Developer Summary

Developer Summary

Generates a developer-focused summary document from Sherpy planning artifacts. Provides developers with a quick-start view of what's being built, key deliverables, and the milestone roadmap.

Usage

/developer-summary [base-directory]

If no directory is provided, auto-detect by looking for requirements/business-requirements.yaml in the current directory.

If not found, prompt the user: "Where are your planning artifacts located?"

Wait for the user to provide a path before proceeding.

Required Artifacts

The skill auto-discovers these files from the standard Sherpy folder structure:

Process

Step 1: Determine Base Directory and Scan for Required Artifacts

If no directory parameter was provided, check if requirements/business-requirements.yaml exists in the current directory.

• If found, use current directory as base_directory
• If not found, prompt: "Where are your planning artifacts located?" and wait for user response

Once base_directory is determined, scan for required files in standard locations. Display status:

## Developer Summary — Dependency Check

Scanning for required artifacts...

 ✓  requirements/business-requirements.yaml
 ✓  requirements/technical-requirements.yaml
 ✓  implementation/milestones.yaml
 ✗  delivery/timeline.yaml

3 of 4 required files found.

Legend: ✓ found · ✗ missing

Step 2: Handle Missing Files

If any required files are missing, ask:

"Missing required files: timeline.yaml

Options:

1. Continue with partial data — Generate summary with available information (missing sections will be marked as [Not Available])
2. Exit — Complete missing artifacts first (run /delivery-timeline to generate timeline.yaml)

What would you like to do?"

Wait for user response:

• If user chooses 1 (Continue): Proceed with available data, mark missing sections clearly
• If user chooses 2 (Exit): Display which skills to run and exit gracefully

Step 3: Load and Parse Artifacts

Read all available files and extract:

From business-requirements.yaml:

• Project name and description
• Core features and capabilities
• Key deliverables

From technical-requirements.yaml:

• Technology stack
• Architectural patterns
• Key technical components

From milestones.yaml:

• Milestone sequence (m0, m1, m2, etc.)
• Milestone names and descriptions
• Dependencies between milestones
• Estimated duration per milestone

From timeline.yaml (if available):

• Total project duration
• Target completion date
• Timeline workback schedule

Step 4: Generate Developer Summary

Create summaries/developer-summary.md.

The output document includes: header (timestamp, project name), Overview (3-5 sentence synthesis), Deliverables (grouped by category), Milestones & Timeline (M0, M1... with duration, dependencies, key deliverable), and Summary (total milestones, estimated duration, target completion).

See references/output-spec.md for the complete document specification with section structure and formatting rules.

See references/example.md for a full example.

Step 5: Handle Missing Data Gracefully

When required files are missing, insert clear placeholders:

## Milestones & Timeline

[Not Available - `milestones.yaml` not found. Run `/implementation-planner` to generate milestones.]

Or for partial data:

## Summary

**Total Milestones:** 4
**Estimated Total Duration:** 6 weeks (estimated from milestones)
**Target Completion:** [Not Available - run `/delivery-timeline` to set production deploy date]

Step 6: Confirmation

After generating the summary, display:

## Developer Summary Generated ✓

**Location:** summaries/developer-summary.md
**Size:** [file size]

Summary includes:
  ✓ Project overview
  ✓ Deliverables breakdown
  ✓ Milestone roadmap
  [Missing data: timeline completion date - run /delivery-timeline]

The summary is ready for developer onboarding and reference.

Deliverables Extraction Logic

Identifying Deliverables

Parse the following sources to build the deliverables list:

From business-requirements.yaml:

• functional_requirements → User-facing features
• features or capabilities → High-level capabilities
• scope.in_scope → Explicitly included items

From technical-requirements.yaml:

• architecture.components → Technical components
• technology_stack → Infrastructure items (databases, APIs, services)
• data_model.entities → Domain entities/models
• apis.endpoints → API endpoints if listed
• integration_points → External integrations

Categorization Rules

Group deliverables into logical categories based on type:

• API Endpoints - REST/GraphQL endpoints, webhooks
• Domain Handlers - Business logic handlers, command processors
• UI Components - Pages, views, components (if applicable)
• Data Models - Entities, schemas, database tables
• Infrastructure - Databases, message queues, auth systems
• Integrations - External service connections
• Background Jobs - Scheduled tasks, workers
• Configuration - Environment setup, deployment configs

Use the most relevant categories based on what's present in the requirements. Don't force categories that don't apply.

