/refine
Use when the workflow works but needs polish, or as the final step in a diagnose → fix → refine cycle before shipping.
$ npx -y skills add sharpdeveye/maestro --skill refine --agent claude-codeHow it fires
How this skill gets triggered: by you, by Claude, or both.
- Fires itselfAuto-invocation. Claude auto-loads it when your prompt matches the work.Auto-invocation is when the right skill fires by itself at the right moment, driven by a FLOW.md router and a hook, instead of you invoking it by name. It is the difference between a skill being installed and a skill actually getting used.Read the full definition →
- You can call itInvoke it directly when you want it.
- Slash command
/refine
Context preview
The summary Claude sees to decide when to auto-load this skill.
Use when the workflow works but needs polish, or as the final step in a diagnose → fix → refine cycle before shipping.
SKILL.md
refine.SKILL.mdname: refine
description: "Use when the workflow works but needs polish, or as the final step in a diagnose → fix → refine cycle before shipping."
argument-hint: "[target area]"
category: fix
version: 2.0.0
user-invocable: true
MANDATORY PREPARATION
Invoke /agent-workflow — it contains workflow principles, anti-patterns, and the **Context Gathering Protocol**. Follow the protocol before proceeding — if no workflow context exists yet, you MUST run /teach-maestro first.
---
This is the final quality pass. The workflow works — now make it excellent.
Refinement Checklist
**Prompts**
- [ ] Every prompt follows the 4-zone pattern (role, context, instructions, output)
- [ ] Output schemas are explicit and validated
- [ ] Negative instructions clarify what NOT to do
- [ ] No contradictory instructions
- [ ] Few-shot examples included for ambiguous tasks
- [ ] Chain-of-thought used for multi-step reasoning tasks
**Tool Descriptions**
- [ ] Every tool has a multi-line description: what, when to use, when NOT to use, returns
- [ ] Input parameters have descriptions and types
- [ ] Error responses are documented
- [ ] At least one example input/output in the description
**Error Messages**
- [ ] Error messages are specific (not "an error occurred")
- [ ] Error messages suggest corrective action
- [ ] Errors include context (what was being attempted)
- [ ] Errors are structured (code + message + details)
**Logging**
- [ ] Every model call is logged (input tokens, output tokens, latency, cost)
- [ ] Tool calls are logged with inputs and outputs
- [ ] Errors are logged with full context
- [ ] PII is redacted from logs
- [ ] Workflow ID traces through all log entries
**Configuration**
- [ ] All magic numbers are named constants
- [ ] Environment-specific values are in config, not code
- [ ] Defaults are sensible — config is for overrides
- [ ] Cost ceilings are set
- [ ] Timeout values are set for all external calls
Output
For each checklist item that fails, provide:
1. What's wrong (specific finding) 2. Where it is (file, line, or component) 3. How to fix it (concrete suggestion) 4. Priority (critical / important / nice-to-have)
Priority Matrix
| Priority | Criteria | Maestro Action | |----------|---------|----------------| | Critical | Affects correctness or safety | `/fortify` or `/guard` before shipping | | Important | Affects quality or maintainability | `/calibrate` in current cycle | | Nice-to-have | Cosmetic or minor inconsistency | Note for next `/refine` pass |
Recommended Next Step
After refinement is complete, run `/evaluate` to verify the polished workflow against realistic scenarios.
**NEVER**:
- Skip the checklist — go through every item
- Mark items as passing without checking
- Suggest changes that alter behavior (this is polish, not redesign)
- Refine before the workflow is functionally correct (fix first, refine last)
Read more
name: refine description: "Use when the workflow works but needs polish, or as the final step in a diagnose → fix → refine cycle before shipping." argument-hint: "[target area]" category: fix version: 2.0.0 user-invocable: true
MANDATORY PREPARATION
Invoke /agent-workflow — it contains workflow principles, anti-patterns, and the **Context Gathering Protocol**. Follow the protocol before proceeding — if no workflow context exists yet, you MUST run /teach-maestro first.
---
This is the final quality pass. The workflow works — now make it excellent.
Refinement Checklist
**Prompts**
- [ ] Every prompt follows the 4-zone pattern (role, context, instructions, output)
- [ ] Output schemas are explicit and validated
- [ ] Negative instructions clarify what NOT to do
- [ ] No contradictory instructions
- [ ] Few-shot examples included for ambiguous tasks
- [ ] Chain-of-thought used for multi-step reasoning tasks
**Tool Descriptions**
- [ ] Every tool has a multi-line description: what, when to use, when NOT to use, returns
- [ ] Input parameters have descriptions and types
- [ ] Error responses are documented
- [ ] At least one example input/output in the description
**Error Messages**
- [ ] Error messages are specific (not "an error occurred")
- [ ] Error messages suggest corrective action
- [ ] Errors include context (what was being attempted)
- [ ] Errors are structured (code + message + details)
**Logging**
- [ ] Every model call is logged (input tokens, output tokens, latency, cost)
- [ ] Tool calls are logged with inputs and outputs
- [ ] Errors are logged with full context
- [ ] PII is redacted from logs
- [ ] Workflow ID traces through all log entries
**Configuration**
- [ ] All magic numbers are named constants
- [ ] Environment-specific values are in config, not code
- [ ] Defaults are sensible — config is for overrides
- [ ] Cost ceilings are set
- [ ] Timeout values are set for all external calls
Output
For each checklist item that fails, provide:
1. What's wrong (specific finding) 2. Where it is (file, line, or component) 3. How to fix it (concrete suggestion) 4. Priority (critical / important / nice-to-have)
Priority Matrix
| Priority | Criteria | Maestro Action | |----------|---------|----------------| | Critical | Affects correctness or safety | `/fortify` or `/guard` before shipping | | Important | Affects quality or maintainability | `/calibrate` in current cycle | | Nice-to-have | Cosmetic or minor inconsistency | Note for next `/refine` pass |
Recommended Next Step
After refinement is complete, run `/evaluate` to verify the polished workflow against realistic scenarios.
**NEVER**:
- Skip the checklist — go through every item
- Mark items as passing without checking
- Suggest changes that alter behavior (this is polish, not redesign)
- Refine before the workflow is functionally correct (fix first, refine last)
Workflow fluency for AI coding agents. 1 core skill · 25 commands · 7 domain references · memory layer · audit trail — works across Cursor, Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Copilot, and 6 more.
Repo: sharpdeveye/maestro
Other skills on maestro.
- /accelerate
Use when the workflow is too slow, too expensive, or both and needs latency, cost, or token usage optimization.
Open skill - /adapt-workflow
Use when porting a workflow to a different AI provider, deployment environment, model tier, or organizational context.
Open skill - /agent-workflow
Use when any Maestro command is invoked — provides foundational workflow design principles across prompt engineering, context management, tool orchestration, agent architecture, feedback loops, knowledge systems, and guardrails.
Open skill - /amplify
Use when the workflow works but needs to handle more complex cases or produce higher-quality output through better tools, context, prompts, or models.
Open skill - /calibrate
Use when workflow components are inconsistent, naming conventions vary, or a new team member's work needs alignment to project standards.
Open skill - /capture
Capture a session summary — what was done, what decisions were made, and what to do next.
Open skill

