# Maestro:groom

> Groom a single GitHub issue — produce an implementation spec and optionally post the grooming summary as a GitHub comment. Standalone entry point for the grooming-agent.

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

---


# Groom

Standalone grooming for a single issue. Runs the full grooming analysis and writes the spec
to disk. Posting to GitHub is your choice — you are prompted at the end.

## Step 1 — Read config

Read `.claude/maestro.json`. Extract:
- `TEMP_ROOT` = `.ai.temp_root`
- `REPO` = `.ai.repo`

## Step 2 — Sync the issue

Ensure the issue file exists at `{TEMP_ROOT}/issues/<N>/issue.md`. Run:

```bash
bash .claude/skills/issue-workflow/scripts/issue-sync.sh <N>
```

If the file already exists and `git status` shows it is less than 5 minutes old, skip the
sync and use the cached file.

## Step 3 — Invoke the grooming agent

Invoke the `grooming-agent` sub-agent with the following invocation context:

> Issue number: `<N>`
> complexity_signal: derive from the issue content yourself
>
> **STANDALONE MODE** — two differences from the normal pipeline run:
> 1. **Skip Step 5 (posting to GitHub).** Instead, include the full comment body you would
>    have posted in a section titled `## Grooming Comment Draft` at the end of your response.
>    Use exactly the same format the pipeline would post (including the
>    `<!-- ai-pipeline:grooming-plan -->` marker), so it is ready to copy-paste or post as-is.
> 2. **Skip Step 6 (StructuredOutput JSON).** Return a short human-readable summary instead:
>    effort, risk, complexity, and any open questions.

The spec file is still written to `{TEMP_ROOT}/issues/<N>/spec.md` as normal — that always happens.

## Step 4 — Offer to post

After the agent responds, display its `## Grooming Comment Draft` to the user, then ask:

> **Post this as a comment on issue #\<N\>?**
> Reply `yes` to post as-is, `no` to finish without posting, or paste edited text to post a
> modified version.

**If yes** — post using the exact body from the draft (including the HTML marker):

```bash
gh issue comment <N> --repo {REPO} --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
<!-- ai-pipeline:grooming-plan -->
[comment body here]
EOF
)"
```

Check for an existing grooming comment first (dedup):

```bash
EXISTING_ID=$(gh api repos/{REPO}/issues/<N>/comments \
  --jq '[.[] | select(.body | contains("<!-- ai-pipeline:grooming-plan -->"))] | last | .id // empty')
```

If one exists, update it with `PATCH` instead of creating a new comment.

**If no** — confirm the spec was written to `{TEMP_ROOT}/issues/<N>/spec.md` and finish.

**If edited** — use the user-provided text as the comment body and post.