Template Drift

/template-drift — Template Drift Detector

You are checking whether the project's local copies of every vendored sync surface still match the canonical versions in the adlc-toolkit. These surfaces are copied per-repo (not symlinked like skills/agents), so they drift over time. Some drift is intentional (project-specific customization); some is accidental (toolkit updated and the project never pulled the change). This skill surfaces both and helps you decide what to reconcile.

Vendored sync surfaces

/template-drift checks drift on all five of these surfaces. The first four are physically copied into the project by /init (see init/SKILL.md's matching <!-- sync-surfaces: init --> list); the fifth is a /template-drift-only check for a drift symptom /init deliberately does NOT copy.

• templates — .adlc/templates/*.md vs ~/.claude/skills/templates/*.md (Step 2, template-posture)
• partials — .adlc/partials/*.sh vs ~/.claude/skills/partials/*.sh (Step 3, partials-posture)
• ethos — .adlc/ETHOS.md vs ~/.claude/skills/ETHOS.md (Step 3c, template-posture + missing-principle)
• workflow-runtime — .adlc/workflows/adlc-sprint.workflow.js + README.md vs ~/.claude/skills/workflows/ (Step 3d, partials-posture)
• workflow-test-landmine — stale *.test.js/*.spec.js under .adlc/ from an older /init (Step 3b, always stale; template-drift-only)

Cross-reference invariant (BR-4): every surface /init copies MUST have a matching check here. Adding a new vendored surface to /init without adding a check here is a silent gap — the toolkit's tools/lint-skills sync-surface-parity check fails the build when the two lists disagree.

Ethos

!sh .adlc/partials/ethos-include.sh 2>/dev/null || sh ~/.claude/skills/partials/ethos-include.sh

Context

This skill checks five vendored sync surfaces (see "Vendored sync surfaces" below): templates, partials, ethos, workflow-runtime, and the workflow-test landmine.

• Project templates dir: !ls .adlc/templates/ 2>/dev/null || echo "No .adlc/templates/ directory — run /init first"
• Toolkit templates dir: !ls ~/.claude/skills/templates/ 2>/dev/null || echo "Toolkit templates not found at ~/.claude/skills/templates/"
• Project ETHOS: !test -f .adlc/ETHOS.md && echo "present" || echo "absent — run /init"
• Project workflow runtime: !ls .adlc/workflows/*.workflow.js 2>/dev/null || echo "no .adlc/workflows/ runtime — run /init"
• Current directory: !pwd

Input

Scope: $ARGUMENTS (optional — single template name to check; otherwise all templates)

Prerequisites

1. .adlc/templates/ must exist in the current project. If it does not, stop and tell the user: "This project has no local templates — it uses toolkit templates directly. No drift to check." (New projects per the /init Step 6 policy don't copy templates locally.)
2. ~/.claude/skills/templates/ must resolve through the symlink. If it does not, stop and tell the user: "The adlc-toolkit symlink is broken. Verify readlink ~/.claude/skills points to the toolkit repo."

Instructions

Step 1: Enumerate Templates to Compare

1. If the user passed a scope argument (e.g. requirement-template), only check .adlc/templates/<scope>.md vs ~/.claude/skills/templates/<scope>.md.
2. Otherwise list every *.md file in .adlc/templates/ AND every *.md file in ~/.claude/skills/templates/. Compare the union of both sets — this catches templates that exist in the toolkit but not in the project (new templates added upstream) and templates in the project but not in the toolkit (legacy or custom-to-project files).

Step 2: Detect Template Drift

For each template in the comparison set, run diff -u ~/.claude/skills/templates/<name>.md .adlc/templates/<name>.md. Capture:

• Missing upstream: template exists locally but not in toolkit (legacy or custom)
• Missing locally (a.k.a. missing): template exists in toolkit but not in project (upstream added, not yet copied)
• Identical (a.k.a. synced): no diff (drift = 0)
• Drifted (a.k.a. stale): diff output — count added/removed lines

Also compute a rough drift size: total lines added + total lines removed (excluding context lines). This gives a "how much has changed" number for the summary table.

