How do I install the Doc Chg skill?

Run npx skillmds add vladm3105/doc-chg in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

What does the Doc Chg skill do?

Author a Change Management (CHG) record - classify the change level, route by source to the entry gate, assess cross-layer cascade impact, and register the change. Use when modifying an existing SDD artifact across any of the 8 layers. Single-document authoring primitive; for end-to-end or batch generation the autopilot (`doc-chg-autopilot`) drives this skill. It is listed under Coding & Dev Tools on SkillMD.

Is Doc Chg safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: docs only. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Doc Chg?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Doc Chg free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Doc Chg?

vladm3105 (@vladm3105) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Doc Chg by vladm3105 — Agent Skill

Name: Doc Chg
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: vladm3105

doc-chg

Purpose

Author a Change Management (CHG) record — the governance overlay for modifying existing SDD artifacts. CHG is NOT a lifecycle layer: no layer number, no readiness score. Triggered on-demand when an artifact must change; quality bar is gate approval, not a numeric score.

Cross-layer scope: a CHG can touch any artifact along BRD → PRD → EARS → BDD → ADR → SPEC → TDD → IPLAN → Code. Job: classify, route to the correct gate, trace the cascade, keep the registry honest.

When to Use

Use doc-chg when:

An existing artifact (any layer) needs a correction, refinement, or cross-layer change.
A production incident forces an emergency fix that must be documented.
An external trigger (regulatory, vendor, market) requires a controlled change.

Do not use it to author a brand-new artifact — use the relevant layer skill (../doc-brd/SKILL.md … ../doc-iplan/SKILL.md). For end-to-end CHG drafting with minimal prompts, use ../doc-chg-autopilot/SKILL.md.

Prerequisites

Before writing, read:

Template (source of truth): ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/chg/CHG-TEMPLATE.yaml
CHG overview: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/chg/README.md
Index template: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/chg/CHG-00_index.TEMPLATE.md
Authoring style: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/AUTHORING_STYLE.md
The entry gate for the change source (see routing below), under ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/chg/gates/.

Confirm no ID collision: ls docs/governance/chg/ 2>/dev/null. Reserve the next free CHG-NN (dash form — CHG carries no hierarchical 4-segment element IDs).

Change-Level Classification (decide first)

Classification drives the entire process. Authority: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/chg/CHG-TEMPLATE.yaml (metadata.change_level).

Level	Scope	Gate	Process
C1	Typo, formatting, clarification	None	Fix → commit → done
C2	Section update, requirement refinement	Peer review	Assess impact → update → verify
C3	Cross-layer change, new requirements	Formal gate	Full CHG process + `GATE_APPROVAL_FORM`
Emergency	Critical production issue (P0/P1)	Post-hoc gate + post-mortem	Fix → deploy → document → post-mortem within 48h

C1 needs no CHG document beyond the commit; record it if a registry trail is wanted, otherwise just commit.
C2 requires a CHG document with impact assessment, a rollback plan, and peer review.
C3 requires the full document plus a formal gate run — hand off to ../gate-check/SKILL.md.
Emergency uses ID format CHG-EMG-YYYYMMDD-HHMM, populates the emergency_change block, deploys the fix, then completes a post-mortem (${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/chg/templates/POST_MORTEM-TEMPLATE.md) and a post-hoc gate within 48 hours. All normal CHG sections are still filled retroactively.

Source → Gate Routing

Where the change originates determines the entry gate. Authority: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/chg/README.md and CHG-TEMPLATE.yaml (metadata.change_source).

Source	Trigger	Entry Gate	Cascade direction
Upstream	BRD/PRD change cascading down	GATE-01	downstream
External	Regulatory, vendor, market	GATE-01	full assessment
Midstream	EARS/BDD/ADR change affecting neighbors	GATE-03	lateral + down
Design	SPEC/TDD change	GATE-06	downstream
Execution	IPLAN change	GATE-08	downstream
Feedback	Production feedback, user/defect issues	GATE-CODE	bubble-up
Spec	Change to the `framework/` spec (template/governance/registry/VERSION)	GATE-SPEC	meta — no cascade

Gate definitions live in ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/chg/gates/ (GATE-01_BUSINESS_PRODUCT.md, GATE-03_REQUIREMENTS_ARCHITECTURE.md, GATE-06_DESIGN_TEST.md, GATE-08_IPLAN.md, GATE-CODE_IMPLEMENTATION.md, GATE-SPEC_FRAMEWORK.md). Running a gate is the job of ../gate-check/SKILL.md; doc-chg only selects the entry gate and records it.

Spec is target-based, not layer-based. A change to the framework/ spec itself sets change_source: spec, entry_gate: GATE-SPEC, and a semver_impact (major → C3; minor/patch may be C2; spec change is never C1). It does not cascade into artifact gates. A platform's own authoring guidance / runtime is not a spec change — ordinary platform PR.

