setup-benny

Files (1)

• SKILL.md

SKILL.md (first lines)

# Set up Benny

Benny ships as a dormant automation pack inside pstack. The plugin manifest exposes only pstack's normal skill root, so the `automations/` pack is not auto-loaded; this file and the two operational files become committed project skills only after setup copies them into the target repository's `.claude/skills/`.

The human enters setup by pointing Claude Code at the pack's `FOR_AGENTS.md`. The bootstrap flow copies the whole pack into the target repository, then reads this file directly at `.claude/skills/setup-benny/SKILL.md`.

Benny needs external configuration and two live scheduled agents: Claude Code cloud routines created with the built-in `/schedule` skill, or, when a true post-time trigger is required, a GitHub Actions workflow running headless Claude Code (`claude -p`).

Do not create or update an automation until the user explicitly asks. Never put a secret value in plugin files, prompts, or committed configuration.

## 1. Copy the pack and enable shared pstack skills

Do this before asking for Benny configuration and before invoking the built-in `/schedule` skill.

Ask which repository will run the automations. The source pack is the directory containing `FOR_AGENTS.md`. The destination is the target repository's `.claude/skills/`.

Merge the entire source pack into the destination:

1. Create `<target-repository>/.claude/skills/` when it is absent.
2. Copy each directory under the pack's `skills/` to `<target-repository>/.claude/skills/<name>/`, preserving every relative path inside it.
3. Copy the pack's `FOR_AGENTS.md`, `README.md`, and `templates/` into `<target-repository>/.claude/skills/setup-benny/`.
4. Preserve destination-only files. Never delete unrelated files or skills during install or refresh.
5. Keep user-owned configuration, feature maps, and routing maps outside the destination. Never overwrite them.
6. When an existing source-managed file differs, inspect the diff and merge without discarding local edits. If ownership is ambiguous, stop and ask before replacing it.
7. Verify that the destination contains `FOR_AGENTS.md`, this setup file, both operational files, their references, and the templates.

If this file is already being read from the target destination, treat the copy as complete and run the same verification before continuing.

Add pstack to the target repository's `.claude/settings.json`. If the file or `.claude` directory does not exist, create it.

Merge this entry into the existing JSON:

```json
{
	"enabledPlugins": {
		"pstack@pstack": true
	}
}
```

Preserve every unrelated top-level setting and every other plugin entry. If the `pstack@pstack` entry already exists, change only its value. Validate the file after editing it. The pstack marketplace must also be known to Claude Code in every environment that runs the automations; add it with `claude plugin marketplace add` when it is missing.

Restart Claude Code in the target project or start a fresh agent rooted there. Verify that these shared pstack skills resolve from project scope:

- `how`
- `why`
- `tdd`
- `unslop`
- `principle-separate-before-serializing-shared-state`
- `principle-minimize-reader-load`
- `principle-guard-the-context-window`
- `principle-sequence-verifiable-units`
- `principle-fix-root-causes`
- `principle-prove-it-works`

Do not count a skill loaded from the current session or a user-scoped plugin. The check must show that a fresh agent in the target repository receives pstack through project settings.

If project-scoped plugin installation is unavailable or any shared dependency does not resolve, stop and explain the failure.

The Benny operational files are read directly from `.claude/skills/`. Do not add them to a plugin manifest. They are committed project skills with model invocation disabled; live automation prompts read them by their repository paths instead of invoking them as slash skills.

Tell the user that `.claude/settings.json`, the copied Benny skills under `.claude/skills/`, and any referenced secret-free configuration must be committed before either automation is enabled. Do not commit them unless the user asks.

Once this check passes, live automation prompts may read the committed operational files by their stable repository-relative paths. They must not embed a plugin cache path or copy the file contents.

## 2. Adapt the configuration

Open these copied examples:

- `./templates/configuration.example.yaml`
- `../reproduce-and-fix-issues/references/feature-map.example.md`

Create user-owned copies outside the copied Benny skills. These are configuration files, not pack files. Example locations:

- Project config, such as `.claude/benny/configuration.yaml`
- Project feature map, such as `.claude/benny/feature-map.md`
- Project routing map, such as `.claude/benny/routing.md`
- User config, such as `~/.config/benny/configuration.yaml`
- User feature map, such as `~/.config/benny/feature-map.md`

Fill one feature-map section for every user-facing feature the automation may reproduce. Keep it at the user point of view. Do not freeze implementation details or current code paths in the map.

Do not edit the copied examples. Pack refreshes may update source-managed files after conflict review, but they must never touch the user-owned copies.

Prefer committed, secret-free files in the target repository when a fresh automation checkout must read them. Otherwise paraphrase the required values into the live prompt. Reference a repository file only after confirming that the file is committed in the repository where the automation runs.

Use stable repository-relative paths for committed pack and configuration files. Never reference the plugin source directory or a plugin cache path from a live automation.

## 3. Fill the required choices

Ask for or confirm:

- Source Slack channel ID
- Optional operations or status channel ID
- Repository URL and default branch
- Triage identity or Slack user ID
- Issue tracker type, team, project, labels, and intake status
- Tracker adapter skill or MCP actions
- Optional routing map path
- Required control skill name
- Required user-facing feature-map path
- Status emoji strings
- Pull request URL format
- Routine schedule cron cadence
- Polling and effort budgets
- Model for triage, repro, code work, and media review

Use only model names available to the user's Claude Code, such as the aliases `haiku`, `sonnet`, `opus`, and `fable`, or a full model ID from the supported model list. Do not guess a model ID and do not carry over a private default.

The source channel, triage identity, repository, tracker adapter, control skill, and feature map must be explicit. Fail setup if any required value stays ambiguous.

Use pstack's `unslop` skill on the final automation names, descriptions, and prompt shims before saving them.

## 4. Check integration capabilities

The triage automation needs:

- Read access to the configured source Slack channel and its threads
- Thread-reply access in that channel

From adjohn/pstack, MIT.

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