Step 3: Detect Partial Drift

Partials (*.sh files) are a second sync surface alongside templates. Unlike templates, partials are copied per-repo for portability but are not intended for project-specific customization — they are shared executable code (e.g., ethos-include.sh injects the toolkit's ETHOS preamble into every skill). The classification vocabulary matches Step 2 (synced, stale, missing) so the final report can use one unified summary line.

Rationale — why no "intentional customization" classification for partials:

Partials are shared executable code, not customizable content; intentional consumer-side modification of a partial would shadow the toolkit's gate logic and is the threat model /template-drift is meant to detect. Therefore any drift in partials is reported as stale with no customization classification. This is a security posture: a consumer with a modified ethos-include.sh could silently strip the ETHOS preamble from every skill invocation, and a consumer with a modified gate partial could bypass ADLC phase gates. Treating every partial diff as stale (and surfacing it loudly) is the correct default.

For each *.sh file in ~/.claude/skills/partials/ (use a POSIX-safe glob — guard with [ -e "$f" ] so that an empty toolkit partials directory does not iterate the literal pattern), compare against .adlc/partials/<basename>:

• Run diff -q .adlc/partials/<basename> ~/.claude/skills/partials/<basename>.
• Exit 0 → synced (both exist, identical)
• Exit 1 → stale (both exist, content differs)
• Consumer file absent (.adlc/partials/<basename> does not exist) → missing (toolkit has it, consumer doesn't — consumer needs to re-run /init to copy it down)

Also check the reverse direction: any *.sh in .adlc/partials/ that does NOT exist in ~/.claude/skills/partials/ should be reported as missing upstream (legacy or rogue partial — flag it; do not auto-delete).

If .adlc/partials/ does not exist at all in the consumer project, report every toolkit partial as missing and recommend running /init.

Step 3b: Detect Stale Workflow Test Files (Jest landmine)

A third sync surface is .adlc/workflows/. The current /init policy vendors only the runtime files (adlc-sprint.workflow.js + README.md) and deliberately does not copy the toolkit's workflows/tests/ directory. Those are node:test unit tests (CommonJS require('node:test')) for the inlined pure helpers — toolkit-internal, with no purpose in a consumer repo.

An older /init did cp -R of the whole workflows/ tree and left .adlc/workflows/tests/helpers.test.js behind. In any "type":"module" repo running Jest, Jest's default testMatch (**/?(*.)+(spec|test).[jt]s?(x)) discovers that *.test.js, runs it as ESM, and fails it with ReferenceError: require is not defined — reddening npm test and any CI gate. This is pure accidental staleness (never an intentional customization), so /template-drift flags it loudly.

Scan .adlc/ for any test file that Jest would collect:

# Any *.test.js / *.spec.js anywhere under .adlc/ is the landmine. The known
# offender is the workflows/tests/ tree from an older `cp -R` /init.
find .adlc -type f \( -name '*.test.js' -o -name '*.spec.js' \) 2>/dev/null
# Also surface a lingering tests/ dir (may also hold _load-pure.js, a .md, etc.):
[ -d .adlc/workflows/tests ] && echo ".adlc/workflows/tests/ present (stale — remove)"

Classification is always stale — there is no "intentional customization" path here (same posture as partials in Step 3: this is toolkit-internal code a consumer should never carry). Each hit is reported in Step 5 and offered for removal in Step 6. If there are no hits, report .adlc/ workflow test files as clean (one line) and move on.

Step 3c: Detect ETHOS Drift (the injected constitution)

A fourth sync surface is .adlc/ETHOS.md — the principles /init copies from ~/.claude/skills/ETHOS.md and that every skill injects at invocation time via ethos-include.sh. This surface is the most consequential to keep in sync: ethos-include.sh resolves the project copy first, so a stale .adlc/ETHOS.md silently runs an outdated constitution in every skill invocation — and the toolkit has shipped new principles more than once (principle #6 "If It's Broken, Fix It" and #7 "Skeptical by Default" were added after the original five). Drift here is therefore reported prominently, near the top of the report.

Classification follows the template posture (intentional customization vs accidental staleness): a project may legitimately tailor its constitution (e.g. add a project-specific principle), so a diff is not automatically stale. Read both full versions and judge per the Step 4 signals, treating an added project-specific principle as intentional and a structurally-older copy as accidental.

