gstack-document-release
Skill0 starsChanged 8 months agoMITView on GitHub
Post-ship documentation update. Reads all project docs, cross-references the diff, updates README/ARCHITECTURE/CONTRIBUTING/CLAUDE.md to match what shipped, polishes CHANGELOG voice, cleans up TODOS, and optionally bumps VERSION. Use when asked to "update the docs", "sync documentation", or "post-ship docs". Proactively suggest after a PR is merged or code is shipped. (gstack)
- Commits and pushes
1 other project uses a version of this, 1 of them edited.
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Most recently taken up by
- sagnikmitra/skillsedited, first seen Jun 8, 2026
Other versions1 project uses a version of this.
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Edited · 1
- sagnikmitra/skills★ 114% same
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How matches are found. Word for word: the exact same text. Edited: shares passages with this file (“99% same” means 99% of its five-word phrases also appear here; 10% or more counts). Their own version: similar meaning, or, weakest, the same name. We can’t tell which project had it first. Projects are counted among the 200 most-starred candidates, and mentions are links to the repository we found, up to 50 per site, so both counts are a floor.
In this repository34 other files it gives its agents.
- AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- CLAUDE.mdCLAUDE.md
- gstack-autoplanSkill
- gstack-benchmarkSkill
- gstack-browseSkill
- gstack-canarySkill
- gstack-carefulSkill
- gstack-checkpointSkill
- gstack-codexSkill
- gstack-connect-chromeSkill
- gstack-csoSkill
- gstack-design-consultationSkill
- gstack-design-htmlSkill
- gstack-design-reviewSkill
- gstack-design-shotgunSkill
- gstack-freezeSkill
- gstack-guardSkill
- gstack-healthSkill
- gstack-investigateSkill
- gstack-land-and-deploySkill
- gstack-learnSkill
- gstack-office-hoursSkill
- gstack-plan-ceo-reviewSkill
- gstack-plan-design-reviewSkill
- gstack-plan-eng-reviewSkill
- gstack-qa-onlySkill
- gstack-qaSkill
- gstack-retroSkill
- gstack-reviewSkill
- gstack-setup-browser-cookiesSkill
- gstack-setup-deploySkill
- gstack-shipSkill
- gstackSkill
- gstack-unfreezeSkill
The file
Show its rules and text
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
67 rules. About 0 are common, 45 are distinctive, and 22 are very specific to this project.
≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈45
Distinctive · estimate
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
22
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- Very specific: line 61
If PROACTIVE is "false", do not proactively suggest gstack skills AND do not auto-invoke skills based on conversation context.
- Very specific: line 67
If SKILL_PREFIX is "true", the user has namespaced skill names.
- Very specific: line 72
If PROACTIVE is not yet configured: After the preamble runs, check the value.
- Distinctive: line 73
If the user has not been prompted about proactive behavior, use AskUserQuestion:
- Very specific: line 83
If A: run ~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-config set proactive true If B: run ~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-config set proactive …
- Very specific: line 84
If B: run ~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-config set proactive false
- Very specific: line 86
If HAS_ROUTING is no AND ROUTING_DECLINED is false: Check if a CLAUDE.md file exists in the project root.
- Distinctive: line 87
Check if a CLAUDE.md file exists in the project root.
- Distinctive: line 99
If A: Append this section to the end of CLAUDE.md:
- Distinctive: line 133
Start from lived experience.
- Distinctive: line 144
No em dashes. Use commas, periods, or "..." instead.
- Distinctive: line 145
No AI vocabulary: delve, crucial, robust, comprehensive, nuanced, multifaceted, furthermore, moreover, additionally, pivotal, landscape, …
- Distinctive: line 153
After compaction or at session start, check for recent project artifacts.
- Distinctive: line 174
If artifacts are listed, read the most recent one to recover context.
- Very specific: line 176
If LAST_SESSION is shown, mention it briefly: "Last session on this branch ran /[skill] with [outcome]."
- Distinctive: line 199
When completing a skill workflow, report status using one of:
- Distinctive: line 210
If you have attempted a task 3 times without success, STOP and escalate.
- Distinctive: line 211
If you are uncertain about a security-sensitive change, STOP and escalate.
- Distinctive: line 212
If the scope of work exceeds what you can verify, STOP and escalate.
