How do I install the Archive Cycle skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add engsimsoft/archive-cycle in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Archive Cycle safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Archive Cycle?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Archive Cycle free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Archive Cycle?

engsimsoft (@engsimsoft) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Archive Cycle by engsimsoft — Agent Skill

Name: Archive Cycle
Author: engsimsoft

Archive Cycle

Use this skill at the end of any TZ closure or series closure to archive completed work and keep specs/ + docs/agent/ from bloating over a 1-2 year project. Trigger automatically when closing series, archiving 30+-day-old TZs, or when changelog exceeds 1000 lines. Critical for projects with 100+ TZ over years.

engsimsoft f23aee7 3.2 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

Archive-cycle workflow

Long-running projects (100+ ТЗ, 1-2 years) require active archival. Without it specs/ and docs/agent/04_changelog.md become unsearchable swamps. This skill is invoked automatically by lifecycle-cron hook (1×day) and manually during /close-series.

What gets archived

1. Closed ТЗ folders (>30 days, has CHANGELOG.md with closure marker)

Move specs/<series>/<TZ_N>/ → specs/<series>/_archive/<TZ_N>/
Series stays open; only individual closed ТЗ archive to series-local archive

2. Closed series

After /close-series passes DoD: move whole specs/<series>/ → specs/_archive/<series>/
Final commit references series — git log preserves the closure

3. CHANGELOG quarter blocks

When docs/agent/04_changelog.md exceeds 1000 lines, lifecycle-cron splits:
- Keeps last 100 lines inline
- Older content → docs/agent/changelog-archive/before-<YYYY>Q<N>.md
Quarter naming preserves chronological searchability

4. ADRs — never archived, but indexed

ADR files stay in docs/agent/decisions/ permanently
INDEX.md (auto-generated by post-tool-edit hook) is the lookup mechanism
Superseded ADRs get Status: Superseded by ADR-NNNN but file stays

5. Postmortems — never archived

Major incidents must remain searchable forever
File 08_postmortems.md may grow but it's high-signal content

6. Checkpoint history (>7 days)

.claude-data/checkpoint-history/*.md older than 7 days deleted by lifecycle-cron
Audit trail purpose only; recent ones (last week) kept for forensic debugging

What does NOT get archived

docs/agent/00_current_state.md — single snapshot file, always current
docs/agent/01_architecture.md — single document, evolves in place
docs/agent/05_module_map.md — single map, regenerated as code changes
docs/agent/decisions/INDEX.md — auto-generated, regenerated on every ADR change
CLAUDE.md — ≤80 lines, never grows

Triggers

Automatic (via lifecycle-cron hook, 1×day from SessionStart)

ТЗ folders older than 30 days with closure marker → series-local _archive/
Changelog over 1000 lines → quarter-block archive
Checkpoint history > 7 days → delete

Manual (via slash commands)

/close-tz — moves current ТЗ to local archive immediately if closed
/close-series — verifies DoD then moves whole series to specs/_archive/

What to do if you see series with 16+ ТЗ

Series HARD LIMIT is 15 ТЗ (R from methodology). User got warned at SessionStart.
Split: close current series, start new series for remaining work
Do NOT just keep adding — that's how Simply v1 hit 100+ ТЗ in one infinite series

Anti-patterns

✗ Delete files (always move to archive, never rm)
✗ Archive ADRs (never archive — INDEX.md is the navigation)
✗ Skip archival because "we'll do it later" (lifecycle-cron does it for you)

---name: archive-cycledescription: Use this skill at the end of any TZ closure or series closure to archive completed work and keep specs/ + docs/agent/ from bloating over a 1-2 year project. Trigger automatically when closing series, archiving 30+-day-old TZs, or when changelog exceeds 1000 lines. Critical for projects with 100+ TZ over years.---# Archive-cycle workflowLong-running projects (100+ ТЗ, 1-2 years) require active archival. Without it `specs/` and `docs/agent/04_changelog.md` become unsearchable swamps. This skill is invoked automatically by lifecycle-cron hook (1×day) and manually during /close-series.## What gets archived### 1. Closed ТЗ folders (>30 days, has CHANGELOG.md with closure marker)- Move `specs/<series>/<TZ_N>/` → `specs/<series>/_archive/<TZ_N>/`- Series stays open; only individual closed ТЗ archive to series-local archive### 2. Closed series- After /close-series passes DoD: move whole `specs/<series>/` → `specs/_archive/<series>/`- Final commit references series — git log preserves the closure### 3. CHANGELOG quarter blocks- When `docs/agent/04_changelog.md` exceeds 1000 lines, lifecycle-cron splits: - Keeps last 100 lines inline - Older content → `docs/agent/changelog-archive/before-<YYYY>Q<N>.md`- Quarter naming preserves chronological searchability### 4. ADRs — never archived, but indexed- ADR files stay in `docs/agent/decisions/` permanently- INDEX.md (auto-generated by post-tool-edit hook) is the lookup mechanism- Superseded ADRs get `Status: Superseded by ADR-NNNN` but file stays### 5. Postmortems — never archived- Major incidents must remain searchable forever- File `08_postmortems.md` may grow but it's high-signal content### 6. Checkpoint history (>7 days)- `.claude-data/checkpoint-history/*.md` older than 7 days deleted by lifecycle-cron- Audit trail purpose only; recent ones (last week) kept for forensic debugging## What does NOT get archived- `docs/agent/00_current_state.md` — single snapshot file, always current- `docs/agent/01_architecture.md` — single document, evolves in place- `docs/agent/05_module_map.md` — single map, regenerated as code changes- `docs/agent/decisions/INDEX.md` — auto-generated, regenerated on every ADR change- `CLAUDE.md` — ≤80 lines, never grows## Triggers### Automatic (via lifecycle-cron hook, 1×day from SessionStart)- ТЗ folders older than 30 days with closure marker → series-local _archive/- Changelog over 1000 lines → quarter-block archive- Checkpoint history > 7 days → delete### Manual (via slash commands)- `/close-tz` — moves current ТЗ to local archive immediately if closed- `/close-series` — verifies DoD then moves whole series to specs/_archive/## What to do if you see series with 16+ ТЗ- Series HARD LIMIT is 15 ТЗ (R from methodology). User got warned at SessionStart.- Split: close current series, start new series for remaining work- Do NOT just keep adding — that's how Simply v1 hit 100+ ТЗ in one infinite series## Anti-patterns- ✗ Delete files (always move to archive, never rm)- ✗ Archive ADRs (never archive — INDEX.md is the navigation)- ✗ Skip archival because "we'll do it later" (lifecycle-cron does it for you)

Frequently asked questions