Mandatory missing-principle sub-check (the dangerous case, reported loudly regardless of classification): enumerate the canonical principle headings present upstream and flag any that are absent from the project copy. Principle headings are the ## <n>. <title> lines:

# Canonical principles present upstream:
grep -E '^## [0-9]+\. ' ~/.claude/skills/ETHOS.md
# Project's principles:
grep -E '^## [0-9]+\. ' .adlc/ETHOS.md
# A canonical heading absent from the project copy is a MISSING PRINCIPLE —
# the consumer is silently running an outdated constitution. Report it loudly,
# naming each missing principle by its heading text, even if the file is
# otherwise classified "intentional".

Heading-level comparison (not line-level body text) keeps this robust to legitimate body rewording while still catching a wholesale-missing principle. If .adlc/ETHOS.md is absent entirely, report ethos as missing and recommend /init. If identical, report ethos as clean (one line).

Step 3d: Detect Workflow-Runtime Drift (the sprint engine)

A fifth sync surface is the workflow runtime itself — .adlc/workflows/adlc-sprint.workflow.js and its vendored .adlc/workflows/README.md. This is distinct from Step 3b: Step 3b only finds stale test files an old /init left behind; Step 3d diffs the runtime file content against canonical. A consumer's copy is frozen at init time while the toolkit's sprint engine keeps evolving, so a stale runtime silently runs an outdated orchestrator.

Classification follows the partials posture: this is shared executable code, not customizable content. Every diff is reported as stale with a loud warning and no customization track — a consumer-modified sprint engine is exactly the silent-divergence threat the partials rationale (Step 3) already names. Use exit-code-only comparison (the only remediation is "copy from toolkit"); show the full diff only if the user asks for --verbose:

for wf in adlc-sprint.workflow.js README.md; do
  if [ ! -f ".adlc/workflows/$wf" ]; then
    echo "$wf: missing (toolkit has it, project does not — run /init)"
  elif diff -q ".adlc/workflows/$wf" ~/.claude/skills/workflows/"$wf" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    echo "$wf: synced"
  else
    echo "$wf: stale (workflow runtime diverged from toolkit — copy from toolkit)"
  fi
done

If .adlc/workflows/ does not exist at all, report workflow-runtime as missing and recommend /init. If both files are identical, report workflow-runtime as clean (one line).

Step 4: Classify Template Drift as Intentional vs Accidental

(This step applies to the two template-posture surfaces — templates and ethos (Step 3c). Partials and workflow-runtime have no customization classification, per Step 3 / Step 3d. For ethos, apply these same intentional-vs-accidental signals to the body, but remember the missing-principle sub-check in Step 3c fires loudly regardless of how the file is classified here.)

For each drifted template, read both full versions (not just the diff) and make a judgment call. The goal is to separate:

Intentional customization signals (do NOT reconcile without explicit user consent):

• Added sections that are domain-specific to this project (e.g. ## System Model, ## Entities, ## Permissions, ## Business Rules added to a project's local .adlc/templates/requirement-template.md)
• Added field names in frontmatter that reference project-specific concepts
• Rewritten wording that reflects a deliberate editorial choice
• Any change that appears in git log with a commit message indicating project-specific intent

Accidental staleness signals (SHOULD reconcile):

• Toolkit added a new section or field and the project's copy is structurally older
• Cosmetic-only differences (whitespace, placeholder text like YYYY-MM-DD vs [date])
• Toolkit renamed/removed a section that the project still has dangling
• Toolkit tightened a rule (e.g. locking a naming convention) and the project's copy still shows the old rule

When in doubt, classify as "needs human review" — do not silently reconcile.

Step 5: Produce the Drift Report

Emit a summary table, then per-file detail. The report covers all five surfaces (templates, partials, ethos, workflow-runtime, workflow-test-landmine). Templates and ethos classify drift as intentional/accidental (template-posture); partials and workflow-runtime classify drift only as synced/stale/missing (partials-posture); the workflow-test landmine is always stale. Every surface gets a line even when clean — a checked-and-clean surface is reported clean, never silently omitted (Ethos #5).

