# Work > Create a work group for coordinating multi-feature work - Skill: `telefrek/work` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add telefrek/work` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/telefrek/work/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: telefrek (https://skillmd.com/u/telefrek) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/telefrek/work --- # /work "" Creates a work group — a named collection of work definitions that share a larger goal. Work groups coordinate multi-feature work with artifact-based dependencies and computed readiness. Use this when work spans multiple features, requires ordering, or benefits from interface contracts between work definitions. For standalone single-feature work, use `/feature` instead — no work group needed. --- ## Idempotency pre-flight (ALWAYS FIRST) 1. Generate `group-slug` from the goal (kebab-case, max 40 chars) 2. Check if `.work//` exists 3. If it exists and `work.md` is present: ``` ─────────────────────────────────────────────── 📋 WORK GROUP · ─────────────────────────────────────────────── Work group '' already exists. ``` Use AskUserQuestion with options: - "View status" → invoke `/work-status ""` - "Decompose into work definitions" → invoke `/work-decompose ""` - "Stop" 4. If directory does not exist: proceed to Step 0. --- ## Step 0 — Parse and create directory - Extract the goal description - Generate `group-slug` in kebab-case - Create `.work//` directory Display opening header: ``` ─────────────────────────────────────────────── 📋 WORK GROUP · ─────────────────────────────────────────────── ``` --- ## Step 1 — Read existing context Read silently before asking anything: 1. `.work/CLAUDE.md` — check for related active work groups 2. `.kb/CLAUDE.md` — scan topic map for relevant domains 3. `.decisions/CLAUDE.md` — check for related active/deferred decisions 4. `.spec/CLAUDE.md` — check for existing specs in relevant domains --- ## Step 2 — Scoping interview The goal is to establish clear boundaries for the work group. Ask questions across these dimensions using AskUserQuestion for each: ### Pre-interview analysis (internal — do not display) Read the goal and privately identify unknowns across: | Dimension | What to resolve | |-----------|----------------| | Scope | What is the full extent of the change? What is explicitly excluded? | | Boundaries | Where are the natural seams between independent work units? | | Ordering | Are there hard ordering constraints (A must complete before B)? | | Shared surfaces | Will multiple work definitions need to agree on interfaces? | | Dependencies | What existing specs, ADRs, or KB entries does this work assume? | | Success criteria | How do we know the work group is complete? | ### Questioning rules - Collapse knowns: if the goal description answers a dimension, skip it - Maximum 4 questions total — batch related dimensions into compound questions - Use AskUserQuestion with typed options where choices are enumerable - One question at a time, wait for the answer before the next - After each answer, update your internal model — skip questions the answer already covers ### Lead with tradeoff analysis when the choice is non-obvious `AskUserQuestion` presents options with short labels and one-sentence descriptions. That works when the user can pick from labels alone. It does NOT work when the choice has implications the user can't see in a sentence — they'll either pick the wrong option or come back asking "what's the tradeoff?", forcing a retrofit. Default rule: **before any AskUserQuestion whose options have non-trivial consequences (architecture, scope boundary, dependency model), present the tradeoff analysis FIRST as prose, then call AskUserQuestion.** Concretely, the message preceding the AskUserQuestion should: - Name each option's blast radius and reversibility - Surface non-obvious second-order effects (e.g., "option B touches shared types; option A doesn't") - Note industry precedent if relevant - Make a recommendation if you have a defensible one, but frame it as the *user's call*, not yours This is more text than a bare AskUserQuestion. That's intentional. A user who picks an option without understanding the tradeoff is worse off than a user who reads two paragraphs and chooses correctly. Skip the tradeoff prelude only when the choice is genuinely simple (e.g., "kebab-case slug okay?" — yes/no, no second-order effects). --- ## Step 3 — Confirm work group scope Present the scope summary: ``` ## Work Group: **Goal:** **In scope:** - **Out of scope:** - **Known ordering constraints:** - **Shared interfaces expected:** - **Success criteria:** - ``` Use AskUserQuestion with options: - "Looks good" - "Revise" (with Other for specific changes) If "Revise": apply changes and re-present. --- ## Step 4 — Write work group files ### 4a — Write work.md Write `.work//work.md`: ```yaml --- group: goal: status: active created: # Optional — declare cross-group blockers. Every WD in this group is # reported BLOCKED by scripts/work-resolve.sh until every listed group # reaches required_state=COMPLETE. Add only if seam analysis surfaces # a cross-group dependency; leave out otherwise. # external_deps: # - { type: group, ref: "", required_state: COMPLETE } --- ## Goal ## Scope ### In scope ### Out of scope ## Ordering Constraints ## Shared Interfaces ## Success Criteria ``` ### 4b — Write manifest.md Write `.work//manifest.md`: ```markdown # Work Group Manifest: **Goal:** **Status:** active **Created:** **Work definitions:** 0 ## Work Definitions | WD | Title | Status | Domains | Deps | Produces | |----|-------|--------|---------|------|----------| ## Dependency Graph (empty — populate with /work-decompose) ``` ### 4c — Update .work/CLAUDE.md index Append rows to both the "Active Work Groups" table and the "Recently Added" log via the index helper: ```bash bash .claude/scripts/work-index.sh add "" "" ``` The script writes both rows atomically and is idempotent — if a row already exists for the slug it falls through to a count refresh instead of duplicating. Do not edit `.work/CLAUDE.md` by hand here; column-shape drift between hand-edits and other call sites breaks the table for `/work-status` and the index helper alike. --- ## Step 5 — Next steps ``` Work group '' created. Files: .work//work.md — scope and success criteria .work//manifest.md — work definition registry Next: decompose this into work definitions: /work-decompose "" This will identify the individual work units, their dependencies, and any shared interface contracts needed between them. ``` Stop.