Positioning

Pack Availability Guard

Before telling the user to run a skill from another project-local pack, check .agents/project.json.enabled_packs. If the target pack is not enabled, recommend $pack install <pack> instead of the target skill. Global skills are always valid. Skills from this same pack are valid because the current skill is already running from that pack.

Positioning — Orchestrator

Invoke as $positioning.

This is an orchestrator skill using the parent router delegation pattern. It detects context, recommends applicable positioning frameworks, and synthesizes their outputs. Individual frameworks live as child skills under frameworks/.

Report-First Approval Gate

Default to report-only: present findings, evidence coverage, assumptions, recommended artifact path, and proposed file changes in a pre-approval alignment page plus a concise conversation summary for user approval before creating or updating canonical research, spec, or task files.

Do not write or overwrite synthesized deliverables until the user explicitly approves, unless the user invoked an explicit write/update/fix mode or clearly asked to write files upfront.

When stopping for approval, build and attempt to open the alignment preview page first, then ask the user to review it and approve, question, or request adjustments. Do not include Recommended next skill, Recommended next command, or downstream routing language. The approval request itself is the next action. Only emit next-skill routing after the approved artifact has been written or updated.

Default stance: assume the user has no insider knowledge of the market. The positioning recommendation must stand on research, customer evidence, and codebase reality before asking for user input.

Evidence And Feedback Handling

Treat user feedback as input to evaluate, not as automatic ground truth.

• For factual, evidentiary, technical, or source-backed claims: verify against available evidence. If the user appears to misunderstand the evidence or states something factually incorrect, push back clearly and cite the evidence. Do not rewrite findings merely to agree.
• For taste, brand, positioning preference, risk appetite, prioritization, or other subjective judgment calls: weigh user feedback heavily and adapt the recommendation unless it conflicts with verified evidence.
• When feedback mixes facts and preference, separate them explicitly: correct the factual part, then incorporate the preference where it is a legitimate judgment call.
• When uncertain, say what is known, what is inferred, and what would change the conclusion.

Prerequisites

• Hard: research/icp.md (or research/{slug}/icp.md) must exist. If not, tell the user to run $icp first and stop.
• Hard: research/competitive-analysis.md (or research/{slug}/competitive-analysis.md) must exist. If not, tell the user to run $competitive-analysis first and stop.
• Strong default: research/journey-map.md should exist before writing canonical positioning. If missing, recommend $journey-map first unless the user explicitly needs a provisional positioning analysis.
• Soft: Read these if they exist:
  • research/journey-map.md
  • research/customer-feedback.md
  • research/monetization.md

Operational Modes

Mode A: Framework Selection (default first invocation)

Activated by: $positioning or $positioning [focus area] (no special flags).

Mode B: Synthesis

Activated by: $positioning --synthesize

Mode C: Product-Positioning Shortcut

Activated by: $positioning product or $positioning post-launch or $positioning obviously-awesome

Process

0. Product-Path Scope Resolution

Resolve research scope by product path before using code or app structure as a hint:

1. If $ARGUMENTS names a non-archived research/{slug}/ directory or a product-path ID whose scope_path points there, use that path.
2. If $ARGUMENTS names only research/_archive/{slug}/ or a manifest entry with status: archived, stop and warn.
3. Read research/.progress.yaml when present. Normalize legacy fields.
4. If active product paths exist in the manifest, use those paths. Ask if multiple.
5. If no active manifest target exists, list non-archived product directories under research/.
6. If no product directories exist, use flat research/ single-product mode.
7. Detect monorepo/app/package structure only as a secondary hint.

When product path {slug} is active, read and write research under research/{slug}/.

1. Mode Detection

Detect market-positioning mode (default) or product-positioning mode:

Market-positioning mode activates when:

• No research/customer-feedback.md with post-launch customer evidence, AND
• No production codebase with live users detected, AND
• $ARGUMENTS does not contain "product", "post-launch", or "obviously-awesome"

Available frameworks in market mode:

• jtbd-positioning — Jobs-to-be-Done positioning analysis
• strategic-canvas — Blue Ocean strategic canvas
• moore-positioning — Geoffrey Moore positioning hypothesis
• category-design — Play Bigger category creation

Product-positioning mode activates when:

• research/customer-feedback.md exists with real customer data, OR
• $ARGUMENTS contains "product", "post-launch", or "obviously-awesome", OR
• Production spec exists AND customer feedback references real users