## Template Drift Report — [date]

Project: <repo name>
Toolkit ref: <`git -C "$(readlink ~/.claude/skills)" rev-parse --short HEAD`>

ETHOS (.adlc/ETHOS.md): DRIFTED — 1 MISSING PRINCIPLE: `## 7. Skeptical by Default` is in the
toolkit constitution but absent from this project's copy. Every skill is running an outdated
constitution. Classification: Accidental (structurally older — no project-specific principles added).
(Reported first because the runtime prefers the project copy — Step 3c.) (Show `clean` when identical.)

| Template | Status | Drift | Classification |
|---|---|---|---|
| requirement-template.md | Drifted | +42 / -8 | Intentional (System Model, Entities) |
| task-template.md | Drifted | +3 / -1 | Accidental (cosmetic) |
| bug-template.md | Identical | — | — |
| assumption-template.md | Missing locally | — | Upstream added — needs copy |
| lesson-template.md | Drifted | +6 / -0 | Accidental (upstream added filename lock comment) |

Templates overall: 3 drifted, 1 missing locally, 1 identical.
Intentional: 1. Accidental: 2. Missing: 1.

| Partial | Status |
|---|---|
| ethos-include.sh | stale |
| gate-check.sh | synced |
| spec-gate.sh | missing |

Partials overall: 1 stale, 1 synced, 1 missing. (No customization classification — every partial drift is `stale` by design; see Step 3 rationale.)

Workflow runtime (.adlc/workflows/): 1 stale — `adlc-sprint.workflow.js` diverged from the toolkit sprint engine (copy from toolkit); `README.md` synced. (No customization classification — partials-posture, every diff `stale`; see Step 3d. Show `clean` when both files identical.)

Workflow test files (.adlc/workflows/): 1 stale — `.adlc/workflows/tests/` (Jest landmine: `*.test.js` under .adlc/ breaks `npm test` in "type":"module" repos; remove). (Show `clean` when none found.)

Then, for each non-identical template, write a short per-file section:

### requirement-template.md — Intentional

Project has these sections that the toolkit does not:
- `## System Model` (lines 34–52)
- `## Entities` (lines 54–71)
- `## Permissions` (lines 73–80)
- `## Business Rules` (lines 82–95)

These are project-specific. Do NOT overwrite. No action needed.

Toolkit changes the project is missing (if any):
- <list any upstream changes not yet in the project's copy>

### task-template.md — Accidental (cosmetic)

Diff is 3 added / 1 removed lines, all whitespace and one field rename:
- `status: [status]` → `status: pending`
- Extra blank line after frontmatter

Action: safe to sync from toolkit. Propose a one-line change: copy `~/.claude/skills/templates/task-template.md` over `.adlc/templates/task-template.md`.

Step 6: Offer Reconciliation Actions

Offer the user a specific action for each reconcilable item, across all five surfaces: each accidental template drift, each missing locally template; each accidental or missing-principle ETHOS drift; every stale or missing partial (no customization escape hatch — see Step 3); every stale or missing workflow-runtime file (no customization escape hatch — see Step 3d); and every stale workflow test file from Step 3b. Format as a numbered list so the user can approve selectively:

## Proposed Actions

1. **task-template.md**: Copy from toolkit to project (accidental cosmetic drift).
   Command: `cp ~/.claude/skills/templates/task-template.md .adlc/templates/task-template.md`

2. **lesson-template.md**: Copy from toolkit to project (toolkit added filename-lock comment).
   Command: `cp ~/.claude/skills/templates/lesson-template.md .adlc/templates/lesson-template.md`

3. **assumption-template.md**: Copy from toolkit to project (upstream added, not yet in project).
   Command: `cp ~/.claude/skills/templates/assumption-template.md .adlc/templates/assumption-template.md`

4. **.adlc/ETHOS.md** (ethos, accidental — missing principle #7): Copy from toolkit to project. **Before
   proposing the write, show the full principle-level diff** so the user sees exactly which principles
   change (BR-5). Only after the user has seen the diff and approves, copy.
   Diff first: `diff -u .adlc/ETHOS.md ~/.claude/skills/ETHOS.md`
   Command (on approval): `cp ~/.claude/skills/ETHOS.md .adlc/ETHOS.md`

5. **ethos-include.sh** (partial, stale): Copy from toolkit to project. Partials have no customization classification — any drift is reported as `stale` (see Step 3 rationale).
   Command: `cp ~/.claude/skills/partials/ethos-include.sh .adlc/partials/ethos-include.sh`

