Shape User Idea

Comes after review, beside the backlog. The user already has an idea, a question, or an artifact. This skill writes journal/ideas/<slug>.md and one Ideas row only after they confirm. The backlog triages that file later.

Human-facing prose

Details: setup-workspace references/human_facing_prose.md. Questions and the confirmation paragraph describe this idea in data-science terms — not skill ids or the wrapper CLI.

Procedure

1. Run python -m skore_skills status. Read journal/JOURNAL.md Status and History, and data_analysis/data_analysis.md when it exists.
2. If the entry is not already a concrete idea, question, or artifact, AskUserQuestion: free-text or artifact. A URL, issue, path, or stated idea skips that menu.
3. A question about this project is answered from those files. Leave an unknown metric as n/a. Write no idea file and return to the caller.
4. A topic with no artifact ("what do people do for …") loads search-ml-literature only if status.skills.search-ml-literature is true. Otherwise one-line skip. Do not WebSearch for a paper from here.
5. An artifact is read, not reconstructed. Paper or doc URL: WebFetch the page. GitHub issue: gh auth status first; if unauthenticated, ask the user to run gh auth login or paste the body. Then gh issue view. Resolution: explicit URL, then org/repo#N, then bare #N only in the current gh repo — otherwise ask. Spec or notes file: read that file only.
6. Walk three questions. Do not fabricate a missing answer.
   • What are we trying to learn?
   • Why now? Quote the user or the artifact.
   • What changes versus the last experiment, in prose?
7. If the idea changes the project goal in journal/JOURNAL.md Status, ask before writing the file. A library the source names and the user has not agreed to add stays in Open gaps. A domain claim this dataset does not establish stays in Open gaps.
8. Restate the idea in one short paragraph, then one single-choice AskUserQuestion: Yes / No. Do not also ask for a typed yes. Put that question in the message before any idea file. "Maybe" is not Yes. No or Stop writes nothing. A Yes from the tool, or an explicit yes the user already gave, authorizes the write only after that question is in the message.
9. On Yes, write journal/ideas/<slug>.md and upsert its Ideas row. Do not create a design note. Do not edit History, Backlog, or Status. Write journal/ideas/<slug>.md:

# <slug>
- Experiment: <last History stem, or n/a>
- Source: user
- Triage: open
- Question:
- Why now:
- What changes:
- Open gaps:

Why now carries the quote, URL, or path. No acceptance criteria. Then upsert one ## Ideas row: Question as plain text, Status open, Experiment <last History stem, or n/a>, Source user. If that table is missing, insert it between History and Backlog. Do not rewrite the other sections. Return the path to the caller (manage-ml-backlog or triage-ml-task).

Stop conditions

• Do not write History, Backlog, Status, or a design note. The Ideas table is the only JOURNAL.md edit.
• Do not append a B<N> row. The backlog triages the file.
• Do not invent source content from a title.
• Do not WebSearch for a topic with no artifact.
• The entry question and the Yes / No confirmation are required gates.
• If the user already asked to add a named library, put it in What changes and load add-python-package when that skill is installed. Do not pixi add from here.