printpractical What Now
You are the what-now orientation skill. Your job is to read the current state of the user's active changes and tell them clearly what to do next — no guessing, no ambiguity.
Running the helper scripts
This skill bundles its helper scripts in its own scripts/ directory (installed alongside this SKILL.md). Set SKILL_DIR to this skill's absolute path — shown as Base directory for this skill at the end of this file — then run the scripts from your project root (they operate on the project's .changes/ and CONTEXT.md files):
SKILL_DIR="<absolute path to this skill's directory>"
All node "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/..." commands below depend on this. Never reference packages/build/ — that path only exists in the toolkit's development repo, not in an installed skill.
Step 1: Intake
Before reading manifests, obtain the goal and observable outcome, affected area, constraints and anti-goals, and whether requirements are formed, partially formed, or unformed. If the request is only status, record that no change outcome was supplied and continue.
Step 2: Get current state
node "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/change-status.mjs"
Parse the JSON output. If no active changes exist, go to the "No active changes" section below.
Step 3: For each active change, interpret and advise
Feature change (class: feature)
Use this decision tree:
| Phase | Approval state | What to tell the user |
|---|---|---|
architect |
architect pending | "Run architect to start or continue the architectural design session." |
architect |
architect approved | "Run specify to nail down implementation details and interfaces." |
specify |
specify pending | "Run specify to continue or restart the specification session." |
specify |
specify approved | "Run plan to break the decisions into an implementation checklist." |
plan |
plan pending | "Run plan to continue or restart the planning session." |
plan |
plan approved | "Run implement to execute the task checklist." |
implement |
implement pending | "Run implement to execute or continue the implementation." |
implement |
implement approved, docs pending | "Run implement — you're in the docs reconciliation phase. Update CONTEXT.md files and approve the docs approval." |
archive-ready |
docs approved | "Create the verified archive; this is the last active state." |
If there are kickbacks logged:
- Read the kickback entries from the manifest.
- If the most recent kickback has an empty
resolution, it is unresolved. Tell the user: "There's an unresolved kickback in[phase]: [missed]. Resume at[restart_phase]and re-approve only[invalidated_approvals]before continuing."
Triage change (class: bug | small)
| Phase | Approval state | What to tell the user |
|---|---|---|
implement |
implement pending | "Run triage to execute or continue the direct fix." |
implement |
implement approved, docs pending | "Run triage to reconcile and verify CONTEXT.md, then approve docs." |
archive-ready |
docs approved | "Create the verified archive." |
Refactor change (class: refactor)
| Phase | Approval state | What to tell the user |
|---|---|---|
refactor |
refactor pending | "Run refactor to complete the audit and obtain refactor approval." |
implement |
implement pending | "Run refactor to execute the selected cleanup." |
implement |
implement approved, docs pending | "Run refactor to reconcile and verify docs, then approve docs." |
archive-ready |
— | "Create the verified archive. For audit-only, it contains the approved audit report." |
Epic change (class: epic)
| State | What to tell the user |
|---|---|
| architect approval pending | "Run architect on the epic to design the overall shape and identify the child changes." |
| architect approved, specify pending | "Run specify on the epic. This session nails down cross-cutting contracts between children — shared interfaces, data formats, and ordering constraints." |
| specify approved, no children | "Run specify on the epic — when the specify session ends it will create child change manifests and move the epic to decomposed." |
| decomposed, children not all archive-ready | Show child progress table. Work depth-first: identify the single next child to take to archive-ready, not a batch. If a child is mid-spine, point the user at that child's next phase first. |
| all children archive-ready | "Reconcile and verify epic context, approve docs, move the epic to archive-ready, then create one coordinated verified archive for the parent and children." |
Execution model — depth-first. Children are taken one at a time to archive-ready (architect → specify → plan → implement → archive-ready), in dependency order. Do NOT archive a child independently; the epic coordinates the verified archive once all children are ready.
Child ordering: If multiple children are unblocked (no dependency on an incomplete sibling), they may be worked in parallel — but each still runs its full spine start-to-finish. Say so explicitly.
Multiple concurrent changes
List all active changes in a table with their current phase and next action. Ask the user which they want to work on, or suggest the one that is furthest along (least switching cost).
Step 4: If something looks wrong
Approval approved but phase not advanced: The manifest may have been edited manually. Do not force the phase; reset and re-approve the affected approval so the state machine advances it.
A child's parent field points to a non-existent epic: The parent may be archived. Confirm with the user and proceed with the child independently.
Cancellation: Confirm that manifest.archive.reason is concrete, then direct the user to create a verified cancellation archive. Never silently delete an active workspace.
No active changes
If there are no changes in .changes/active/:
Ask the user:
> "There are no active changes. What are you working on? Tell me:"
> - Goal/outcome, affected area, constraints or anti-goals, and whether requirements are formed
> - "I need repository context first" → map is optional, then use the appropriate entry skill
> - "I have a PoC I want to rebuild properly" → use reforge
> - "I have an early idea or I'm still comparing solutions" → use brainstorm
> - "I have a new feature or significant change" → use architect
> - "I have a bug or small fix" → use triage
Reference files
references/manifest-schema.md— phase machine, approval semantics, epic modelreferences/change-lifecycle.md— full pipeline