6. **spec-gate.sh** (partial, missing): Copy from toolkit to project.
   Command: `mkdir -p .adlc/partials && cp ~/.claude/skills/partials/spec-gate.sh .adlc/partials/spec-gate.sh`

7. **adlc-sprint.workflow.js** (workflow-runtime, stale): Copy from toolkit to project. The sprint engine diverged from the toolkit; partials-posture — any drift is `stale` (see Step 3d).
   Command: `cp ~/.claude/skills/workflows/adlc-sprint.workflow.js .adlc/workflows/adlc-sprint.workflow.js`

8. **.adlc/workflows/tests/** (stale workflow tests, Jest landmine): Remove. These are toolkit-internal `node:test` files that break `npm test` in `"type":"module"` repos; the runtime never needs them. Re-running `/init` also removes them.
   Command: `rm -rf .adlc/workflows/tests`

Reply with action numbers to apply (e.g. "1 2 3" or "all"), or "skip" to take no action.

Do not apply any changes without explicit user approval. Writing to .adlc/templates/ affects how future /spec, /architect, and /bugfix runs behave, so it's a deliberate choice. Writing to .adlc/ETHOS.md changes the constitution injected into every skill invocation — show the principle-level diff first (BR-5) and never overwrite an intentionally-customized constitution without explicit consent. Writing to .adlc/partials/ affects gate logic and the ETHOS preamble injected into every skill; writing to .adlc/workflows/ changes the sprint orchestrator — all deliberate. If the user approves, apply only the numbered actions they listed and re-run the relevant detection step (Step 2 templates, Step 3 partials, Step 3c ethos, Step 3d workflow-runtime) for those files to confirm drift is now zero.

For intentional template or ETHOS drift, do not propose reconciliation — just note it in the report so the user is aware. The missing-principle ETHOS case is always offered for reconciliation even when the rest of the file looks intentional, because a missing canonical principle is never a legitimate customization. Partials and workflow-runtime have no "intentional" path: every diff is offered for reconciliation.

Step 7: Recommend Follow-Up

At the end of the report:

• If all five surfaces are in sync or intentionally customized: "All vendored surfaces (templates, partials, ethos, workflow runtime, workflow tests) are in sync or intentionally customized. No action needed."
• If drift remains after user-approved actions: list what's still drifted (by surface) and suggest running /template-drift again after a toolkit update.
• If intentional customizations were found (templates or ethos): remind the user to update their project CLAUDE.md or a project-local NOTES file so future toolkit updates don't accidentally overwrite them during a merge.
• If a missing ETHOS principle was found and NOT reconciled: warn explicitly that every skill is running an outdated constitution until it is copied.

What This Skill Does NOT Do

• It does not modify toolkit templates — changes to the canonical version go through the adlc-toolkit repo via PR.
• It does not rename or delete project template files — only copies or reports.
• It does not touch .adlc/templates/ in other projects — it's scoped to the current working directory.
• It does not check drift of skills or agents — those are symlinked, so drift is structurally impossible.

Implementation Notes

• Use diff -u for readable unified diffs. Fall back to git diff --no-index if preferred.
• wc -l on the diff output is a decent proxy for drift size, but prefer counting ^+ and ^- lines excluding the +++/--- headers.
• When running under /status, this skill should produce a one-line summary only that still names all five surfaces (e.g. "Templates: 2 drifted, 1 missing. Partials: 1 stale, 0 missing. ETHOS: drifted (1 missing principle). Workflow runtime: 1 stale. Workflow tests: 1 stale (Jest landmine)."). A clean surface is shown as clean rather than dropped (BR-3 — never silently omit a surface). Detect this mode by checking whether $ARGUMENTS contains --brief. The "Workflow tests" clause may be omitted only when no landmine files are found; the other four surfaces are always reported (clean or drifted).
• Partial comparison uses diff -q (quiet, exit-code-only) rather than diff -u because per-file unified diffs are not actionable for partials — the only remediation is "copy from toolkit". Show the diff only if the user asks for --verbose.
• Do not invoke /template-drift recursively against the adlc-toolkit's own .adlc/ (would always report drift against itself by construction).

Source: atelier-fashion/adlc-toolkit — distributed by TomeVault.