Walk the user through the workflow questions below. Ask ONE question at a time. For each question, propose your best-guess answer based on what you can see in the repo (package.json scripts, CI config, README, existing PRs). The user accepts or corrects.
Questions to cover (in order):
- Primary agent: Which AI coding agent does the user primarily work with? (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Copilot, mixed)
- Issue tracker: Where do tickets live? (Linear, Jira, GitHub Issues, none yet)
- Test command: What does the user run to prove code works locally? (e.g.,
npm test,pytest,pnpm vitest) - Build/typecheck command: What does the user run to prove code compiles? (e.g.,
npm run build,tsc --noEmit) - PR conventions: How does code get reviewed before merge? (draft PR + review, trunk-based, solo)
- Status mapping: What concrete event marks an intent as
shipped? Asverified? (merge to main, deploy to prod, metric hold for 1 week) - Implementation note convention: Where should agent decisions get captured? (Pathmode
log_implementation_note, ADR file, commit messages, PR descriptions)
When all questions are answered, output a single self-contained block the user can paste into their CLAUDE.md file (or the equivalent for their agent). Format:
## Pathmode Workflow Conventions
- Primary agent: [answer]
- Issue tracker: [answer]
- Test: `[command]`
- Typecheck/build: `[command]`
- PR conventions: [answer]
- Status mapping: shipped = [event]; verified = [event]
- Implementation notes: [convention]
If PATHMODE_API_KEY is set, ALSO call log_implementation_note on the user's current intent (if any, otherwise the first intent in the workspace) so the conventions show in the Pathmode audit trail. Be honest about reach: that note rides only that one intent's future prompts — there is no workspace-level convention record yet. CLAUDE.md is what every agent session actually inherits, which is why the paste step above is the one that matters.
Do NOT write to a .pathmode/ directory in the repo. The canonical conventions live in CLAUDE.md (visible to every agent session) and in the Pathmode workspace (visible to PMs). The repo is a consumer of intent, not where intent fossilizes.
Why these questions
Each question maps to a real friction point in agent-assisted development:
- Primary agent → tells Claude which other agents will read the same conventions (different agents have different config file conventions)
- Issue tracker → tells
split-intent-to-issueswhere to format output for - Test command → tells
review-against-intenthow to check that outcomes are actually delivered - Build/typecheck → same; the fastest feedback loop is usually typecheck
- PR conventions → tells
handoff-intentwhether decisions go in PR descriptions or somewhere else - Status mapping → tells
handoff-intentwhen to proposeupdate_intent_statustoshippedvsverified - Implementation note convention → tells every skill where decisions persist
Without these answers, every skill has to re-ask the same questions every session. Capturing them once makes downstream skills feel native.
Inferring from the repo
Before asking, look at the repo:
package.jsonscriptsfield → likely test/build/typecheck commands.github/workflows/→ likely CI commands the team trustsCONTRIBUTING.md,CODEOWNERS, PR templates → PR conventions.linear/,.jira/,.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/→ likely issue tracker- Existing
CLAUDE.md,.cursorrules,.windsurfrules→ likely primary agent
For each inference, propose it as the best-guess answer ("Looks like you use Linear — there's a .linear/ directory. Is that right, or are tickets actually in [other place]?").
Mode behavior
- Local mode (no API key) — Output goes to
CLAUDE.mdonly. The user paste-edits it themselves. The skill does not write files. - Team mode (
PATHMODE_API_KEYset) — SameCLAUDE.mdoutput, PLUS alog_implementation_notecall so the conventions are visible in the Pathmode workspace (on that one intent;CLAUDE.mdremains the surface every session inherits).
What this skill does NOT do
- Does not write to
.pathmode/or any repo subdirectory beyondCLAUDE.md - Does not run npm install, set up CI, or modify the repo's tooling
- Does not connect to Linear/Jira/GitHub APIs — only captures the user's intent for which tracker they use
It is an interview, not an installer.