# Situate

> Gain situational awareness — read the branch, its diff, its PR, its tickets, and the project's own conventions, and report where the work stands

- Skill: `tony/situate-2` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tony/situate-2`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tony/situate-2/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Docs & Writing
- Author: tony (https://skillmd.com/u/tony)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tony/situate-2

---



# Situate

Answer one question: what is going on here, right now, and what would
someone picking this up need to know before touching anything.

Read `../../references/situation-sweep.md` first; it
defines the six evidence layers, how each degrades, and the read-only
contract. Read
`../../references/prior-conversations.md` before using
`--with-agentgrep`.

User arguments: $ARGUMENTS

## Context

Repository:
`!git remote get-url origin 2>/dev/null || echo "(no remote)"`

Current branch:
`!git branch --show-current 2>/dev/null || echo "(detached HEAD)"`

Trunk:
`!git symbolic-ref --short refs/remotes/origin/HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo "(origin/HEAD unset)"`

Ahead / behind trunk:
`!git rev-list --left-right --count "$(git symbolic-ref --short refs/remotes/origin/HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo origin/main)"...HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo "(no comparison available)"`

Working tree:
`!git status --short 2>/dev/null | head -20 || echo "(unavailable)"`

Trunk ref last updated:
`!git log -1 --format='%cr' "$(git symbolic-ref --short refs/remotes/origin/HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo origin/main)" 2>/dev/null || echo "(unknown)"`

## Procedure

### 1. Fix the scope

Default scope is the current branch measured against trunk, plus its
pull request if one is open.

`--pr <number|url>` switches the subject to that pull request and its
head branch instead — for reviewing someone else's work, or returning
to a branch not currently checked out. Read it through `gh`; do not
check it out.

On trunk with nothing ahead and a clean tree, there is no branch story.
Report recent trunk activity and the open pull requests, and say that
is what happened.

### 2. Sweep the layers

Work through the five repository layers in the order the sweep
reference sets out: position, change, pull request, tickets,
conventions. Gather all of them before writing anything — a finding in
one layer changes what matters in another, and a ticket's acceptance
criteria reframe the diff that implements them.

### 3. Search prior conversations

Only with `--with-agentgrep`, and only under the rules in the
prior-conversations reference: scoped to this project, capped, checked
against the repository, and reported without local paths.

Derive the search terms from what the first four layers found unless
the user supplied them.

### 4. Report

Write the sections below, in order. Then hand back — this command ends
at understanding.

## Rules

- Read-only. No commits, no pushes, no edits, no stashes, no branch
  switches, and no `git fetch`.
- Report absence explicitly. "No pull request open" is a finding; a
  missing section reads as a layer that was never checked.
- Separate what was read from what was inferred, and mark the
  inferences.
- Cite only ticket IDs found in the commits, the branch name, or the
  pull request body. Never invent a reference.
- Prior conversations are evidence of intent; the repository is the
  evidence of state. When they disagree, the repository wins and the
  disagreement is worth reporting.
- Orient, do not fix. Failing checks, review threads, and dirty files
  get surfaced, not repaired.
- No local absolute paths and no third-party personal details in the
  report.

## Output

Open with a one-line hero — `✓ <branch>: <what it does> · <n> commits ·
PR #<n> <state>`, or `⚠ <what is blocking or unclear>` — then exactly
these sections:

1. `## Position` — branch, trunk, ahead/behind, uncommitted work,
   stashes, and how stale the trunk ref is.
2. `## Change` — what the branch does and how far along it is, grouped
   by area, with the commit sequence's shape.
3. `## Pull request` — state, checks by job name, unresolved review
   threads and what they ask for; or that none is open.
4. `## Tickets` — each linked issue with its state and what it asks
   for; or that none is referenced.
5. `## Conventions` — the rules from AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md that bear on
   this change, and the quality gates it must pass.
6. `## Prior work` — only when `--with-agentgrep` ran: what was decided
   earlier, when, and whether the repository agrees.
7. `## Open questions` — what is unresolved, mid-flight, or
   contradictory, and what a resumed session would most likely get
   wrong.

End with an `AskUserQuestion` panel offering next steps (for example:
continue the branch's work, address the review threads, open a pull
request, widen the sweep to prior conversations) — skip the panel only
in plan mode.