/discover

name: discover
description: >
  Discover domain-specific skills and context before starting any coding or
  spec work. This is the mandatory first step for every task — no matter how
  trivial. Triggers on: any code change, spec change, implementation task,
  bug fix, refactor, feature work, or documentation update that touches
  component code or specs.

Discover Domain Skills

Before writing or changing anything, discover what skills and context are available for the domains you're about to work in.

When to Use

Every time. This skill is the entry point for all coding and spec work. Do not skip it, even for one-line fixes.

User Input

$ARGUMENTS

If provided, use the input to narrow which domains to check. Otherwise, infer from the task context.

Steps

1. Identify Relevant Domains

Map the work to one or more capability domains:

| Domain | When working on | |--------|----------------| | `sessions` | Session lifecycle, data model, API resources, messages, events | | `control-plane` | Operator, reconciliation, scheduling, runner provisioning | | `agents` | Agent model, runner, runtime registry, prompts | | `integrations` | MCP server, Gerrit, external services, feature flags | | `frontend` | UI components, pages, React Query hooks | | `auth` | OAuth, credentials, RBAC, tokens | | `projects` | Project management, settings, workspaces | | `cli` | TUI, acpctl commands | | `specs` | specs |

If unsure, check which `specs/` subdirectories exist:

ls -d specs/*/

2. Visit Each Domain

For every relevant domain, `cd` into its spec directory and list available skills:

cd specs/{domain}
ls .claude/skills/ 2>/dev/null
ls skills/ 2>/dev/null

Read the SKILL.md of any discovered skill that looks relevant to the task at hand.

3. Load Domain Specs

While in the domain directory, check for specs that describe the desired state of what you're about to change:

ls *.spec.md 2>/dev/null

Read the relevant spec before implementing — code reconciles against specs, not the other way around.

4. Check Deployment Skills

If the work involves deployment, manifests, Docker builds, or cluster operations, check for deployment skills:

ls skills/deployments/ 2>/dev/null

Read the relevant SKILL.md — these contain environment config, prerequisites, and troubleshooting for deploying each component.

5. Check Standards

Load the standards for the component you're modifying:

ls specs/standards/*/

Pick the relevant domain (backend, frontend, control-plane, security, platform).

6. Report and Proceed

Summarize what you found:

• Which domains are involved
• Which domain skills were discovered (if any)
• Which specs describe the area being changed
• Which standards apply

Do not output irrelevant context. Be extremely brief, like: > I will use skills `x` and `y` for this task.

Then proceed with the task, using the discovered skills and context.