Docs Project Lifecycle Statuses

Docs Project Lifecycle Statuses

Custom skill created by Maggie Lerman.

Apply post-scaffold lifecycle retrofits for repositories that already have standardized docs governance (DOCS/, docs/, or documentation/ with PROJECTS/) but are missing in-review and blocked.

Deprecation plan: once all active repositories have been migrated and product-operating-system-scaffold adoption is universal, retire this skill.

Path matching rule: treat folder/file names case-insensitively while preserving the repository's actual casing in written output.

Workflow

1. Run the lifecycle extension script from the target repository root:

python <skill_dir>/scripts/apply_lifecycle_extension.py --repo .

2. Confirm these folders now exist under the docs root:

• PROJECTS/in-review/
• PROJECTS/blocked/

3. Confirm lifecycle guidance was updated in the primary instruction files:

• AGENTS.md
• <docs_root>/README.md
• <docs_root>/index.md
• <docs_root>/PROJECTS/README.md
• README.md (when present)

4. Confirm optional instruction-file updates when these files exist:

• .github/copilot-instructions.md
• CLAUDE.md
• .cursor/rules/*
• root-level llms*.txt|md instruction files (do not edit application route source files)

5. Rebuild docs manifest when available:

node scripts/docs/manifest.mjs <docs_root>

Lifecycle Rules

• Start each new project doc in PROJECTS/active/ with status: active.
• Move a project to PROJECTS/in-review/ with status: in-review after end-to-end execution is complete but before user walkthrough/sign-off.
• Keep in-review projects parked while continuing autonomous execution from backlog/paused work.
• Move a project to PROJECTS/blocked/ with status: blocked when progress depends on user decision, permission, access, or missing input.
• For blocked transitions, add a checkpoint entry that states:
  • blocker detail
  • who/what is needed to unblock
  • next checkpoint target after unblock
• Move to PROJECTS/completed/ only after collaborative review/sign-off.
• Keep checkpoint formatting unchanged and always generate timestamps via node scripts/docs/timestamp-et.mjs --json.

Resources

• Policy details: references/lifecycle-policy.md
• Deterministic updater: scripts/apply_lifecycle_extension.py