Workflow Decision Tree

Not sure which skill or pattern to use? Start here.

---

What Are You Trying to Do?

graph TD
    START["What do you need?"] --> FIX["Fix a bug"]
    START --> BUILD["Build a feature"]
    START --> IMPROVE["Improve existing code"]
    START --> REVIEW["Review code"]
    START --> DEPLOY["Deploy"]
    START --> PLAN["Plan work"]
    START --> UNDERSTAND["Understand code"]
    START --> MAINTAIN["Maintenance"]
    START --> CICD["Automate CI/CD"]
    START --> SECURE["Fix vulnerabilities"]
    START --> MODERNIZE["Modernize legacy code"]

    FIX --> FIX_Q{"Have the error message?"}
    FIX_Q -->|"Yes"| FIX_GO["Paste error + scope lock<br/><em>See: bug-fix example</em>"]
    FIX_Q -->|"No"| FIX_DEBUG["/check-env first<br/>then reproduce the error"]

    BUILD --> BUILD_Q{"Clear requirements?"}
    BUILD_Q -->|"Yes"| BUILD_SMALL{"Small (<5 files)?"}
    BUILD_Q -->|"No"| BUILD_REVERSE["Reverse prompt:<br/>'Ask me 20 questions'"]
    BUILD_SMALL -->|"Yes"| BUILD_GO["Implement directly<br/><em>See: feature example</em>"]
    BUILD_SMALL -->|"No"| BUILD_PLAN["/writing-plans first<br/>then /executing-plans"]

    IMPROVE --> IMPROVE_Q{"What kind?"}
    IMPROVE_Q -->|"Refactor"| REFACTOR_GO["/refactor<br/><em>Zero behavior change</em>"]
    IMPROVE_Q -->|"Performance"| PERF_GO["Profile first<br/>then targeted fix"]
    IMPROVE_Q -->|"Add tests"| TDD_GO["/test-first"]

    REVIEW --> REVIEW_Q{"Scope?"}
    REVIEW_Q -->|"My changes"| CR_GO["/code-review"]
    REVIEW_Q -->|"Open PRs"| PR_GO["/pr-batch-review"]
    REVIEW_Q -->|"Security"| SEC_GO["/security-check"]
    REVIEW_Q -->|"Dependencies"| DEP_GO["/dependency-audit"]

    DEPLOY --> DEPLOY_GO["/check-env then /deploy"]

    PLAN --> PLAN_Q{"Complexity?"}
    PLAN_Q -->|"Exploring options"| BRAIN_GO["/brainstorming"]
    PLAN_Q -->|"Ready to plan"| PLAN_GO["/writing-plans"]
    PLAN_Q -->|"Prevent overengineering"| KARP_GO["/karpathy-guidelines"]

    UNDERSTAND --> UND_Q{"Depth?"}
    UND_Q -->|"Quick explanation"| EXP_GO["/explain"]
    UND_Q -->|"Deep exploration"| DEEP_GO["/deep-explore"]
    UND_Q -->|"Cross-project"| CROSS_GO["/cross-project-search"]

    MAINTAIN --> MAINT_Q{"What?"}
    MAINT_Q -->|"Changelog"| CL_GO["/changelog"]
    MAINT_Q -->|"Database migration"| DB_GO["/migrate-db"]
    MAINT_Q -->|"Session wrap-up"| HO_GO["/handoff"]
    CICD --> CICD_GO["See: github-actions.md"]
    SECURE --> SECURE_GO["See: security-remediation.md<br/><em>OWASP fix patterns</em>"]
    MODERNIZE --> MOD_GO["See: legacy-modernization.md<br/><em>Incremental approach</em>"]

    style START fill:#4A90D9,stroke:#357ABD,color:#fff
    style FIX fill:#FF6B6B,stroke:#EE5A5A,color:#fff
    style BUILD fill:#50C878,stroke:#3CB371,color:#fff
    style IMPROVE fill:#7B68EE,stroke:#6A5ACD,color:#fff
    style REVIEW fill:#FFB347,stroke:#FFA500,color:#333
    style DEPLOY fill:#FF69B4,stroke:#DB7093,color:#fff
    style PLAN fill:#DDA0DD,stroke:#BA55D3,color:#333
    style UNDERSTAND fill:#20B2AA,stroke:#008B8B,color:#fff
    style MAINTAIN fill:#DAA520,stroke:#B8860B,color:#fff
    style CICD fill:#4169E1,stroke:#27408B,color:#fff
    style SECURE fill:#DC143C,stroke:#B22222,color:#fff
    style MODERNIZE fill:#2E8B57,stroke:#006400,color:#fff