Cross-Layer Cascade Assessment

The most common CHG failure is incomplete impact assessment. Trace the change along the chain:

BRD → PRD → EARS → BDD → ADR → SPEC → TDD → IPLAN → Code

Upstream/External changes cascade downstream — a BRD edit can ripple all the way to Code.
Feedback changes bubble up from Code toward the layer that holds the root cause (the defect may live in TDD, SPEC, ADR, or higher).
Midstream changes are lateral (EARS↔BDD↔ADR) plus downstream.

For every affected artifact, record in impact_assessment.affected_layers: artifact ID, what changes, cascade_direction. Avoid the template's listed anti-patterns (e.g. SPEC change without checking upstream ADR/BDD; BRD change without cascading the full chain).

Creation Process

Classify the change level (C1/C2/C3/Emergency) with justification.
Identify the source and route to the entry gate (table above).
Reserve the ID — next free CHG-NN, or CHG-EMG-YYYYMMDD-HHMM for Emergency.
Populate CHG-TEMPLATE.yaml: metadata (level, source), change_control, change_description (what/why/trigger), impact_assessment (affected layers + cascade direction + risk), implementation, verification. Add rollback_plan for C2/C3, gate_approval for C3, and emergency_change for Emergency.
Register the change in CHG-00_index.md (from ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/chg/CHG-00_index.TEMPLATE.md) in the same change.
For C3/Emergency, hand off to ../gate-check/SKILL.md to run the formal gate and complete GATE_APPROVAL_FORM. For Emergency, also schedule the post-mortem.
Validate (below) and commit the CHG record and index together.

Validation

This skill is the validator (no runtime code). Apply against ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/chg/CHG-TEMPLATE.yaml and ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/chg/README.md.

change_level is one of C1/C2/C3/Emergency and matches the actual scope.
change_source set and entry_gate matches the routing table.
impact_assessment.affected_layers lists every affected artifact; cascade_direction is correct for the source.
rollback_plan present for C2/C3; gate_approval present for C3; emergency_change block complete for Emergency (incl. post_mortem_due).
Change registered in CHG-00_index.md; no broken links.
CHG IDs use dash form CHG-NN (or CHG-EMG-YYYYMMDD-HHMM); no hierarchical element IDs.

Code	Meaning	Severity
CHG-E001	Change level missing or mismatched to scope	error
CHG-E002	Entry gate does not match change source	error
CHG-E003	Incomplete cascade / impact assessment	error
CHG-E004	Missing rollback (C2/C3) or post-mortem schedule (Emergency)	error

Quality bar (not a score): CHG passes by gate approval, not a ≥90 readiness score. C1 self-approves; C2 needs peer review; C3/Emergency need a formal/post-hoc gate via ../gate-check/SKILL.md.

Next Skill

C3/Emergency → ../gate-check/SKILL.md (formal gate + GATE_APPROVAL_FORM).
Validate the record → ../doc-chg-audit/SKILL.md.
After approval, edit the affected artifacts using their layer skills (../doc-brd/SKILL.md … ../doc-iplan/SKILL.md).

Related Resources

Template: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/chg/CHG-TEMPLATE.yaml
Overview: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/chg/README.md
Index template: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/chg/CHG-00_index.TEMPLATE.md
Gates: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/chg/gates/
Post-mortem: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/chg/templates/POST_MORTEM-TEMPLATE.md
Gate runner: ../gate-check/SKILL.md
End-to-end: ../doc-chg-autopilot/SKILL.md · Audit: ../doc-chg-audit/SKILL.md · Fix: ../doc-chg-fixer/SKILL.md

Quick Reference


Purpose	Govern a change to an existing SDD artifact
Lifecycle layer?	No — cross-cutting governance overlay
Element IDs	`CHG-NN` (dash) / `CHG-EMG-YYYYMMDD-HHMM`
Key decision	Change level (C1/C2/C3/Emergency) + source routing
Quality bar	Gate approval, not a readiness score
Next	`gate-check` (C3/Emergency)

Doc Chg

File contents

doc-chg

Purpose

When to Use

Prerequisites

Change-Level Classification (decide first)

Source → Gate Routing

Cross-Layer Cascade Assessment

Creation Process

Validation

Next Skill

Related Resources

Quick Reference

Frequently asked questions

Doc Chg

File contents

doc-chg

Purpose

When to Use

Prerequisites

Change-Level Classification (decide first)

Source → Gate Routing

Cross-Layer Cascade Assessment

Creation Process

Validation

Next Skill

Related Resources

Quick Reference

Related skills

Frequently asked questions

How do I install the Doc Chg skill?

What does the Doc Chg skill do?

Is Doc Chg safe to use?

Which AI agents work with Doc Chg?

Is Doc Chg free to use?

Who published Doc Chg?