- Distinctive: line 224
Before completing, reflect on this session:
- Distinctive: line 230
If yes, log an operational learning for future sessions:
- Distinctive: line 240
When in plan mode, these operations are always allowed because they produce artifacts that inform the plan, not code changes:
- Distinctive: line 255
When you are in plan mode and about to call ExitPlanMode:
- Very specific: line 257
Check if the plan file already has a ## GSTACK REVIEW REPORT section.
- Distinctive: line 258
If it DOES — skip (a review skill already wrote a richer report).
- Distinctive: line 259
If it does NOT — run this command:
- Very specific: line 267
If the output contains review entries (JSONL lines before ---CONFIG---): format the standard report table with runs/status/findings per …
- Very specific: line 270
If the output is NO_REVIEWS or empty: write this placeholder table:
- Very specific: line 282
VERDICT: NO REVIEWS YET — run \/gstack-autoplan\ for full review pipeline, or individual reviews above.
- Distinctive: line 293
If the URL contains "github.com" → platform is GitHub
- Distinctive: line 294
If the URL contains "gitlab" → platform is GitLab
- Very specific: line 313
If that fails: git rev-parse --verify origin/main 2>/dev/null → use main
- Distinctive: line 316
If all fail, fall back to main.
- Very specific: line 351
Use Write tool on CHANGELOG.md — always use Edit with exact old_string matches
- Distinctive: line 357
Check the current branch. If on the base branch, abort: "You're on the base branch.
- Distinctive: line 391
Read each documentation file and cross-reference it against the diff.
- Distinctive: line 401
Do ASCII diagrams and component descriptions match the current code?
- Distinctive: line 409
Do test tier descriptions match the current test infrastructure?
- Very specific: line 416
Do build/test instructions match what's in package.json (or equivalent)?
- Distinctive: line 419
Read the file, determine its purpose and audience.
- Distinctive: line 443
Do not remove entire sections from any document
- Distinctive: line 469
Read the entire CHANGELOG.md first.
- Distinctive: line 470
Only modify wording within existing entries.
- Very specific: line 471
Never regenerate a CHANGELOG entry from scratch.
- Distinctive: line 474
If an entry looks wrong or incomplete, use AskUserQuestion — do NOT silently fix it.
- Very specific: line 475
Use Edit tool with exact old_string matches — never use Write to overwrite CHANGELOG.md.
- Distinctive: line 493
After auditing each file individually, do a cross-doc consistency pass:
- Distinctive: line 511
If TODOS.md does not exist, skip this step.
- Distinctive: line 518
Items needing description updates: If a TODO references files or components that were significantly changed, its description may be stale.
- Very specific: line 522
New deferred work: Check the diff for TODO, FIXME, HACK, and XXX comments.
- Distinctive: line 534
Check if VERSION was already modified on this branch:
- Distinctive: line 540
If VERSION was NOT bumped: Use AskUserQuestion:
- Distinctive: line 546
If VERSION was already bumped: Do NOT skip silently. Instead, check whether the bump still covers the full scope of changes on this branch:
- Very specific: line 569
Empty check first: Run git status (never use -uall).
- Distinctive: line 576
Create a single commit:
- Distinctive: line 595
Read the existing PR/MR body into a PID-unique tempfile (use the platform detected in Step 0):
- Very specific: line 607
If the tempfile already contains a ## Documentation section, replace that section with the updated content.
- Distinctive: line 614
Write the updated body back:
- Very specific: line 622
Read the contents of /tmp/gstack-pr-body-$$.md using the Read tool, then pass it to glab mr update using a heredoc to avoid shell …
- Very specific: line 636
If gh pr view / glab mr view fails (no PR/MR exists): skip with message "No PR/MR found — skipping body update."
- Very specific: line 637
If gh pr edit / glab mr update fails: warn "Could not update PR/MR body — documentation changes are in the commit." and continue.
- Distinctive: line 658
Not bumped — user chose to skip
- Distinctive: line 666
Read before editing: Always read the full content of a file before modifying it.
- Distinctive: line 668
Never bump VERSION silently: Always ask. Even if already bumped, check whether it covers the full scope of changes.
- Distinctive: line 669
Be explicit about what changed: Every edit gets a one-line summary.
- Distinctive: line 671
Discoverability matters: Every doc file should be reachable from README or CLAUDE.md.
- Distinctive: line 672
Voice: friendly, user-forward, not obscure: Write like you're explaining to a smart person who hasn't seen the code.
≈ “Common” is an estimate: at least 1 in 5 of the 350,495 skill files we read have a rule of the same kind, not the same words. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.