---

Session Lifecycle

Every session follows this flow. The skills help at each stage:

graph LR
    subgraph "Start"
        S1["/check-env"]
    end

    subgraph "Plan"
        P1["/brainstorming"]
        P2["/writing-plans"]
        P3["/karpathy-guidelines"]
    end

    subgraph "Execute"
        E1["Implement"]
        E2["/test-first"]
        E3["/refactor"]
        E4["/migrate-db"]
    end

    subgraph "Verify"
        V1["/code-review"]
        V2["/security-check"]
        V3["/dependency-audit"]
    end

    subgraph "Ship"
        D1["/changelog"]
        D2["/deploy"]
    end

    subgraph "Close"
        C1["/handoff"]
    end

    S1 --> P1
    P1 --> P2
    P2 --> E1
    P3 -.-> E1
    E1 --> E2
    E2 --> E3
    E3 --> V1
    V1 --> V2
    V2 --> D1
    D1 --> D2
    D2 --> C1

    style S1 fill:#4A90D9,stroke:#357ABD,color:#fff
    style P1 fill:#7B68EE,stroke:#6A5ACD,color:#fff
    style P2 fill:#7B68EE,stroke:#6A5ACD,color:#fff
    style P3 fill:#7B68EE,stroke:#6A5ACD,color:#fff
    style E1 fill:#50C878,stroke:#3CB371,color:#fff
    style E2 fill:#50C878,stroke:#3CB371,color:#fff
    style E3 fill:#50C878,stroke:#3CB371,color:#fff
    style E4 fill:#50C878,stroke:#3CB371,color:#fff
    style V1 fill:#FFB347,stroke:#FFA500,color:#333
    style V2 fill:#FFB347,stroke:#FFA500,color:#333
    style V3 fill:#FFB347,stroke:#FFA500,color:#333
    style D1 fill:#FF69B4,stroke:#DB7093,color:#fff
    style D2 fill:#FF69B4,stroke:#DB7093,color:#fff
    style C1 fill:#FF6B6B,stroke:#EE5A5A,color:#fff

---

Skill Quick Reference

Situation	Skill	One-liner
Starting a session	/check-env	Verify ports, Docker, env vars, credentials
Need to think through options	/brainstorming	Multi-perspective idea exploration
About to write complex code	/karpathy-guidelines	Anti-overcomplication checklist
Planning a large feature	/writing-plans	Structured implementation plan
Ready to execute a plan	/executing-plans	Batch execution with checkpoints
Writing new functionality	/test-first	TDD: tests before implementation
Cleaning up code	/refactor	Zero-behavior-change refactoring
Running database changes	/migrate-db	Safe migration with rollback plan
Want to understand code	/explain	Layered explanation (simple to deep)
Exploring a codebase	/deep-explore	Multi-file structural analysis
Finding patterns across repos	/cross-project-search	Search across all repositories
Reviewing my changes	/code-review	Structured review with severity ratings
Reviewing open PRs	/pr-batch-review	Batch review of all open PRs
Checking for vulnerabilities	/security-check	OWASP Top 10 quick scan
Auditing dependencies	/dependency-audit	Vulnerability and update audit
Generating release notes	/changelog	Changelog from recent commits
Deploying to production	/deploy	Safe deployment with OOM prevention
Wrapping up a session	/handoff	Structured session summary
Learning from corrections	/autoskill	Extract patterns from session history
Creating new skills	/skill-creator	Meta-skill for building skills
Before pushing code	/codex-prepush-review	Automated code review

---

Common Combinations

These skill sequences work well together:

Workflow	Sequence	When
New feature	/check-env → /brainstorming → /writing-plans → /test-first → /code-review → /deploy	Building something new
Bug fix	/check-env → fix → /code-review → /deploy	Fixing a production issue
Tech debt	/deep-explore → /refactor → /code-review	Cleaning up old code
Release	/security-check → /dependency-audit → /changelog → /deploy	Cutting a release
Onboarding	/explain → /deep-explore → /cross-project-search	Understanding a new codebase
End of day	/code-review → /handoff	Wrapping up work