explore

Files (1)

• SKILL.md

SKILL.md (first lines)

# Explore

Applies [CONCEPT_ALIGNMENT](../concepts/CONCEPT_ALIGNMENT.md) and
[CONCEPT_SKILL](../concepts/CONCEPT_SKILL.md) to **wayfinding** — charting a
course through foggy work. Explore charts. The explore workflow walks.

**On invoke:** read [../concepts/CONCEPT_ALIGNMENT.md](../concepts/CONCEPT_ALIGNMENT.md),
[CONCEPT_SKILL](../concepts/CONCEPT_SKILL.md),
and [../workflow/SKILL.md](../workflow/SKILL.md).

## Leading words

- **delivery unit** — one define-typed Task (and its PR) that owns research/model/sandbox artifacts through ship when they share a build
- **finding docs** — `RESEARCH.md` / `MODEL.md` committed on the delivery branch for later skills; never their own PR
- **supportive-only** — explore route Task that does not itself implement or ship; its artifacts sit on the delivery branch

**Chart the route.** Creating a research/model/sandbox/define Task completes a map step.
The explore workflow reads the frontier type.

## Extensions

| Slot | This skill |
|------|------------|
| **Subject** | Vague, foggy, or oversized work |
| **Probes** | Destination (1–2 lines); why it matters; competing framings that change the whole map; fog vs ticket; route step kinds; sequence/deps; out of scope |
| **Stop condition** | Destination named, visible frontier ticketed (with sequence/deps), remaining uncertainty recorded as fog or out of scope |
| **Alignment artifact** | `ROADMAP.md` (path from WORKSPACE) — the map |
| **Readiness prompt** | "Does this map capture the destination and the next steps through the fog?" |
| **Opening** | Thin: "What are we trying to find our way to?" Rich: highest-value fog (destination, framing, or first takeable step). Existing map → [Continue the map](#continue-the-map) |
| **Scope guard** | Chart only — no destination implementation; no fake-settled requirements for later skills; tracker writes after approval are charting, not walking; no map-only open PR |

**Divergence here** changes destination, route shape, or Task existence/deps.
Choices that only change how a later skill answers belong on that Task — park a
one-line fog/Task pointer.

## Fog of war

**Fog or ticket?** Can you state the step precisely enough to act on *now* — not
whether you can answer it now.

| Put it here | When |
|-------------|------|
| **Route Task** | Sharp enough to ticket as type define (preferred), research, model, sandbox, or task — even if blocked |
| **Not yet specified** (fog) | Sensed but not ticket-sized — do not pre-slice into fake Tasks |
| **Out of scope** | Beyond this destination — never graduates unless destination is redrawn |

Resolving a route Task should clear fog ahead. Re-invoking `/explore` **graduates**
what is now sharp into fresh Tasks.

## Route Task types

| Type | Role |
|------|------|
| **research** | Evidence finding docs the route waits on |
| **model** | Math finding docs before (or with) definition |
| **sandbox** | Isolated inspect-loop for a contained element before production implement |
| **define** | User-agent alignment on particulars for a buildable slice |
| **task** | Other unblocker that earns its place by unblocking a later decision |

**One delivery unit by default.** Prefer a **single define-typed route Task**
when research / model / sandbox / define feed the same eventual build — run those
steps on that Task so artifacts land on the same branch define and implement
will use. Prefer **separate route Tasks with dependencies** only
when sequence truly needs independent tickets (parallel owners, research that
may kill the destination, or blockers owned elsewhere).

Wire **Blocked by** after Tasks have keys. A Task is **unblocked** when every
blocker is **Done** (or waived). The frontier is the unblocked row with the
lowest Order. The explore workflow maps its type to a skill.

**Finding docs, not separate PRs.** Research and model only produce finding
documentation on the delivery branch. Sandbox produces an isolation tree and
`SANDBOX.md` the same way. They never open their own PRs. Explore does not open
a map-only PR. The only open delivery PR is the delivery head once a definition
skill opens it. Supportive-only route Tasks go **Done** after their docs (or
isolation tree) are on the downstream delivery branch.

## Artifact

`ROADMAP.md` is an **index**; detail lives on tickets.

```markdown
# Roadmap: [title]

## Destination
<one or two lines>

## Notes
<domain hints; standing preferences>

## Route
| Order | Task | Type | Blocked by | Status | Issue |
|-------|------|------|------------|--------|-------|
| 1 | <title> | research / model / sandbox / define / task | — | To Do | <KEY> |

## Cleared so far
- [<title>](link) — <one-line gist>

## Not yet specified
- …

## Out of scope
- …

## Tracker
- Provider: …
- Story (map): <KEY>
- Tasks: <KEY>, …
```

Keep Destination short. **Not yet specified** stays non-empty whenever honest fog remains.

## Steps

### Chart the map

1. **Align** — Follow CONCEPT_ALIGNMENT with the extensions above. Done when the destination and map stop condition hold.
2. **Classify the route** — Map the visible frontier breadth-first into typed Tasks, fog, and out of scope. Done when every visible item has exactly one classification and dependencies are known.
3. **Handle a clear direct path** — If the work is already small and fog-free, record a one-row route of type **define** instead of manufacturing extra Tasks. Done when that row is the frontier.

From marcuskrogh/skills, MIT.

More from marcuskrogh/skills