agile-skill-feedback

Skill Feedback

Use this skill to improve the skill library from real delivery evidence. It is for process maintenance, not generic brainstorming.

Initial context received via slash: $ARGUMENTS

If $ARGUMENTS is filled, use it as the observed case, artifact path, diff, or feedback note. If empty, ask for the observed problem and the skill involved.

Language

Write the artifact in the user's language. Apply correct grammar and any required diacritics or script-specific characters.

Project root

This skill writes artifacts at paths relative to the project root (the repo where the work happens), not the agent's current working directory.

• If invoked from inside the project, use the relative paths shown in this skill.
• If invoked from another directory (e.g., a sibling repo, or when the project lives elsewhere), prepend <project-root>/ to every artifact path.
• When the project root is ambiguous, confirm with the user via the harness question tool before writing.

Prompting

Follow the project-wide convention in CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md ("Skill Prompting Conventions"). Use the harness's structured-question tool — AskUserQuestion (Claude Code), ask_user_question (Codex), or question (OpenCode) — for the decision points below. Use free-form text only where a path/name/value cannot be enumerated.

Decision point	Why structured	Suggested options
Action class	Drives the decision rule	Refine · Merge · Split · Deprecate · Remove · Create
Approval status (when finalizing)	Hard-to-undo step	Proposed · Approved · Rejected · Applied · Partially-applied · Withdrawn

Free-form prompts (no structured tool):

• Evidence narration
• Proposed change text
• Rationale and trade-offs

No-pause mode: if the user has explicitly disabled mid-skill clarification, convert every structured prompt into an entry under Open questions (or equivalent) and proceed without blocking.

Objective

• Capture what happened during real use of a skill
• Decide whether the right action is refine, merge, split, deprecate, remove, or create
• Keep skill changes small, traceable, and validated against realistic artifacts
• Prevent the process library from growing by inertia

When to use

• A skill or template did not support a real project workflow
• Two skills overlap or are always used together with duplicated output
• A skill is confusing, stale, rarely useful, or too broad
• A template is missing required fields or creates weak artifacts
• TDD, refinement, sprint planning, retro, or status work exposes missing guidance
• A product wants to generate a proposed patch to the skill library

When NOT to use

• Creating a normal planning artifact -- use the appropriate agile skill
• Reviewing application code -- use /agile-refinement
• Running a sprint retrospective -- use /agile-retro
• Creating a general-purpose skill from scratch with no agile/process feedback -- use the platform skill creator

Inputs to collect

• Observed case: project, artifact, story, sprint, PR, or session
• Skill/template affected
• Trigger that selected the skill, if known
• Expected behavior
• Actual friction or failure
• Evidence: artifact path, diff, test, review finding, user correction, repeated manual step
• Impact: confusion, rework, missed validation, bad output, duplicated process, context cost

Decision rules

Refine

Use when the skill is right but instructions, template fields, examples, or validation need adjustment.

Merge

Use when two skills have overlapping triggers, are frequently chained with duplicated outputs, and do not need distinct artifacts or validation gates.

Split

Use when one skill handles multiple responsibilities with different audiences, templates, risks, or validation needs.

Deprecate or remove

Use when a skill has little real use, causes routing confusion, duplicates another skill, or preserves process that no longer helps. Prefer deprecation before removal if installed users may still depend on it.

Create

Use only when a recurring workflow has no good home in existing skills and has concrete examples.

Process

1. Read the affected SKILL.md and only the relevant local template/reference files.
2. Inspect the evidence artifact or diff.
3. Classify the action: refine, merge, split, deprecate, remove, or create.
4. Fill templates/skill-feedback.md.
5. Propose the smallest viable change.
6. Define validation: which artifact, prompt, test, or review will prove the change works.
7. Require human approval before applying workflow changes that affect a team.

Rules

• Do not create a new skill if a concise change to an existing skill solves the problem.
• Do not merge skills just because they are adjacent; merge only when outputs and validation are truly redundant.
• Keep SKILL.md concise. Move reusable detail into local templates/, references/, or scripts/ only when needed.
• Templates must live inside the skill folder under templates/.
• Preserve auditability: record source skill version or commit when available.
• For AI-generated patches, include the model/provider and the approval status in the feedback artifact when known.

Where to save

The save location depends on what the feedback is about:

• About a project's process artifact → planning/<initiative>/skill-feedback/<YYYY-MM-DD>-<slug>.md.
• About a skill in this skills repo → <skills-repo>/feedback/<YYYY-MM-DD>-<skill>.md. Until a dedicated feedback/ folder exists at the root, use samples/<sample>/proposals/skill-feedback-<YYYY-MM-DD>-<slug>.md and keep the related evidence (journals, findings) next to it.

Template

Use templates/skill-feedback.md as the base artifact. The template includes:

• An ## Auditability block (source skill version/commit, model/provider, originating session, related findings) — fill what is known.
• An extended approval Status enum: proposed / approved / rejected / applied / partially-applied / withdrawn. Use partially-applied honestly when patches landed before formal approval, and fill the Partial application notes: sub-field.

Relationship with the flow

flowchart LR
    A["Real skill usage"] --> B["Observed friction"]
    B --> C["/agile-skill-feedback"]
    C --> D{Decision}
    D --> E["Refine"]
    D --> F["Merge/Split"]
    D --> G["Deprecate/Remove"]
    D --> H["Create"]
    E --> I["Validate on real artifact"]
    F --> I
    G --> I
    H --> I

This skill closes the process feedback loop. It should be used after real work exposes a gap, not as a substitute for doing the work.