Studio Help — What Do I Do Next?

This skill is read-only — it reports findings but writes no files.

This skill figures out exactly where you are in the game development pipeline and tells you what comes next. It is lightweight — not a full audit. For a full gap analysis, use /project-stage-detect.

Step 0: Read the Deterministic Phase Check (context block)

The context block above already ran scripts/check_phase.py — the deterministic gate for phase completion (see docs/deterministic-gates.md). Its output is the verdict. Do not re-derive step completion by globbing yourself.

Read from its output:

• track= and phase= — which track (game/product) and phase the project is in
• [x] complete / [ ] incomplete / [?] MANUAL / [-] untrackable, per step
• next required step: — the blocker
• VERDICT: and EXIT: — the exit-code contract: 0 phase complete · 1 in progress · 2 dependency violation (a step was skipped — surface this prominently) · 3 cannot judge

Only if EXIT: 3 appears (catalog unreadable, ambiguous track): fall back to the manual artifact checks in Step 4, and say explicitly that completion was judged by the model, not the gate. If the track was ambiguous, ask the user (game or app/web/service?) — never guess.

Step 1: Read the Catalog

Read .claude/docs/workflow-catalog.yaml for step descriptions, commands, and ordering (schema v2: tracks: → game / product → phases:). Use the track reported by check_phase.py — game projects follow the game track, web/mobile/ service projects follow the product track. The catalog explains what each step is; completion status comes from Step 0.

Step 1b: Find Skills Not in the Catalog

After reading the catalog, Glob .claude/skills/*/SKILL.md to get the full list of installed skills. For each file, extract the name: field from its frontmatter.

Compare against the command: values in the catalog. Any skill whose name does not appear as a catalog command is an uncataloged skill — still usable but not part of the phase-gated workflow.

Collect these for the output in Step 7 — show them as a footer block:

### Also installed (not in workflow)
- `/skill-name` — [description from SKILL.md frontmatter]
- `/skill-name` — [description]

Only show this block if at least one uncataloged skill exists. Limit to the 10 most relevant based on the user's current phase (QA skills in production, team skills in production/polish, etc.).

Step 2: Determine Current Phase

Normal path: use the phase= value from check_phase.py (Step 0) — it already applied stage.txt-first, artifact-inference-second, for the right track.

Fallback (EXIT: 3 only): check in this order:

1. Read production/stage.txt — if it exists and has content, this is the authoritative phase name. Map it to a catalog phase key for the active track:
   • Game: "Concept" → concept · "Systems Design" → systems-design · "Technical Setup" → technical-setup · "Pre-Production" → pre-production · "Production" → production · "Polish" → polish · "Release" → release
   • Product: "Discovery" → discovery · "Architecture" → architecture · "Build" → build · "Hardening" → hardening · "Ship" → ship · "Growth & Operate" → growth
2. If stage.txt is missing, infer phase from artifacts (most-advanced match wins):
   • Game: src/ has 10+ source files → production · production/stories/*.md → pre-production · docs/architecture/adr-*.md → technical-setup · design/gdd/systems-index.md → systems-design · design/gdd/game-concept.md → concept · nothing → concept
   • Product: src/ has 10+ source files → build · production/epics/ → build · docs/architecture/adr-*.md → architecture · product/prd/prd-*.md → discovery · nothing → discovery

Step 3: Read Session Context

Read production/session-state/active.md if it exists. Extract:

• What was most recently worked on
• Any in-progress tasks or open questions
• Current epic/feature/task from STATUS block (if present)

This tells you what the user just finished or is stuck on — use it to personalize the output.

Step 4: Check Step Completion for the Current Phase

Normal path: completion per step was already decided in Step 0 by check_phase.py — carry those verdicts forward unchanged. The subsections below are (a) the fallback when EXIT: 3 appeared, and (b) the special cases the script does not cover (sprint-status.yaml, repeatable-step nuance).