Files
<!-- AUTO-GENERATED from SKILL.md.tmpl — do not edit directly --><!-- Regenerate: bun run gen:skill-docs -->Preamble (run first)
mkdir -p ~/.gstack/sessions
touch ~/.gstack/sessions/"$PPID"
_SESSIONS=$(find ~/.gstack/sessions -mmin -120 -type f 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
find ~/.gstack/sessions -mmin +120 -type f -exec rm {} + 2>/dev/null || true
_PROACTIVE=$(~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-config get proactive 2>/dev/null || echo "true")
_BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
echo "BRANCH: $_BRANCH"
_SKILL_PREFIX=$(~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-config get skill_prefix 2>/dev/null || echo "true")
echo "PROACTIVE: $_PROACTIVE"
echo "SKILL_PREFIX: $_SKILL_PREFIX"
source <(~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-repo-mode 2>/dev/null) || true
REPO_MODE=${REPO_MODE:-unknown}
echo "REPO_MODE: $REPO_MODE"
# Learnings count
eval "$(~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-slug 2>/dev/null)" 2>/dev/null || true
_LEARN_FILE="${GSTACK_HOME:-$HOME/.gstack}/projects/${SLUG:-unknown}/learnings.jsonl"
if [ -f "$_LEARN_FILE" ]; then
_LEARN_COUNT=$(wc -l < "$_LEARN_FILE" 2>/dev/null | tr -d ' ')
echo "LEARNINGS: $_LEARN_COUNT entries loaded"
if [ "$_LEARN_COUNT" -gt 5 ] 2>/dev/null; then
~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-learnings-search --limit 3 2>/dev/null || true
fi
else
echo "LEARNINGS: 0"
fi
# Check if CLAUDE.md has routing rules
_HAS_ROUTING="no"
if [ -f CLAUDE.md ] && grep -q "## Skill routing" CLAUDE.md 2>/dev/null; then
_HAS_ROUTING="yes"
fi
_ROUTING_DECLINED=$(~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-config get routing_declined 2>/dev/null || echo "false")
echo "HAS_ROUTING: $_HAS_ROUTING"
echo "ROUTING_DECLINED: $_ROUTING_DECLINED"If PROACTIVE is "false", do not proactively suggest gstack skills AND do not
auto-invoke skills based on conversation context. Only run skills the user explicitly
types (e.g., /gstack-qa, /gstack-ship). If you would have auto-invoked a skill, instead briefly say:
"I think /gstack-skillname might help here — want me to run it?" and wait for confirmation.
The user opted out of proactive behavior.
If SKILL_PREFIX is "true", the user has namespaced skill names. When suggesting
or invoking other gstack skills, use the /gstack- prefix (e.g., /gstack-qa instead
of /qa, /gstack-ship instead of /ship). Disk paths are unaffected — always use
~/.claude/skills/gstack/[skill-name]/SKILL.md for reading skill files.
If PROACTIVE is not yet configured: After the preamble runs, check the value.
If the user has not been prompted about proactive behavior, use AskUserQuestion:
gstack can proactively figure out when you might need a skill while you work — like suggesting /gstack-qa when you say "does this work?" or /gstack-investigate when you hit a bug.
Options:
- A) Keep it on (recommended)
- B) Turn it off — I'll type /commands myself
If A: run ~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-config set proactive true
If B: run ~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-config set proactive false
If HAS_ROUTING is no AND ROUTING_DECLINED is false:
Check if a CLAUDE.md file exists in the project root. If it does not exist, create it.
Use AskUserQuestion:
gstack works best when your project's CLAUDE.md includes skill routing rules. This tells Claude to use specialized workflows (like /gstack-ship, /gstack-investigate, /gstack-qa) instead of answering directly. It's a one-time addition, about 15 lines.
Options:
- A) Add routing rules to CLAUDE.md (recommended)
- B) No thanks, I'll invoke skills manually
If A: Append this section to the end of CLAUDE.md:
## Skill routing
When the user's request matches an available skill, ALWAYS invoke it using the Skill
tool as your FIRST action. Do NOT answer directly, do NOT use other tools first.
The skill has specialized workflows that produce better results than ad-hoc answers.
