Project Kickoff

Project Kickoff

You are running an interactive project scoping session. This may be happening in real time with the client present — be professional, clear, and concise.

Step 1: Parse Invocation

Extract from the invocation text:

• Project type — match against the Project Type Registry below
• Asset or portfolio name — the property or client name
• Scope — asset-level or portfolio-level (default: asset)

Project Type Registry:

PRESENTATION FORMAT — MANDATORY (mobile-first)

When the ask_user_question tool is available, call it — one call per question. Pass {question, options[] with the recommended/default option first, allow_other:true, optional context} — it renders a tappable multiple-choice card, ideal on mobile. The lettered-text format below is the FALLBACK for when the tool is absent.

Ask ONE question per message — never a numbered wall of questions. Each question:

• states the single question,
• offers 2–5 short lettered options (A, B, C…) the user can answer by replying with just the letter,
• always ends with "— or type your own answer" (free-text override),
• then STOPS and waits for the reply before asking the next. Pre-fill the recommended default as option A and label it "(recommended / our default)" where one exists. Keep each message short — the user is often on mobile.

This is MANDATORY for EVERY question, start to finish — including the gate adjudications. After the user answers Q1, do NOT switch to "let me present the remaining questions all at once" — that is the exact failure to avoid. Ask Q2, wait; Q3, wait; and so on. This one-at-a-time rule overrides the "continue immediately to the next step" / "Speed Rule" / parallelize guidance in the base system prompt — those apply to DATA-GATHERING (tool calls), NOT to user Q&A. Never batch kickoff or gate questions; never mix a card question with a markdown list of other questions in the same message.

If the project type does not match any entry: ask via AskUserQuestion:

"What type of project are we kicking off?" Options: Retrofit Analysis | Portfolio Analysis | Decarb Plan | Other (describe)

For portfolio-analysis type: scope is always portfolio — do not ask the scope question. The "asset name" becomes the portfolio or client name (e.g. "Greystar Q3" or "BCLC"). If no client/portfolio name is given: ask via AskUserQuestion free text:

"What is the name of this portfolio or client?"

For all other types: if the asset name is missing from the invocation: ask via AskUserQuestion free text:

"What is the name of the asset (or portfolio)?"

If scope is ambiguous (non-portfolio-analysis type): ask via AskUserQuestion:

"Is this for a single asset or a portfolio?" Options: Single asset | Portfolio

Ask each of these one at a time; do not ask the next until the previous is answered.

Derive asset key: lowercase the name, replace spaces with hyphens. Examples: "AvalonBay" → avalonbay | "Prose Frontier OM" → prose-frontier-om

Load project type definition:

cat skills/project-kickoff/project-types/<type-key>.md

Follow the question definitions in that file for Steps 3–4.

Step 2: Pre-flight Data Scan

For portfolio-analysis type: Skip the bash scans below. Instead, follow the pre-flight instructions at the top of skills/project-kickoff/project-types/portfolio-analysis.md — they use portfolio MCP tools (query_portfolio_data, search_portfolio) rather than filesystem commands. Then return here for re-run handling and proceed to the Q&A loop.

For all other project types, scan for existing data before asking any questions. Run:

ls .cashflow-models/<asset-key>.json 2>/dev/null && echo "HAS_CASHFLOW" || true
ls projects/<asset-key>/<type-key>-kickoff.md 2>/dev/null && echo "HAS_PRIOR_KICKOFF" || true
ls projects/<asset-key>/ 2>/dev/null || true
find . -maxdepth 5 -path "*<asset-key>*" \( \
  -iname "*pca*" -o \
  -iname "*condition*" -o \
  -iname "*audit*" -o \
  -iname "*energy*" -o \
  -iname "*equipment*" -o \
  -iname "*schedule*" -o \
  -iname "*utility*" -o \
  -iname "*bills*" -o \
  -iname "*espm*" \
\) 2>/dev/null

Track findings:

• has_cashflow_model — true if .cashflow-models/<asset-key>.json exists
• has_prior_kickoff — true if the output file already exists
• found_docs — list of matched filenames, classified by type (PCA, audit, utility, etc.)

Reference-doc-first: Before asking any questions, also search the asset and portfolio files for prior kickoff or engagement reference material (e.g. an "engagement reference", "engagement summary", "scope of work", or a prior kickoff document). Use list_files / search_files (or the filesystem find above) with those terms. If found, read it and pre-fill the answers from it — then in the Q&A loop surface each pre-filled value for the user to confirm rather than asking the question cold, citing the reference document. Only ask outright the questions the reference material does not already answer.

Re-run handling: If has_prior_kickoff is true, ask before proceeding:

"A kickoff file already exists for this project (projects/<asset-key>/<type-key>-kickoff.md). What would you like to do?" Options: Overwrite it | Create a new timestamped version

If "Create new": append -YYYY-MM-DD to the filename (use today's date).

Portfolio scope note: For portfolio-level kickoffs, has_prior_kickoff checks projects/portfolio/<type-key>-kickoff.md. The timestamped version writes to projects/portfolio/<type-key>-kickoff-YYYY-MM-DD.md.

Step 3: Q&A Loop

Ask the project type's questions one at a time. For each question:

1. Check whether pre-flight found data that answers it (fully or partially).
2. If yes: surface the finding and ask to confirm or update.

   "I found [document/data] — is this what we'll use, or do you have an updated version?" Options: Use this | I have an updated version | Not sure yet

3. If no prior data: ask the full question as defined in the project type file.

Never ask more than one question per message.

Step 4: Confirm and Save

After all the project type's questions, present a summary and ask for confirmation:

"Here's what I've captured for this project. Does everything look correct?" [Show all answers as a bulleted list] Options: Looks good — save it | I need to change something

If "I need to change something": ask which question to revisit (options: list the question titles), then loop back to that question, then return here.

Once confirmed: proceed to Step 5.

Step 5: Write Project File

Determine output path:

• Asset scope: projects/<asset-key>/<type-key>-kickoff.md
• Portfolio scope: projects/portfolio/<type-key>-kickoff.md
• Timestamped new: projects/<asset-key>/<type-key>-kickoff-YYYY-MM-DD.md

Create directory:

# Asset scope:
mkdir -p projects/<asset-key>/
# Portfolio scope:
mkdir -p projects/portfolio/

Write the file using the output template from the project type file, filling in all answers from the Q&A loop.

Confirm to the user, citing the exact output path computed above:

"Project kickoff saved to <output path>. This file will be used as the project reference throughout delivery."