/utility-pm-workflow-builder

name: utility-pm-workflow-builder
description: Guides a contributor from a workflow idea to a complete Workflow Implementation Packet (draft workflow file, draft workflow command, cross-cutting update checklist) in a staging area for review. Runs overlap analysis against the existing workflows with a Why Gate, then helps select and sequence skills with authored handoffs. Use when creating a new multi-skill workflow or promoting a repeated ad-hoc chain into a durable one. To build a single skill instead, use utility-pm-skill-builder; to run a sequence without authoring anything, use the chain command or utility-pm-workflow-orchestrator.
license: Apache-2.0
metadata:
  classification: utility
  version: "1.0.0"
  updated: 2026-06-10
  category: workflow
  frameworks: [triple-diamond]
  author: product-on-purpose

<!-- PM-Skills | https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills | Apache 2.0 -->

PM Workflow Builder

This skill creates new multi-skill workflows for the pm-skills library. It produces a Workflow Implementation Packet - a draft `_workflows/<name>.md` file, a draft `commands/workflow-<name>.md` command, and the cross-cutting update checklist - in a staging area for review before promotion to canonical locations. The builder authors; it never executes a chain and it never promotes its own output.

When to Use

• You have an idea for a new multi-skill workflow ("I need a workflow for

quarterly business reviews")

• You know the skills you want to chain and want them captured durably

("chain competitive-analysis, experiment-results, pivot-decision")

• A `/chain` run (orchestrator Mode B) proved reusable and its completion

output suggested promoting the chain to a durable workflow; hand this skill the exact chain expression from that suggestion

When NOT to Use

• To run a sequence once without authoring anything -> use the `/chain`

command or `utility-pm-workflow-orchestrator` directly

• To build or modify a single skill -> use `utility-pm-skill-builder`,

`utility-pm-skill-validate`, or `utility-pm-skill-iterate`

• To customize an existing workflow -> edit its `_workflows/<name>.md`

directly; the overlap analysis below will point you there when coverage is high

Instructions

Step 1: Understand the Idea

Accept the idea in any of three entry forms, all converging on the same downstream flow:

• **Problem-first:** "I need a workflow for X." Identify the recurring PM

process, who runs it, and the artifact trail it should leave.

• **Skills-first:** a list of skills the user already wants to chain.
• **Chain-promotion:** a literal chain expression (for example

`measure-experiment-results -> discover-stakeholder-summary`), usually pasted from the orchestrator's completion suggestion, plus the context the run used.

If the idea is vague, ask ONE clarifying question (the recurring trigger and the final artifact), then proceed. Do not interrogate.

Step 2: Overlap Analysis + Why Gate

Scan the `_workflows/` directory at run time for the current inventory (list every `*.md` except `README.md`). Never rely on a remembered count or a hardcoded list. Compare the idea against ALL existing workflows:

• Name each overlapping workflow and what it covers.
• Estimate coverage overlap honestly.

**Kill gate (>70% coverage overlap):** recommend, in order, (a) customizing the existing workflow, (b) adding a step to it, or (c) just using `/chain` for the occasional run. Do not proceed.

**Why Gate (any meaningful overlap):** ask for 2-3 specific scenarios where the existing workflows fail to produce what is needed. Do not pass the gate without that evidence or an explicit user override (record the override in the packet's Decision section).

Step 3: Sequence Design

Select and order the steps with the user. Apply the chain-expression contract's validation rules at authoring time (`skills/utility-pm-workflow-orchestrator/references/PARSE-CONTRACT.md`, Mode B Chain Expression Contract):

• Every step must resolve to an installed skill at `skills/<name>/SKILL.md`

by EXACT name. Never approximate or auto-correct; on a miss, refuse the step and OFFER the closest real names (an offer, never a substitution).

• **Category 1 content skills only.** Refuse as steps, each with a one-line

explanation: Tier-3 maintenance skills (`utility-pm-skill-*`, `utility-pm-release-conductor`, `utility-pm-changelog-curator`, `utility-update-pm-skills`, `foundation-prioritized-action-plan`), dispatch skills that fan out to sub-agents (`utility-pm-critic`, `utility-pm-workflow-orchestrator`, and peers), and existing workflows (a workflow never nests a workflow). Self-reference is impossible by construction: this builder is itself Tier-3.

• For EACH step, author the handoff: what the step consumes from the prior

step's output, and what it must produce for the next. This authored handoff guidance is exactly what distinguishes a durable workflow from an ad-hoc chain; a packet without real handoffs is not ready.

Step 4: Generate the Packet

Write the complete Workflow Implementation Packet to `_staging/workflows/<name>/` (gitignored; the same review model as the skill builder). Never write to canonical locations.

_staging/workflows/<name>/
├── workflow.md      <- draft _workflows/<name>.md
├── command.md       <- draft commands/workflow-<name>.md
└── PACKET.md        <- decision, overlap analysis, checklist, promotion steps

Use `references/TEMPLATE.md` as the packet format. The workflow draft must carry the full section inventory the current `_workflows/*.md` files share (see the TEMPLATE's embedded skeleton); the command draft mirrors the existing `commands/workflow-*.md` shape, including one literal `skills/<name>/SKILL.md` path per step and the `$ARGUMENTS` footer. Derive a linear mermaid context-flow diagram from the final sequence (step names as nodes, execution order as edges).

Step 5: Review + Promotion Guidance

Present the packet