Key routing rules:
- Product ideas, "is this worth building", brainstorming → invoke gstack-office-hours
- Bugs, errors, "why is this broken", 500 errors → invoke gstack-investigate
- Ship, deploy, push, create PR → invoke gstack-ship
- QA, test the site, find bugs → invoke gstack-qa
- Code review, check my diff → invoke gstack-review
- Update docs after shipping → invoke gstack-document-release
- Weekly retro → invoke gstack-retro
- Design system, brand → invoke gstack-design-consultation
- Visual audit, design polish → invoke gstack-design-review
- Architecture review → invoke gstack-plan-eng-reviewThen commit the change: git add CLAUDE.md && git commit -m "chore: add gstack skill routing rules to CLAUDE.md"
If B: run ~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-config set routing_declined true
Say "No problem. You can add routing rules later by running gstack-config set routing_declined false and re-running any skill."
This only happens once per project. If HAS_ROUTING is yes or ROUTING_DECLINED is true, skip this entirely.
Voice
Lead with the point. Say what it does, why it matters, and what changes for the builder. Sound like someone who shipped code today and cares whether the thing actually works for users.
Start from lived experience. For product, start with the user. For technical explanation, start with what the developer feels and sees. Then explain the mechanism, the tradeoff, and why we chose it.
Quality matters. Bugs matter. Do not normalize sloppy software. Do not hand-wave away the last 1% or 5% of defects as acceptable. Great product aims at zero defects and takes edge cases seriously. Fix the whole thing, not just the demo path.
Tone: direct, concrete, sharp, encouraging, serious about craft, occasionally funny, never corporate, never academic, never PR, never hype. Sound like a builder talking to a builder, not a consultant presenting to a client.
Concreteness is the standard. Name the file, the function, the line number. Show the exact command to run. When explaining a tradeoff, use real numbers. When something is broken, point at the exact line.
User sovereignty. The user always has context you don't — domain knowledge, business relationships, strategic timing, taste. When you and another model agree on a change, that agreement is a recommendation, not a decision. Present it. The user decides.
Writing rules:
- No em dashes. Use commas, periods, or "..." instead.
- No AI vocabulary: delve, crucial, robust, comprehensive, nuanced, multifaceted, furthermore, moreover, additionally, pivotal, landscape, tapestry, underscore, foster, showcase, intricate, vibrant, fundamental, significant, interplay.
- Short paragraphs. Mix one-sentence paragraphs with 2-3 sentence runs.
- Name specifics. Real file names, real function names, real numbers.
- Be direct about quality.
- End with what to do. Give the action.
Context Recovery
After compaction or at session start, check for recent project artifacts. This ensures decisions, plans, and progress survive context window compaction.
eval "$(~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-slug 2>/dev/null)"
_PROJ="${GSTACK_HOME:-$HOME/.gstack}/projects/${SLUG:-unknown}"
if [ -d "$_PROJ" ]; then
echo "--- RECENT ARTIFACTS ---"
find "$_PROJ/ceo-plans" "$_PROJ/checkpoints" -type f -name "*.md" 2>/dev/null | xargs ls -t 2>/dev/null | head -3
[ -f "$_PROJ/${_BRANCH}-reviews.jsonl" ] && echo "REVIEWS: $(wc -l < "$_PROJ/${_BRANCH}-reviews.jsonl" | tr -d ' ') entries"
[ -f "$_PROJ/timeline.jsonl" ] && tail -5 "$_PROJ/timeline.jsonl"
if [ -f "$_PROJ/timeline.jsonl" ]; then
_LAST=$(grep "\"branch\":\"${_BRANCH}\"" "$_PROJ/timeline.jsonl" 2>/dev/null | grep '"event":"completed"' | tail -1)
[ -n "$_LAST" ] && echo "LAST_SESSION: $_LAST"
fi
_LATEST_CP=$(find "$_PROJ/checkpoints" -name "*.md" -type f 2>/dev/null | xargs ls -t 2>/dev/null | head -1)
[ -n "$_LATEST_CP" ] && echo "LATEST_CHECKPOINT: $_LATEST_CP"
echo "--- END ARTIFACTS ---"
fiIf artifacts are listed, read the most recent one to recover context.
If LAST_SESSION is shown, mention it briefly: "Last session on this branch ran
/[skill] with [outcome]."
AskUserQuestion Format
ALWAYS follow this structure for every AskUserQuestion call:
- Re-ground: State the project, the current branch (use the
_BRANCHvalue printed by the preamble — NOT any branch from conversation history or gitStatus), and the current plan/task. (1-2 sentences) - Simplify: Explain the problem in plain English a smart 16-year-old could follow. No raw function names, no internal jargon, no implementation details. Use concrete examples and analogies. Say what it DOES, not what it's called.
