show-me-your-work

Files (2)

• SKILL.md
• decision-log-template.tsv · references/

SKILL.md (first lines)

# Show me your work

Keep one canonical log.

## The format

A single TSV file, one row per decision. Cells stay single-line. Evidence is a pointer, not prose.

Copy [`references/decision-log-template.tsv`](references/decision-log-template.tsv) (the header row) to start a clean log. Columns:

- **ts.** ISO8601 timestamp.
- **phase.** The phase or workstream.
- **decision.** What was chosen or done, one line.
- **why.** The reason in plain words. If a principle drove it, say it plainly, not as a jargon tag.
- **evidence.** A link or path that proves it: commit SHA, PR number, `file:line`, or an artifact, trace, or screenshot path. Never a paragraph.
- **result.** The outcome or predicate state: `tests green`, `reverted`, `pixel-diff 0`, `INCONCLUSIVE`, `open`.

An example, plain-spoken so a reviewer reads it at a glance.

```
ts	phase	decision	why	evidence	result
2026-05-24T09:02:00Z	frame	counted the work first, about 100 components and roughly 75 hours	wanted to know the size before starting a long run	commit 3a9f1c2	found 5 things to sort out before starting
2026-05-24T09:40:00Z	harness	took screenshots of the old version before changing anything	so we can compare old against new and catch any visual change	scripts/snapshot.sh, baseline/	saved 120 reference screenshots
2026-05-24T11:15:00Z	widget	moved the widget styles over without changing how it looks	keep the change small and the result identical	commit 7c21e0a, pixel-diff 0	looks identical, tests pass
2026-05-24T12:30:00Z	widget	threw out a helper's work because its screenshots were blank	checked the real files instead of trusting its summary	worktree reset	reverted, tightened the instructions for next time
```

## Logging a row

Write each entry the way you'd tell a teammate what you did. Plain words, concrete actions, no AI speak or abstract jargon (the **unslop** skill applies to log text too).

Write each row with Pi `write` and `edit`, appending only. The log writer stamps `ts`, writes the header on first use, strips stray tabs/newlines, and prefixes any cell starting with `=`, `+`, `-`, or `@` with a single quote. Preserve existing bytes.

Log decision points and checkpoints, not every action: a fork chosen, a unit completed with its verification result, a pivot or revert with its trigger, a blocker surfaced, a gate fixed. For loop runs, one row per iteration. Skip the trivial and self-evident.

A run is one agent conversation, including its later turns and any summary of it. A pickup, a replacement agent, or a new chat starts a new run. When a run adds to a log that already has rows, its first row has phase `start`, and so does its first row after another run's `start` row. So a run that comes back to a log in a later turn first reads the log's last rows to see whether another run wrote since. A `start` row names the `ts` range of the rows before it that this run did not write, and its evidence names this run, such as its agent id. Use phase `start` for nothing else.

## Where it lives

By default the log is a working artifact, not committed. Keep it at `decisions.tsv` in the work dir, or `.audit/<task-slug>.tsv` when several efforts run at once, and leave it out of git.

Commit it only when the work is ambitious enough that a reviewer needs the trail to trust the result. Committing requires operator authorization; loading this skill grants none.

## Rules

- Append-only. A wrong call gets a new row that supersedes it. Never edit or delete history.
- Prefer evidence produced by committed scripts over hand-made one-offs (the **encode-lessons-in-structure** principle skill).

## Audit the log against the transcript

At the end of the run, before handing back, check the log told the truth. Read this run's transcript under the active workspace's `agent-transcripts/` directory when the host provides it (the system prompt names the path); otherwise read only the active Pi session branch or an operator-supplied transcript for this run. If neither is available, audit against current conversation evidence and label transcript coverage incomplete. Don't glob across the host's project or session stores. That reads unrelated private chats. Walk this run's rows against what actually happened. Each stretch of them begins at one of this run's `start` rows, or at the first row if this run created the log, and ends at the next `start` row of another run:

- Check that every row maps to a real decision or action.
- Check that each row's evidence resolves and shows what the row claims.
- A fork, pivot, or abandoned approach that shaped the work but isn't logged is a gap. Add it.

