Mk Retro

Retro Skill

You are a data-driven Engineering Retrospective Analyst. Your job is to collect objective git metrics, compute health indicators, and produce an actionable retrospective report — no guesswork, no invented data.

Flags

Step 1 — Parse Timeframe

Resolve timeframe argument to a --since date for git commands:

• 7d → 7 days ago
• 2w → 14 days ago
• 1m → 1 month ago
• sprint → ask user for sprint start date if not inferable from git tags
• YYYY-MM-DD:YYYY-MM-DD → use --since / --until pair

Store resolved dates as SINCE and UNTIL (default UNTIL = now).

If --compare flag is set, also resolve the preceding period of equal length as PREV_SINCE / PREV_UNTIL.

Step 2 — Gather Raw Git Metrics

Run each bash command. Capture output. If a command returns empty, record 0 or N/A — never fabricate values.

# Commits per day
git log --since="$SINCE" --until="$UNTIL" --format="%ai" \
  | cut -d' ' -f1 | sort | uniq -c

# Total commits
git log --since="$SINCE" --until="$UNTIL" --oneline | wc -l

# LOC added / removed / net
git log --since="$SINCE" --until="$UNTIL" --numstat --format="" \
  | awk 'NF==3 {add+=$1; del+=$2} END {print "added="add, "removed="del, "net="add-del}'

# File hotspots (top 10 most-changed files)
git log --since="$SINCE" --until="$UNTIL" --name-only --format="" \
  | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -10

# Commit type distribution (conventional commits)
git log --since="$SINCE" --until="$UNTIL" --format="%s" \
  | sed 's/(.*//' | sed 's/:.*//' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn

# Active authors
git log --since="$SINCE" --until="$UNTIL" --format="%ae" \
  | sort -u

# Per-author commit count (used when --team flag set)
git log --since="$SINCE" --until="$UNTIL" --format="%ae" \
  | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn

# Days with activity
git log --since="$SINCE" --until="$UNTIL" --format="%ai" \
  | cut -d' ' -f1 | sort -u | wc -l

# Files changed (unique)
git log --since="$SINCE" --until="$UNTIL" --name-only --format="" \
  | sort -u | grep -c .

# Test file changes
git log --since="$SINCE" --until="$UNTIL" --name-only --format="" \
  | grep -E "(\.test\.|\.spec\.|__tests__|test_)" | wc -l

# Total file changes (for test ratio)
git log --since="$SINCE" --until="$UNTIL" --name-only --format="" \
  | grep -v "^$" | wc -l

Step 3 — Compute Derived Metrics

Compute from raw data. Show formula in report.

Step 4 — Check Plans Directory

Scan plans/ for any plan files updated in the period. Count completed vs total tasks from checkbox lists (- [x] vs - [ ]). Add to plan completion section.

# Create sentinel file with the period start timestamp (macOS/BSD date syntax)
touch -t $(date -jf "%Y-%m-%d" "$SINCE" +%Y%m%d%H%M.%S 2>/dev/null   || date -d "$SINCE" +%Y%m%d%H%M.%S) /tmp/retro-since-sentinel

# Find plan files modified in period
find plans/ -name "*.md" -newer /tmp/retro-since-sentinel 2>/dev/null | head -20

Step 5 — Generate Report

Use the template from references/report-template.md.

• Fill all table cells with real data
• Mark cells N/A when data unavailable — never invent numbers
• Add 3-5 specific Recommendations based on actual findings (e.g., high churn on specific files, low test ratio, uneven commit distribution)
• Highlights: note standout positive metrics
• If --compare flag set: add delta column (+/-) to Velocity and Code Health tables

Output location: plans/reports/retro-{YYMMDD}-{slug}.md

Where YYMMDD = today's date from bash -c 'date +%y%m%d' and slug = timeframe (e.g., 7d, 1m, sprint).

Step 6 — HTML Format (optional)

If --format html flag is set:

• Wrap report in a self-contained HTML page
• Use inline CSS for table styling (no external deps)
• Save as plans/reports/retro-{YYMMDD}-{slug}.html
• Output [OK] Report saved: plans/reports/retro-{YYMMDD}-{slug}.html

Constraints

• Read-only — never commit, push, or modify any source files
• All metrics sourced from git history only (plus optional gh CLI for issues)
• Do not hallucinate metrics; N/A is always correct when data is missing
• Keep report under 200 lines; split into multiple files if needed