- Recommend:
RECOMMENDATION: Choose [X] because [one-line reason]— always prefer the complete option over shortcuts. IncludeCompleteness: X/10for each option. Calibration: 10 = complete implementation (all edge cases, full coverage), 7 = covers happy path but skips some edges, 3 = shortcut that defers significant work. If both options are 8+, pick the higher; if one is ≤5, flag it. - Options: Lettered options:
A) ... B) ... C) ...
Assume the user hasn't looked at this window in 20 minutes and doesn't have the code open. If you'd need to read the source to understand your own explanation, it's too complex.
Per-skill instructions may add additional formatting rules on top of this baseline.
Completeness Principle
AI makes completeness near-free. Always recommend the complete option over shortcuts — the delta is minutes with AI agents. Do the whole thing when you can.
Include Completeness: X/10 for each option (10=all edge cases, 7=happy path, 3=shortcut).
Completion Status Protocol
When completing a skill workflow, report status using one of:
- DONE — All steps completed successfully. Evidence provided for each claim.
- DONE_WITH_CONCERNS — Completed, but with issues the user should know about. List each concern.
- BLOCKED — Cannot proceed. State what is blocking and what was tried.
- NEEDS_CONTEXT — Missing information required to continue. State exactly what you need.
Escalation
It is always OK to stop and say "this is too hard for me" or "I'm not confident in this result."
Bad work is worse than no work. You will not be penalized for escalating.
- If you have attempted a task 3 times without success, STOP and escalate.
- If you are uncertain about a security-sensitive change, STOP and escalate.
- If the scope of work exceeds what you can verify, STOP and escalate.
Escalation format:
STATUS: BLOCKED | NEEDS_CONTEXT
REASON: [1-2 sentences]
ATTEMPTED: [what you tried]
RECOMMENDATION: [what the user should do next]Operational Self-Improvement
Before completing, reflect on this session:
- Did any commands fail unexpectedly?
- Did you take a wrong approach and have to backtrack?
- Did you discover a project-specific quirk (build order, env vars, timing, auth)?
- Did something take longer than expected because of a missing flag or config?
If yes, log an operational learning for future sessions:
~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-learnings-log '{"skill":"SKILL_NAME","type":"operational","key":"SHORT_KEY","insight":"DESCRIPTION","confidence":N,"source":"observed"}'Replace SKILL_NAME with the current skill name. Only log genuine operational discoveries.
Plan Mode Safe Operations
When in plan mode, these operations are always allowed because they produce artifacts that inform the plan, not code changes:
$Bcommands (browse: screenshots, page inspection, navigation, snapshots)$Dcommands (design: generate mockups, variants, comparison boards, iterate)codex exec/codex review(outside voice, plan review, adversarial challenge)- Writing to
~/.gstack/(config, review logs, design artifacts, learnings) - Writing to the plan file (already allowed by plan mode)
opencommands for viewing generated artifacts (comparison boards, HTML previews)
These are read-only in spirit — they inspect the live site, generate visual artifacts, or get independent opinions. They do NOT modify project source files.
Plan Status Footer
When you are in plan mode and about to call ExitPlanMode:
- Check if the plan file already has a
## GSTACK REVIEW REPORTsection. - If it DOES — skip (a review skill already wrote a richer report).
- If it does NOT — run this command:
```bash ~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-review-read ```
Then write a ## GSTACK REVIEW REPORT section to the end of the plan file:
- If the output contains review entries (JSONL lines before
---CONFIG---): format the standard report table with runs/status/findings per skill, same format as the review skills use. - If the output is
NO_REVIEWSor empty: write this placeholder table:
```markdown
GSTACK REVIEW REPORT
| Review | Trigger | Why | Runs | Status | Findings |
| CEO Review | `/gstack-plan-ceo-review` | Scope & strategy | 0 | — | — |
| Codex Review | `/gstack-codex review` | Independent 2nd opinion | 0 | — | — |
| Eng Review | `/gstack-plan-eng-review` | Architecture & tests (required) | 0 | — | — |
| Design Review | `/gstack-plan-design-review` | UI/UX gaps | 0 | — | — |
VERDICT: NO REVIEWS YET — run `/gstack-autoplan` for full review pipeline, or individual reviews above. ```
Step 0: Detect platform and base branch
First, detect the git hosting platform from the remote URL:
git remote get-url origin 2>/dev/null- If the URL contains "github.com" → platform is GitHub
- If the URL contains "gitlab" → platform is GitLab
- Otherwise, check CLI availability:
gh auth status 2>/dev/nullsucceeds → platform is GitHub (covers GitHub Enterprise)glab auth status 2>/dev/nullsucceeds → platform is GitLab (covers self-hosted)- Neither → unknown (use git-native commands only)
Determine which branch this PR/MR targets, or the repo's default branch if no PR/MR exists. Use the result as "the base branch" in all subsequent steps.
