Pivot

Capture a mid-project change of direction as a durable, traceable manifest. A pivot that isn't written down is a silent scope change; this skill makes it an artifact whose target: resolves to the spec or initiative it pivots away from — checked by the [pivot-trace] block in validate.sh.

Process

1. Identify the target. What are we pivoting away from? It must be a real specs/{active,archive}/<id>-*.md or initiatives/active/<id>*.md. Set:
   • target: — the id (e.g. 004 or spec-004 or an initiative id)
   • target_kind: — specs | plans | initiatives
   • target_path: — the canonical relative path
2. Pick the verb — drop | pause | supersede | stop.
3. Use the template at pivots/templates/pivot.md. Fill: Trigger (quote the metric/customer/dashboard), Lean-Startup pivot type, Old direction, New direction, Affected cascade.
4. Allocate an id — PIV-NNN = max(existing PIV ids in pivots/active) + 1.
5. Write to pivots/active/<slug>.md where <slug> is a short kebab label (e.g. pivots/active/drop-004-ci-gates.md).
6. Leave status: proposed until a peer signoff flips it to accepted (one reviewer is the gate — no committee).

Hard rules

• The target must resolve. validate.sh's [pivot-trace] block warns on any pivots/active/*.md whose target: points at no spec or initiative. Don't ship a dangling pivot.
• Quote the trigger. A pivot needs evidence — a metric, a customer quote, an incident — not a hunch.
• Don't cascade silently. List the child specs/plans/tasks the pivot affects in the Affected section so downstream state can be reconciled.
• Proposed until reviewed. No self-approval; a pivot is reversible without ceremony while status: proposed.

Output

pivots/active/<slug>.md   (status: proposed → accepted after peer signoff)

After save, notify the user: "Pivot pivots/active/<slug>.md captured (target: <target>, verb: <verb>). Awaiting one peer signoff to accept. Cascade: <N> child specs/plans/tasks affected."