Start New Feature

Set up a new feature branch and prepare for development.

Feature name/description: the arguments provided when this skill is invoked

Workflow

1. Ensure Clean Starting Point

• Resolve the default branch: BASE=$(gh repo view --json defaultBranchRef --jq .defaultBranchRef.name)
• Fetch it: git fetch origin "$BASE"
• Ensure the current working tree is clean: git status

2. Create Feature Branch

• Derive a branch name from the description (lowercase, hyphenated)
  • Features: feat/<name> (e.g., feat/income-crud)
  • Fixes: fix/<name> (e.g., fix/currency-conversion)
  • Refactors: refactor/<name> (e.g., refactor/auth-flow)
• If the project keeps active branches in worktrees (.claude/worktrees/ exists, or its rules say so), create the branch in a new worktree so the primary checkout stays on the base branch, then do all further work from that directory:

  BASE=$(gh repo view --json defaultBranchRef --jq .defaultBranchRef.name)
  git worktree add ".claude/worktrees/<issue-or-topic>" -b "<branch-name>" "origin/$BASE"

• Otherwise, from a checkout on the base branch: git pull origin "$BASE", then git checkout -b <branch-name>

3. Review Context

• Read CLAUDE.md and AGENTS.md for project conventions
• Read agent memory files if they exist (.claude/agent-memory/; for a split cookbook in .claude/agent-memory/cookbook/, read its README.md index and only the relevant domain files)
• Identify which existing modules/files will be affected

4. Plan

• Break the feature into concrete implementation tasks
• Create a task checklist with the tasks
• Identify any dependencies or prerequisites

5. Report

Tell the user:

• Branch name created
• High-level implementation plan
• Which files/modules will be affected
• Any questions or ambiguities to resolve before starting
• Suggest running the sova-develop skill <description> to begin implementation

Cross-References

• Ready to implement? Run the sova-develop skill <description> or the sova-develop-full skill <description>
• Need to understand approaches first? Run the sova-develop-explain skill <description>

Rules

• NEVER use emojis in any output