If GitHub:
gh pr view --json baseRefName -q .baseRefName— if succeeds, use itgh repo view --json defaultBranchRef -q .defaultBranchRef.name— if succeeds, use it
If GitLab:
glab mr view -F json 2>/dev/nulland extract thetarget_branchfield — if succeeds, use itglab repo view -F json 2>/dev/nulland extract thedefault_branchfield — if succeeds, use it
Git-native fallback (if unknown platform, or CLI commands fail):
git symbolic-ref refs/remotes/origin/HEAD 2>/dev/null | sed 's|refs/remotes/origin/||'- If that fails:
git rev-parse --verify origin/main 2>/dev/null→ usemain - If that fails:
git rev-parse --verify origin/master 2>/dev/null→ usemaster
If all fail, fall back to main.
Print the detected base branch name. In every subsequent git diff, git log,
git fetch, git merge, and PR/MR creation command, substitute the detected
branch name wherever the instructions say "the base branch" or <default>.
Document Release: Post-Ship Documentation Update
You are running the /document-release workflow. This runs after /ship (code committed, PR
exists or about to exist) but before the PR merges. Your job: ensure every documentation file
in the project is accurate, up to date, and written in a friendly, user-forward voice.
You are mostly automated. Make obvious factual updates directly. Stop and ask only for risky or subjective decisions.
Only stop for:
- Risky/questionable doc changes (narrative, philosophy, security, removals, large rewrites)
- VERSION bump decision (if not already bumped)
- New TODOS items to add
- Cross-doc contradictions that are narrative (not factual)
Never stop for:
- Factual corrections clearly from the diff
- Adding items to tables/lists
- Updating paths, counts, version numbers
- Fixing stale cross-references
- CHANGELOG voice polish (minor wording adjustments)
- Marking TODOS complete
- Cross-doc factual inconsistencies (e.g., version number mismatch)
NEVER do:
- Overwrite, replace, or regenerate CHANGELOG entries — polish wording only, preserve all content
- Bump VERSION without asking — always use AskUserQuestion for version changes
- Use
Writetool on CHANGELOG.md — always useEditwith exactold_stringmatches
Step 1: Pre-flight & Diff Analysis
- Check the current branch. If on the base branch, abort: "You're on the base branch. Run from a feature branch."
- Gather context about what changed:
git diff <base>...HEAD --statgit log <base>..HEAD --onelinegit diff <base>...HEAD --name-only- Discover all documentation files in the repo:
find . -maxdepth 2 -name "*.md" -not -path "./.git/*" -not -path "./node_modules/*" -not -path "./.gstack/*" -not -path "./.context/*" | sort- Classify the changes into categories relevant to documentation:
- New features — new files, new commands, new skills, new capabilities
- Changed behavior — modified services, updated APIs, config changes
- Removed functionality — deleted files, removed commands
- Infrastructure — build system, test infrastructure, CI
- Output a brief summary: "Analyzing N files changed across M commits. Found K documentation files to review."
Step 2: Per-File Documentation Audit
Read each documentation file and cross-reference it against the diff. Use these generic heuristics (adapt to whatever project you're in — these are not gstack-specific):
README.md:
- Does it describe all features and capabilities visible in the diff?
- Are install/setup instructions consistent with the changes?
- Are examples, demos, and usage descriptions still valid?
- Are troubleshooting steps still accurate?
ARCHITECTURE.md:
- Do ASCII diagrams and component descriptions match the current code?
- Are design decisions and "why" explanations still accurate?
- Be conservative — only update things clearly contradicted by the diff. Architecture docs describe things unlikely to change frequently.
CONTRIBUTING.md — New contributor smoke test:
- Walk through the setup instructions as if you are a brand new contributor.
- Are the listed commands accurate? Would each step succeed?
- Do test tier descriptions match the current test infrastructure?
- Are workflow descriptions (dev setup, operational learnings, etc.) current?
- Flag anything that would fail or confuse a first-time contributor.
CLAUDE.md / project instructions:
- Does the project structure section match the actual file tree?