Overview Generation Logic

Crafting the Overview Paragraph

Synthesize information from multiple sources to create a concise, informative overview:

Elements to include (in order):

1. What - The system/feature being built (1 sentence)
2. Why - The problem it solves or value it provides (1 sentence)
3. How (high-level) - The approach or key capability (1 sentence, optional)

Source fields to use:

• business-requirements.yaml:
  • description or overview
  • business_goals.primary_goal
  • success_criteria
• technical-requirements.yaml:
  • solution_overview
  • architecture.approach

Template:

"[System Name] is a [type of system] that [primary function]. It addresses [problem] by [solution approach], enabling [key benefit/outcome]. The system will [key technical approach or differentiator]."

Example:

"The Sherpy CLI is a structured planning tool for AI-assisted software development. It addresses requirement drift and planning gaps by conducting guided interviews and generating comprehensive implementation plans with task-level detail. The system enforces best practices like task sizing, TDD requirements, and style anchors throughout the planning process."

Keep it Concise

• Maximum 5 sentences
• No bullet points in the overview
• Focus on business value, not implementation details
• Avoid jargon unless it's domain-specific and necessary

Milestone Roadmap Logic

Extracting Milestone Information

For each milestone in milestones.yaml, extract:

Required fields:

• id - Milestone identifier (m0, m1, etc.)
• name - Milestone title
• description - What the milestone delivers
• estimated_duration - Time estimate
• dependencies - Which milestones must complete first

Formatting:

• Display milestones in sequence (m0 → m1 → m2...)
• Show dependencies clearly
• Highlight the "key deliverable" from the first line of the description or the most important success criterion

Example extraction:

# From milestones.yaml:
milestones:
  - id: m1
    name: API Foundation
    description: |
      Build core REST API with authentication and authorization.
      Includes user management endpoints and JWT token handling.
    dependencies: [m0]
    estimated_duration: 2 weeks
    success_criteria:
      - All auth endpoints functional
      - JWT tokens properly validated

Renders as:

### M1: API Foundation
**Duration:** 2 weeks
**Dependencies:** M0
**Key Deliverable:** Core REST API with authentication and authorization

Timeline Calculation

If timeline.yaml is available:

• Use total_duration field
• Use production_deploy_date for target completion
• Show the calculated project dates

If only milestones.yaml is available:

• Sum all estimated_duration values
• Convert to appropriate unit (days/weeks)
• Note that this is an estimate without QA/PR time

If neither is available:

• Mark as "TBD" with instruction to run appropriate skill

Error Handling

File Not Found

If a required file doesn't exist in the expected location:

• Check alternative common locations (root directory as fallback)
• Display clear error with exact path tried
• Suggest which Sherpy skill generates that file

Invalid YAML

If a file exists but can't be parsed:

• Display parsing error
• Show the file path and line number if available
• Suggest checking file format or regenerating

Missing Required Fields

If a file is missing expected fields:

• Use sensible defaults or mark as "[Not Specified]"
• Continue generating summary with available data
• Note missing fields in the confirmation output

Output Location

Always output to: {base_directory}/summaries/developer-summary.md

If the directory doesn't exist, create it:

mkdir -p {base_directory}/summaries

Integration with Sherpy Flow

This skill is designed to be called as Step 10 in /sherpy-flow. When invoked by sherpy-flow, it receives base_directory as a parameter. It should:

• Run after all planning artifacts are complete
• Auto-discover files from the organized folder structure within base_directory
• Not fail if optional files (like timeline) are missing
• Generate the summary without user interaction when all files are present

Examples

See references/example.md for a complete sample developer summary.

Related Skills

• /executive-summary - Generate executive summary for stakeholders
• /sherpy-flow - Full planning workflow (includes this skill at the end)
• /implementation-planner - Generates the milestones.yaml used by this skill
• /delivery-timeline - Generates the timeline.yaml used by this skill