04]. Purpose: [P-TBD].