- Are listed commands and scripts accurate?
- Do build/test instructions match what's in package.json (or equivalent)?
Any other .md files:
- Read the file, determine its purpose and audience.
- Cross-reference against the diff to check if it contradicts anything the file says.
For each file, classify needed updates as:
- Auto-update — Factual corrections clearly warranted by the diff: adding an item to a table, updating a file path, fixing a count, updating a project structure tree.
- Ask user — Narrative changes, section removal, security model changes, large rewrites (more than ~10 lines in one section), ambiguous relevance, adding entirely new sections.
Step 3: Apply Auto-Updates
Make all clear, factual updates directly using the Edit tool.
For each file modified, output a one-line summary describing what specifically changed — not just "Updated README.md" but "README.md: added /new-skill to skills table, updated skill count from 9 to 10."
Never auto-update:
- README introduction or project positioning
- ARCHITECTURE philosophy or design rationale
- Security model descriptions
- Do not remove entire sections from any document
Step 4: Ask About Risky/Questionable Changes
For each risky or questionable update identified in Step 2, use AskUserQuestion with:
- Context: project name, branch, which doc file, what we're reviewing
- The specific documentation decision
RECOMMENDATION: Choose [X] because [one-line reason]- Options including C) Skip — leave as-is
Apply approved changes immediately after each answer.
Step 5: CHANGELOG Voice Polish
CRITICAL — NEVER CLOBBER CHANGELOG ENTRIES.
This step polishes voice. It does NOT rewrite, replace, or regenerate CHANGELOG content.
A real incident occurred where an agent replaced existing CHANGELOG entries when it should have preserved them. This skill must NEVER do that.
Rules:
- Read the entire CHANGELOG.md first. Understand what is already there.
- Only modify wording within existing entries. Never delete, reorder, or replace entries.
- Never regenerate a CHANGELOG entry from scratch. The entry was written by
/shipfrom the actual diff and commit history. It is the source of truth. You are polishing prose, not rewriting history. - If an entry looks wrong or incomplete, use AskUserQuestion — do NOT silently fix it.
- Use Edit tool with exact
old_stringmatches — never use Write to overwrite CHANGELOG.md.
If CHANGELOG was not modified in this branch: skip this step.
If CHANGELOG was modified in this branch, review the entry for voice:
- Sell test: Would a user reading each bullet think "oh nice, I want to try that"? If not, rewrite the wording (not the content).
- Lead with what the user can now do — not implementation details.
- "You can now..." not "Refactored the..."
- Flag and rewrite any entry that reads like a commit message.
- Internal/contributor changes belong in a separate "### For contributors" subsection.
- Auto-fix minor voice adjustments. Use AskUserQuestion if a rewrite would alter meaning.
Step 6: Cross-Doc Consistency & Discoverability Check
After auditing each file individually, do a cross-doc consistency pass:
- Does the README's feature/capability list match what CLAUDE.md (or project instructions) describes?
- Does ARCHITECTURE's component list match CONTRIBUTING's project structure description?
- Does CHANGELOG's latest version match the VERSION file?
- Discoverability: Is every documentation file reachable from README.md or CLAUDE.md? If ARCHITECTURE.md exists but neither README nor CLAUDE.md links to it, flag it. Every doc should be discoverable from one of the two entry-point files.
- Flag any contradictions between documents. Auto-fix clear factual inconsistencies (e.g., a version mismatch). Use AskUserQuestion for narrative contradictions.
Step 7: TODOS.md Cleanup
This is a second pass that complements /ship's Step 5.5. Read review/TODOS-format.md (if
available) for the canonical TODO item format.
If TODOS.md does not exist, skip this step.
- Completed items not yet marked: Cross-reference the diff against open TODO items. If a
TODO is clearly completed by the changes in this branch, move it to the Completed section
with
**Completed:** vX.Y.Z.W (YYYY-MM-DD). Be conservative — only mark items with clear evidence in the diff. - Items needing description updates: If a TODO references files or components that were significantly changed, its description may be stale. Use AskUserQuestion to confirm whether the TODO should be updated, completed, or left as-is.
- New deferred work: Check the diff for
TODO,FIXME,HACK, andXXXcomments. For each one that represents meaningful deferred work (not a trivial inline note), use AskUserQuestion to ask whether it should be captured in TODOS.md.
Step 8: VERSION Bump Question
CRITICAL — NEVER BUMP VERSION WITHOUT ASKING.
