Ship

Takes a branch from "done coding" to "reviewed, committed, pushed, and PR-ready."

Triggers

Use this skill when the user says:

• /ship
• "ship this branch"
• "ship this"
• "make this PR-ready"
• "review and open a PR"
• "prepare this for release"
• "publish the current work"

Rules

These apply on every run:

• Run from the current branch unless the user asks to switch.
• Stage specific files only. Never the whole worktree.
• Fix security findings before publish.
• Do not silently defer review findings.
• Never merge without explicit user instruction.

Flags

• --no-review: skip review, keep validation and publish
• --review-only: stop after review and reporting
• --dry-run: report what would be staged, validated, and published without doing it
• --fresh: ignore cached rerun state, do a full pass
• --quick: allow lighter non-security checks for small changes
• --no-pr: push the branch without opening a PR

Phase Model

Phase 0: Classify

• Inspect branch scope and changed files.
• Decide whether the run is full, delta-scoped, or cacheable.
• Outline likely PR and release material early.

Phase 1: Preflight

Run the repo's baseline validation before review.

Extension hook: preflight

Typical checks: lint, unit tests, smoke tests, secret scanning, docs or schema validation.

Phase 1.5: Docs Sync

If the change affects docs, examples, screenshots, or install instructions, update those before publish.

Extension hook: docs_sync

Phase 2: Review

Review the actual delta, not the entire repo. Fan out by file category or risk area when useful.

Extension hook: review

Findings use three severities:

• BLOCK: fix before publish
• WARN: can publish, but report clearly
• NOTE: real improvement, not a blocker

Review for: correctness, process safety, security, release regression risk, missing tests or docs.

Phase 3: Stage and Commit

After accepted fixes land:

• Stage intended files only.
• Write a clear commit message.
• Stop here if the user asked for --review-only or --dry-run.

Phase 4: Quality Gate

Run the repo's post-commit gate.

Extension hook: gate

Gate result: 0 = GO, 1 = WARN, 2 = BLOCK.

Can combine: targeted regression tests, security checks, packaging checks, release artifact validation.

Phase 5: Publish

Extension hook: publish

• Push the branch.
• Open or update a PR.
• Tag and release when the repo's release process calls for it.
• Include exact install examples in release notes if the repo distributes installable artifacts.

Phase 6: Report

Return a short report:

• Rerun scope used
• Findings fixed
• Remaining warnings
• Validation commands run
• Publish result
• PR or release URL if created

Extension Hooks

Map these to your repo's own commands. The skill does not assume any specific tooling.

Rerun Model

Use prior ship state to save time, not to lower quality.

• cached: same HEAD, reuse prior non-security work if trustworthy
• delta: scope review and non-security checks to files changed since last ship
• full: no trustworthy prior state, or the change is large enough that full review is cheaper

Security validation is always treated as fresh.