Artifact-based checks (fallback only — EXIT: 3)

If the step has artifact.glob:

• Use Glob to check if files matching the pattern exist
• If min_count is specified, verify at least that many files match
• If artifact.pattern is specified, use Grep to verify the pattern exists in the matched file
• Complete = artifact condition is met
• Incomplete = artifact is missing or pattern not found

If the step has artifact.note (no glob):

• Mark as MANUAL — cannot auto-detect, will ask user

If the step has no artifact field:

• Mark as UNKNOWN — completion not trackable (e.g. repeatable implementation work)

Special case: production phase — read sprint-status.yaml

When the current phase is production, check for production/sprint-status.yaml before doing any glob-based story checks. If it exists, read it directly:

• Stories with status: in-progress → surface as "currently active"
• Stories with status: ready-for-dev → surface as "next up"
• Stories with status: done → count as complete
• Stories with status: blocked → surface as blocker with the blocker field

This gives precise per-story status without markdown scanning. Skip the glob artifact check for the implement and story-done steps — the YAML is authoritative.

Special case: repeatable: true (non-production)

For repeatable steps outside production (e.g. "System GDDs"), the artifact check tells you whether any work has been done, not whether it's finished. Label these differently — show what's been detected, then note it may be ongoing.

Step 5: Find Position and Identify Next Steps

From the completion data, determine:

1. Last confirmed complete step — the furthest completed required step
2. Current blocker — the first incomplete required step (this is what the user must do next)
3. Optional opportunities — incomplete optional steps that can be done before or alongside the blocker
4. Upcoming required steps — required steps after the current blocker (show as "coming up" so user can plan ahead)

If the user provided an argument (e.g. "just finished design-review"), use that to advance past the step they named even if the artifact check is ambiguous.

Step 6: Check for In-Progress Work

If active.md shows an active task or epic:

• Surface it prominently at the top: "It looks like you were working on [X]"
• Suggest continuing it or confirm if it's done

Step 7: Present Output

Keep it short and direct. This is a quick orientation, not a report.

## Where You Are: [Phase Label]

**In progress:** [from active.md, if any]

### ✓ Done
- [completed step name]
- [completed step name]

### → Next up (REQUIRED)
**[Step name]** — [description]
Command: `[/command]`

### ~ Also available (OPTIONAL)
- **[Step name]** — [description] → `/command`
- **[Step name]** — [description] → `/command`

### Coming up after that
- [Next required step name] (`/command`)
- [Next required step name] (`/command`)

---
Approaching **[next phase]** gate → run `/gate-check` when ready.

If check_phase.py reported EXIT: 2 (dependency violation): lead with it, before the normal layout — name the completed step, the skipped required dependency, and the command that fills the gap:

⚠ Dependency violation: [step] is done but its required dependency
  [dep-step] is missing. Run `[/dep-command]` first — later artifacts built on
  a skipped step tend to need rework.

Formatting rules:

• ✓ for confirmed complete
• → for the current required next step (only one — the first blocker)
• ~ for optional steps available now
• Show commands inline as backtick code
• If a step has no command (e.g. "Implement Stories"), explain what to do instead of showing a slash command
• For MANUAL steps, ask the user: "I can't tell if [step] is done — has it been completed?"

Verdict: COMPLETE — next steps identified.

Step 8: Gate Warning (if close)

After the current phase's steps, check if the user is likely approaching a gate:

• If all required steps in the current phase are complete (or nearly complete), add: "You're close to the [Current] → [Next] gate. Run /gate-check when ready."
• If multiple required steps remain, skip the gate warning — it's not relevant yet.

Step 9: Escalation Paths

After the recommendations, if the user seems stuck or confused, add:

---
Need more detail?
- `/project-stage-detect` — full gap analysis with all missing artifacts listed
- `/gate-check` — formal readiness check for your next phase
- `/start` — re-orient from scratch

Only show this if the user's input suggested confusion (e.g. "I don't know", "stuck", "lost", "not sure"). Don't show it for simple "what's next?" queries.

Collaborative Protocol

• Never auto-run the next skill. Recommend it, let the user invoke it.
• Ask about MANUAL steps rather than assuming complete or incomplete.
• Match the user's tone — if they sound stressed ("I'm totally lost"), be reassuring and give one action, not a list of six.
• One primary recommendation — the user should leave knowing exactly one thing to do next. Optional steps and "coming up" are secondary context.