Available frameworks in product mode:

• obviously-awesome — April Dunford (requires real customer evidence)
• strategic-canvas — optionally, for category refresh

2. Load Context

• Read research/icp.md, research/competitive-analysis.md
• Read soft prerequisites if they exist
• Read CLAUDE.md, README for product context
• Read any existing research/positioning-*.md intermediate artifacts

3. Mode A — Framework Selection

Build an alignment page with:

1. Mode explanation: which mode was detected and why
2. Available evidence summary
3. Multi-select framework section: checkboxes with pre-checked defaults:
   • Market mode: jtbd-positioning + strategic-canvas + moore-positioning pre-checked; category-design unchecked
   • Product mode: obviously-awesome pre-checked; strategic-canvas unchecked
4. Execution plan: selected frameworks written to tasks/todo.md for sequential $exec execution
5. Approval gate

After user approval (compiled YAML with selected_frameworks list):

Write selected frameworks as sequential steps in tasks/todo.md:

## Positioning Framework Execution

- [ ] Run `$positioning/frameworks/jtbd-positioning` — JTBD analysis
- [ ] Run `$positioning/frameworks/strategic-canvas` — Blue Ocean gap analysis
- [ ] Run `$positioning/frameworks/moore-positioning` — Positioning hypothesis
- [ ] Synthesize: `$positioning --synthesize` — Combine framework outputs into research/positioning.md

Only include selected frameworks. Always append synthesis step last. Stop after writing.

4. Mode B — Synthesis ($positioning --synthesize)

Read all intermediate framework outputs (research/positioning-*.md). At least one must exist.

Synthesize into unified research/positioning.md:

Market-positioning synthesis: combined hypothesis, Moore template filled with cross-framework evidence, evidence matrix, confidence levels, validation plan. Header: > Mode: Market Positioning (hypothesized, pre-product)

Product-positioning synthesis: positioning statement from Obviously Awesome, customer-grounded evidence matrix, confidence levels. Header: > Mode: Product Positioning (customer-grounded)

Build alignment page for synthesis approval. After approval: write research/positioning.md, emit next-step routing.

5. Mode C — Product-Positioning Shortcut

Skip multi-select. Write to tasks/todo.md:

## Positioning Framework Execution

- [ ] Run `$positioning/frameworks/obviously-awesome` — April Dunford positioning
- [ ] Synthesize: `$positioning --synthesize` — Write research/positioning.md

Stop — user runs $exec.

6. Next Steps (after synthesis only)

• ALWAYS: check for product-design pack → recommend $ux-variations
• IF no journey-map: check for customer-lifecycle pack → recommend $journey-map
• IF solution-customer fit weak/disputed: $value-prop-canvas
• IF business-model risks: $lean-canvas
• IF no GTM: check for business-growth pack → recommend $gtm
• IF GTM exists: recommend $gtm refresh
• IF no monetization: check for business-growth pack → recommend $monetization
• IF codebase exists: check for business-ops pack → recommend $mvp-gap

7. Downstream Impact Check (after synthesis write)

Check research/gtm.md. Classify impact as None/Minor/Major per standard pattern.

Optional Research Trigger Map

These detours are conditional framework owners, not required AFPS chain links.

Output

Mode A: tasks/todo.md update (framework execution steps)

Mode B: research/positioning.md (unified synthesis — see claude variant for full template)

Mode C: tasks/todo.md update (obviously-awesome + synthesis)

Task Classification

When this skill produces follow-up work, file it by execution semantics:

• Immediately actionable work goes in tasks/todo.md.
• Human-only external actions go in tasks/manual-todo.md.
• Condition-gated records go in tasks/record-todo.md.
• Cadence-based reviews go in tasks/recurring-todo.md.

Constraints

• Requires ICP + competitive analysis.
• Customer-grounded. Every decision connects to real evidence.
• Mode detection is evidence-based. Do not override without user confirmation.
• Parent does not execute frameworks. It selects and queues them. $exec handles execution.
• Synthesis requires at least one framework output.
• Do not overwrite existing research/positioning.md without asking first.

Alignment Page

When this skill produces durable deliverables, build a full-depth HTML alignment page following ALIGNMENT-PAGE.md in this skill's directory. Output: alignment/positioning-{topic}.html.

Default Shipping Contract

Follow the shared shipping contract convention in CLAUDE.md.