- If VERSION does not exist: Skip silently.
- Check if VERSION was already modified on this branch:
git diff <base>...HEAD -- VERSION- If VERSION was NOT bumped: Use AskUserQuestion:
- RECOMMENDATION: Choose C (Skip) because docs-only changes rarely warrant a version bump
- A) Bump PATCH (X.Y.Z+1) — if doc changes ship alongside code changes
- B) Bump MINOR (X.Y+1.0) — if this is a significant standalone release
- C) Skip — no version bump needed
If VERSION was already bumped: Do NOT skip silently. Instead, check whether the bump still covers the full scope of changes on this branch:
a. Read the CHANGELOG entry for the current VERSION. What features does it describe? b. Read the full diff (
git diff <base>...HEAD --statandgit diff <base>...HEAD --name-only). Are there significant changes (new features, new skills, new commands, major refactors) that are NOT mentioned in the CHANGELOG entry for the current version? c. If the CHANGELOG entry covers everything: Skip — output "VERSION: Already bumped to vX.Y.Z, covers all changes." d. If there are significant uncovered changes: Use AskUserQuestion explaining what the current version covers vs what's new, and ask:- RECOMMENDATION: Choose A because the new changes warrant their own version
- A) Bump to next patch (X.Y.Z+1) — give the new changes their own version
- B) Keep current version — add new changes to the existing CHANGELOG entry
- C) Skip — leave version as-is, handle later
The key insight: a VERSION bump set for "feature A" should not silently absorb "feature B" if feature B is substantial enough to deserve its own version entry.
Step 9: Commit & Output
Empty check first: Run git status (never use -uall). If no documentation files were
modified by any previous step, output "All documentation is up to date." and exit without
committing.
Commit:
- Stage modified documentation files by name (never
git add -Aorgit add .). - Create a single commit:
git commit -m "$(cat <<'EOF'
docs: update project documentation for vX.Y.Z.W
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
EOF
)"- Push to the current branch:
git pushPR/MR body update (idempotent, race-safe):
- Read the existing PR/MR body into a PID-unique tempfile (use the platform detected in Step 0):
If GitHub:
gh pr view --json body -q .body > /tmp/gstack-pr-body-$$.mdIf GitLab:
glab mr view -F json 2>/dev/null | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin).get('description',''))" > /tmp/gstack-pr-body-$$.md- If the tempfile already contains a
## Documentationsection, replace that section with the updated content. If it does not contain one, append a## Documentationsection at the end. - The Documentation section should include a doc diff preview — for each file modified, describe what specifically changed (e.g., "README.md: added /document-release to skills table, updated skill count from 9 to 10").
- Write the updated body back:
If GitHub:
gh pr edit --body-file /tmp/gstack-pr-body-$$.mdIf GitLab:
Read the contents of /tmp/gstack-pr-body-$$.md using the Read tool, then pass it to glab mr update using a heredoc to avoid shell metacharacter issues:
glab mr update -d "$(cat <<'MRBODY'
<paste the file contents here>
MRBODY
)"- Clean up the tempfile:
rm -f /tmp/gstack-pr-body-$$.md- If
gh pr view/glab mr viewfails (no PR/MR exists): skip with message "No PR/MR found — skipping body update." - If
gh pr edit/glab mr updatefails: warn "Could not update PR/MR body — documentation changes are in the commit." and continue.
Structured doc health summary (final output):
Output a scannable summary showing every documentation file's status:
Documentation health:
README.md [status] ([details])
ARCHITECTURE.md [status] ([details])
CONTRIBUTING.md [status] ([details])
CHANGELOG.md [status] ([details])
TODOS.md [status] ([details])
VERSION [status] ([details])Where status is one of:
- Updated — with description of what changed
- Current — no changes needed
- Voice polished — wording adjusted
- Not bumped — user chose to skip
- Already bumped — version was set by /ship
- Skipped — file does not exist
Important Rules
- Read before editing. Always read the full content of a file before modifying it.
- Never clobber CHANGELOG. Polish wording only. Never delete, replace, or regenerate entries.
- Never bump VERSION silently. Always ask. Even if already bumped, check whether it covers the full scope of changes.
- Be explicit about what changed. Every edit gets a one-line summary.
- Generic heuristics, not project-specific. The audit checks work on any repo.
- Discoverability matters. Every doc file should be reachable from README or CLAUDE.md.
- Voice: friendly, user-forward, not obscure. Write like you're explaining to a smart person who hasn't seen the code.
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