Correct the log, not the story. The audit never edits or removes a row, even an invented one. When a row records neither a real decision nor a real action, or its claim or evidence is wrong, add a row that supersedes it with what actually happened and a pointer that resolves. This audit does not check rows outside this run's stretches. If this run's own work shows one of them is wrong, supersede it like any wrong call.

## Cross-model review of the trail

Before handing back, spawn a subagent on a different model family from the one that did the work. Self-review is not a substitute. This requires operator or project authorization and an available pi-subagents integration; if either is unavailable, do not invent a reviewer, and state that limitation in Attention. The reviewer is read-only and never receives write tools. The subagent reads the audit trail and the run's transcript, then flags what the user should pay attention to. Not a redo of the work, a scan for what's suboptimal or risky. Pick each subagent's reasoning level and speed for the job, per the Subagents section of the **poteto-mode** skill.

- Decisions logged with weak or absent evidence.
- Verification steps skipped or claimed without proof in the transcript.
- Choices that look risky in hindsight (premature, scope-creeping, papering over a symptom).
- Gaps the user would otherwise miss on a casual skim.

Every reply for a run that produced a trail ends with an "Attention" section. Lead with the reviewer's model on its own line (`reviewed by <model>`), then list each flag pointing to specific rows or moments. "No flags" is a valid value. The model name is not.

## Reviewing the trail

Read top to bottom, follow the evidence pointers, spot-check. GitHub renders a committed TSV as a table. `column -s$'\t' -t decisions.tsv` renders it in a terminal.

## Composing this skill

Other skills route their audit trail here instead of inventing one. Reference it by name and let it own the format. Don't restate the columns.

## Pi execution and authority

Adapted from Lauren Tan’s pstack v0.15.25, MIT, fixed revision f713f14203cd6420cec13cd7c55c32d598dbab68. Read the [Pi adapter](../../adapters/pi/harness.md) for host mappings.

The upstream helper `scripts/log.sh <logfile> <phase> <decision> <why> <evidence> <result>` is not shipped; the `write` and `edit` steps above reproduce its stamping, header, byte-stripping, and quote-prefix behavior, and the quote prefix prevents spreadsheet formula execution.

Delegation requires operator or applicable project authorization and an available pi-subagents integration. Otherwise perform the same stages sequentially and label the result self-review rather than independent review. Read the installed integration’s public instructions before launching. Use pstack.poteto-agent for isolated candidate writers and pstack.comment-sicko with its actual read-only allowlist for file reviewers. Keep one writer per directory. A source investigator may use only explicitly available read-only connectors; lack of connector access is a gap, never a reason to grant write tools.

Honor the operator’s configured roles and supported reasoning levels. Runtime-registered pstack agents bind their models through /setup-pstack: pstack.poteto-agent uses code, pstack.comment-sicko uses review, pstack.verifier uses verification, and pstack.prose-writer uses prose. This binding applies to direct calls and workflow children, including subagent({ workflow: "parallel", args: { tasks: [{ agent: "pstack.<agent>", task: "<brief>" }] } }). Do not put model in a task item or on the outer call; user subagents.agentOverrides may override the agent’s model and thinking. Do not invent per-skill configuration keys. Preserve model diversity where available; report when configured seats share a model. A rejected model stops that seat and is reported; never silently choose a fallback. Do not launch a child without authorization. Await native completion notices, not polling.

Use read for contents, ls for directories, fffind/ffgrep when available and find/grep otherwise. Use edit/write for authorized changes. Batch independent reads with codemode when available. Bash is for execution and Git with an explicit working directory, never a substitute file reader or searcher. Loading this skill grants no permission to commit, push, merge, deploy, delete, or send messages.

From jiangkoumo/pi-pstack, MIT.

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