Triage

Contract

• Input: problem or task defined by the skill body.
• Output: Markdown artifact or structured result with completion criteria met.
• Side effects: none (design/review/documentation only unless explicitly stated).
• Dependencies: none (self-contained unless linked to other skills).
• Stop condition: all process steps completed; artifact saved; criteria checked.
• Risk: low.
• Boundary: produces reasoning or documentation artifacts; does not modify external systems unless explicitly instructed.

Triage

Move issues on the project issue tracker through a small state machine of triage roles. Use this repo's vocabulary from CONTEXT.md when naming the work, its boundaries, or the agent brief. If the repo's work-item governance may have changed, run work-item-router first.

If this repo treats external pull requests as a request surface (see the issue-tracker config), triage covers them too: a PR is an issue with attached code - same roles, same states, same machine, with a few deltas marked "for a PR" below. Resolve a bare #42 to an issue or PR per the tracker config.

Every comment or issue posted to the issue tracker during triage must start with this disclaimer:

> *This was generated by AI during triage.*

Reference docs

• AGENT-BRIEF.md — how to write durable agent briefs
• OUT-OF-SCOPE.md — how the .out-of-scope/ knowledge base works
• BRIEFING.md — the minimal workflow and operational goals for triage

Roles

Two category roles:

• bug — something is broken
• enhancement — new feature or improvement

Five state roles:

• needs-triage — maintainer needs to evaluate
• needs-info — waiting on reporter for more information
• ready-for-agent — fully specified, ready for an AFK agent
• ready-for-human — needs human implementation
• wontfix — will not be actioned

For a PR, the same states read against the attached code: ready-for-agent means a brief is attached and an agent should take the next step on the diff; ready-for-human means it's ready for a human to merge.

Every triaged issue should carry exactly one category role and one state role. If state roles conflict, flag it and ask the maintainer before doing anything else.

These are canonical role names — the actual label strings used in the issue tracker may differ. The mapping should have been provided to you - run /setup-quirk-skills if not.

State transitions: an unlabeled issue normally goes to needs-triage first; from there it moves to needs-info, ready-for-agent, ready-for-human, or wontfix. needs-info returns to needs-triage once the reporter replies. The maintainer can override at any time — flag transitions that look unusual and ask before proceeding.

Invocation

The maintainer invokes /triage and describes what they want in natural language. Interpret the request and act. Examples:

• "Show me anything that needs attention"
• "Let's look at #42" (issue or PR)
• "Move #42 to ready-for-agent"
• "What's ready for agents to pick up?"

Show what needs attention

Query the issue tracker and present three buckets, oldest first:

1. Unlabeled — never triaged.
2. needs-triage — evaluation in progress.
3. needs-info with reporter activity since the last triage notes — needs re-evaluation.

When PRs are in scope, include external PRs in these buckets and tag each line [PR] or [issue]. Discovery surfaces only external PRs (the tracker config defines who counts as external) — a collaborator's in-flight PR is not triage work. This filter is discovery-only; an explicitly named PR is always triaged regardless of author.

Show counts and a one-line summary per item. Let the maintainer pick.

Triage a specific issue or PR

1. Gather context. Read the full issue or PR (body, comments, labels, author, dates; for a PR, the diff too). Parse any prior triage notes so you don't re-ask resolved questions. Explore the codebase using the project's domain glossary, respecting ADRs in the area. Run two checks against the codebase: (a) redundancy — search for an existing implementation of the requested behavior by domain concept (not just the request's wording), and report where you looked. If found, it's an already-implemented wontfix (step 5). (b) prior rejection — read .out-of-scope/*.md and surface any that resembles this request. Prefer terms from CONTEXT.md when the request touches model, risk, execution, or agentic architecture.

2. Recommend. Tell the maintainer your category and state recommendation with reasoning, plus a brief codebase summary relevant to the request — including whether it's already implemented. Wait for direction.

3. Verify the claim. Before any grilling, check that the claim holds up. For a bug, reproduce it from the reporter's steps. For a PR, confirm the diff does what it claims — check it out, run the relevant tests or commands. Report what happened: confirmed (with code path), failed, or insufficient detail (a strong needs-info signal). A confirmed verification makes a much stronger agent brief.

4. Grill (if needed). If the request needs fleshing out, run the /grilling and /domain-modeling skills together - grill it into shape one question at a time, sharpening domain terms and updating CONTEXT.md/ADRs inline as decisions land.

5. Apply the outcome:

   • ready-for-agent — post an agent brief comment (AGENT-BRIEF.md).
   • ready-for-human — same structure as an agent brief, but note why it can't be delegated (judgment calls, external access, design decisions, manual testing).
   • needs-info — post triage notes (template below).
   • wontfix — close, with the comment depending on why:
     • Already implemented — the change already exists in the codebase. Point to where it lives; do not write to .out-of-scope/ (that KB is for rejected requests, not built ones).
     • Rejected (bug) — polite explanation, then close.
     • Rejected (enhancement) — write to .out-of-scope/, link to it from a comment, then close (OUT-OF-SCOPE.md).
   • needs-triage — apply the role. Optional comment if there's partial progress.

Quick state override

If the maintainer says "move #42 to ready-for-agent", trust them and apply the role directly. Confirm what you're about to do (role changes, comment, close), then act. Skip grilling. If moving to ready-for-agent without a grilling session, ask whether they want to write an agent brief.

When the repo has a triage-labels.md mapping, use the tracker label strings from that file exactly and keep the canonical roles stable.

Needs-info template

> *This was generated by AI during triage.*

## Triage Notes

**Status:** needs-info
**Category:** bug / enhancement
**Verification:** confirmed / not reproduced / not attempted — <short reason>

**What is established so far:**

- <fact, quoted claim, reproduction result, or codebase finding>
- <fact, quoted claim, reproduction result, or codebase finding>

**What is still needed from @reporter:**

- <specific question with expected artifact, command output, screenshot, version, or reproduction step>
- <specific question with expected artifact, command output, screenshot, version, or reproduction step>

**Next state after response:** needs-triage

Capture everything resolved during grilling under "established so far" so the work isn't lost. Questions must be specific and actionable, not "please provide more info".

Resuming a previous session

If prior triage notes exist on the issue or PR, read them, check whether the reporter has answered any outstanding questions, and present an updated picture before continuing. Don't re-ask resolved questions.