Work Archiving

Work Archiving Skill

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill at Stage 6 (Archive) of the workflow when:

• Code review is approved and all changes are merged
• Need to finalize and document completed work
• Time to close out the change package
• Asked to "archive", "finalize", "close out this work"
• Completing the 6-stage workflow cycle

Prerequisites

Before archiving:

• Code review completed (05-review.md exists with approval)
• All changes committed and pushed
• Tests passing (if applicable)
• Documentation updated

Archiving Workflow

Step 1: Review Change Package Status

Check the change package folder (changes/<YYYY-MM-DD>-<slug>/) for completeness:

• 01-brainstorm.md — Initial requirements and risk assessment
• 02-decision-log.md — Key decisions made
• 03-spec.md — Specification (if standard path)
• 04-plan.md — Implementation plan
• 05-review.md — Code review results

Step 2: Create Archive Summary

Create changes/<YYYY-MM-DD>-<slug>/99-archive.md:

# Archive: [Feature Name]

**Date Completed**: YYYY-MM-DD
**Status**: ✅ Completed / ⚠️ Completed with Known Issues

## Summary
Brief description of what was implemented.

## Key Outcomes
- Outcome 1
- Outcome 2

## Commits
- [commit-hash] commit message
- [commit-hash] commit message

## Related Issues/PRs
- Closes #123
- Related to #456

## Known Issues / Technical Debt
- Issue 1 (tracked in #789)
- Issue 2 (documented in decision log)

## Lessons Learned
- What went well
- What could be improved
- Recommendations for future work

Step 3: Update CHANGELOG

If CHANGELOG.md exists, add entry:

## [Version] - YYYY-MM-DD

### Added
- Feature description

### Changed
- Change description

### Fixed
- Fix description

### Security
- Security improvement description

If no CHANGELOG exists, consider creating one following Keep a Changelog format.

Step 4: Commit and Tag (if applicable)

# Commit archive document
git add changes/<YYYY-MM-DD>-<slug>/99-archive.md
git commit -m "docs: archive change package for <feature-name>"

# Optional: Create release tag
git tag -a v1.2.3 -m "Release version 1.2.3"
git push origin v1.2.3

Step 5: Close Related Issues/PRs

If using GitHub:

• Close related issues with reference to commits
• Update project boards
• Link PRs to completed work

Step 6: Clean Up (Optional)

• Remove temporary files or branches
• Archive old change packages (if many exist)
• Update team documentation

Output Format

Archive Document (99-archive.md)

Troubleshooting

Integration with Workflow

This skill completes the 6-stage workflow:

1. Brainstorm → 2. Specification → 3. Planning → 4. Implementation → 5. Review → 6. Archive

After archiving, the change package serves as:

• Audit trail for regulatory/compliance needs
• Knowledge base for future similar work
• Onboarding material for new team members
• Reference for technical decisions

Related Resources

• WORKFLOW.md — Complete workflow documentation
• Specification Skill — Stage 2
• Implementation Planning Skill — Stage 3
• TDD Workflow Skill — Stage 4
• Code & Security Review Skill — Stage 5

Security Considerations

• Never commit secrets, credentials, or sensitive data in archive documents
• Redact customer/user information from examples
• If archiving includes security fixes, coordinate disclosure timing
• Ensure compliance with data retention policies

Converted and distributed by TomeVault — claim your Tome and manage your conversions.