How do I install the Get Ready skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add nhouseholder/get-ready 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 Get Ready 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 Get Ready?

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 Get Ready free to use?

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

Who published Get Ready?

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

Get Ready by nhouseholder — Agent Skill

Name: Get Ready
Author: nhouseholder

File contents

Get ready (`/get-ready`)

Session start. Read-only. Orient, then stop. Do not start the work until the summary is printed — unless the user's message already named work; still orient first, then continue into that work in the same turn.

Never write a handoff. Never invoke /wrap-up.

Hard gates

Stay in the current workspace (pwd / git root). All reads and later edits stay there.
Do not treat CURRENT_STATE.md as live decision memory. Prefer Engram standing decisions + recent handoffs/.
Do not git pull / rebase / checkout another branch. Cloud sessions sit on a working branch; fetching for comparison is fine, mutating HEAD is not.
A failed lookup is not a missing record. Prove the search can find something before reporting nothing.
Do not invent product rules. Point at AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md / the owning file.

1. Anchor

Project: [basename of git root]
Repo:    [origin remote, or "none"]
Branch:  [current]
HEAD:    [short sha + subject]
Path:    [workspace root]

2. Handoff

Find the newest file in this repo's handoffs/. Match whatever naming this repo already uses (YYYY-MM-DD_*.md, handoff_*.md, HANDOFF.md). Read that file fully.

No handoff → say "No previous handoff. First session or none committed." Skip to §3.

3. Standing decisions (≤5)

If Engram MCP is available: pull at most five standing decision / architecture / preference memories for the open topic (prefer topic_key hits from the handoff or the user's message).

If Engram is down or empty: say so and continue. Do not stall.

Do not save anything.

4. Git and todos

git status --short and whether this branch has unpushed commits (compare to its upstream if it has one — do not update it).
Version file if this repo has one (VERSION, package.json version, frontend/public/data/meta.json).
Open items from tasks/todo.md if present.

5. Present

GET READY
=========
Project: [name]  Branch: [branch]  HEAD: [sha] [subject]

PREVIOUS: [1–2 sentences from the handoff, or "none"]
PICKUP:   [in progress, or "clean"]
BLOCKED:  [blocked, or "none"]
DECISIONS:[≤5 topic_key lines, or "Engram unavailable / none"]
TODO:     [open count + top item, or "no tasks/todo.md"]

NEXT:
  1. [...]
  2. [...]
  3. [...]

Ready. If the user already named work, continue into it. Otherwise wait for the ask.

---name: get-readydescription: Session start, read-only. Orient from Engram standing decisions plus recent handoffs, git status, and open todos. Never write a handoff.---# Get ready (`/get-ready`)Session start. **Read-only.** Orient, then stop. Do not start the work until the summary is printed — unless the user's message already named work; still orient first, then continue into that work in the same turn.**Never write a handoff. Never invoke `/wrap-up`.**## Hard gates- Stay in the current workspace (`pwd` / git root). All reads and later edits stay there.- Do **not** treat `CURRENT_STATE.md` as live decision memory. Prefer Engram standing decisions + recent `handoffs/`.- Do **not** `git pull` / rebase / checkout another branch. Cloud sessions sit on a working branch; fetching for comparison is fine, mutating HEAD is not.- A failed lookup is not a missing record. Prove the search can find something before reporting nothing.- Do not invent product rules. Point at `AGENTS.md` / `CLAUDE.md` / the owning file.## 1. Anchor```Project: [basename of git root]Repo: [origin remote, or "none"]Branch: [current]HEAD: [short sha + subject]Path: [workspace root]```## 2. HandoffFind the newest file in this repo's `handoffs/`. Match whatever naming this repo already uses (`YYYY-MM-DD_*.md`, `handoff_*.md`, `HANDOFF.md`). Read that file fully.No handoff → say "No previous handoff. First session or none committed." Skip to §3.## 3. Standing decisions (≤5)If Engram MCP is available: pull at most **five** standing `decision` / `architecture` / `preference` memories for the **open topic** (prefer `topic_key` hits from the handoff or the user's message).If Engram is down or empty: say so and continue. Do not stall.Do not save anything.## 4. Git and todos- `git status --short` and whether this branch has unpushed commits (compare to its upstream if it has one — do not update it).- Version file if this repo has one (`VERSION`, `package.json` version, `frontend/public/data/meta.json`).- Open items from `tasks/todo.md` if present.## 5. Present```GET READY=========Project: [name] Branch: [branch] HEAD: [sha] [subject]PREVIOUS: [1–2 sentences from the handoff, or "none"]PICKUP: [in progress, or "clean"]BLOCKED: [blocked, or "none"]DECISIONS:[≤5 topic_key lines, or "Engram unavailable / none"]TODO: [open count + top item, or "no tasks/todo.md"]NEXT: 1. [...] 2. [...] 3. [...]```Ready. If the user already named work, continue into it. Otherwise wait for the ask.

Frequently asked questions

Get Ready