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mattpocock/setup-matt-pocock-skills

mattpocock

setup-matt-pocock-skills

Sets up an `## Agent skills` block in AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md and `docs/agents/` so the engineering skills know this repo's issue tracker (GitHub or local markdown), triage label vocabulary, and domain doc layout. Run before first use of `to-issues`, `to-prd`, `triage`, `diagnose`, `tdd`, `improve-codebase-architecture`, or `zoom-out` — or if those skills appear to be missing context about the issue tracker, triage labels, or domain docs.

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v1.0Saved May 2, 2026

Setup Matt Pocock's Skills

Scaffold the per-repo configuration that the engineering skills assume:

  • Issue tracker — where issues live (GitHub by default; local markdown is also supported out of the box)
  • Triage labels — the strings used for the five canonical triage roles
  • Domain docs — where CONTEXT.md and ADRs live, and the consumer rules for reading them

This is a prompt-driven skill, not a deterministic script. Explore, present what you found, confirm with the user, then write.

Process

1. Explore

Look at the current repo to understand its starting state. Read whatever exists; don't assume:

  • git remote -v and .git/config — is this a GitHub repo? Which one?
  • AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md at the repo root — does either exist? Is there already an ## Agent skills section in either?
  • CONTEXT.md and CONTEXT-MAP.md at the repo root
  • docs/adr/ and any src/*/docs/adr/ directories
  • docs/agents/ — does this skill's prior output already exist?
  • .scratch/ — sign that a local-markdown issue tracker convention is already in use

2. Present findings and ask

Summarise what's present and what's missing. Then walk the user through the three decisions one at a time — present a section, get the user's answer, then move to the next. Don't dump all three at once.

Assume the user does not know what these terms mean. Each section starts with a short explainer (what it is, why these skills need it, what changes if they pick differently). Then show the choices and the default.

Section A — Issue tracker.

Explainer: The "issue tracker" is where issues live for this repo. Skills like to-issues, triage, to-prd, and qa read from and write to it — they need to know whether to call gh issue create, write a markdown file under .scratch/, or follow some other workflow you describe. Pick the place you actually track work for this repo.

Default posture: these skills were designed for GitHub. If a git remote points at GitHub, propose that. If a git remote points at GitLab (gitlab.com or a self-hosted host), propose GitLab. Otherwise (or if the user prefers), offer:

  • GitHub — issues live in the repo's GitHub Issues (uses the gh CLI)
  • GitLab — issues live in the repo's GitLab Issues (uses the glab CLI)
  • Local markdown — issues live as files under .scratch/<feature>/ in this repo (good for solo projects or repos without a remote)
  • Other (Jira, Linear, etc.) — ask the user to describe the workflow in one paragraph; the skill will record it as freeform prose

Section B — Triage label vocabulary.

Explainer: When the triage skill processes an incoming issue, it moves it through a state machine — needs evaluation, waiting on reporter, ready for an AFK agent to pick up, ready for a human, or won't fix. To do that, it needs to apply labels (or the equivalent in your issue tracker) that match strings you've actually configured. If your repo already uses different label names (e.g. bug:triage instead of needs-triage), map them here so the skill applies the right ones instead of creating duplicates.

The five canonical roles:

  • needs-triage — maintainer needs to evaluate
  • needs-info — waiting on reporter
  • ready-for-agent — fully specified, AFK-ready (an agent can pick it up with no human context)
  • ready-for-human — needs human implementation
  • wontfix — will not be actioned

Default: each role's string equals its name. Ask the user if they want to override any. If their issue tracker has no existing labels, the defaults are fine.

Section C — Domain docs.

Explainer: Some skills (improve-codebase-architecture, diagnose, tdd) read a CONTEXT.md file to learn the project's domain language, and docs/adr/ for past architectural decisions. They need to know whether the repo has one global context or multiple (e.g. a monorepo with separate frontend/backend contexts) so they look in the right place.

Confirm the layout:

  • Single-context — one CONTEXT.md + docs/adr/ at the repo root. Most repos are this.
  • Multi-contextCONTEXT-MAP.md at the root pointing to per-context CONTEXT.md files (typically a monorepo).

3. Confirm and edit

Show the user a draft of:

  • The ## Agent skills block to add to whichever of CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md is being edited (see step 4 for selection rules)
  • The contents of docs/agents/issue-tracker.md, docs/agents/triage-labels.md, docs/agents/domain.md

Let them edit before writing.

4. Write

Pick the file to edit:

  • If CLAUDE.md exists, edit it.
  • Else if AGENTS.md exists, edit it.
  • If neither exists, ask the user which one to create — don't pick for them.

Never create AGENTS.md when CLAUDE.md already exists (or vice versa) — always edit the one that's already there.

If an ## Agent skills block already exists in the chosen file, update its contents in-place rather than appending a duplicate. Don't overwrite user edits to the surrounding sections.

The block:

## Agent skills

### Issue tracker

[one-line summary of where issues are tracked]. See `docs/agents/issue-tracker.md`.

### Triage labels

[one-line summary of the label vocabulary]. See `docs/agents/triage-labels.md`.

### Domain docs

[one-line summary of layout — "single-context" or "multi-context"]. See `docs/agents/domain.md`.

Then write the three docs files using the seed templates in this skill folder as a starting point:

For "other" issue trackers, write docs/agents/issue-tracker.md from scratch using the user's description.

5. Done

Tell the user the setup is complete and which engineering skills will now read from these files. Mention they can edit docs/agents/*.md directly later — re-running this skill is only necessary if they want to switch issue trackers or restart from scratch.

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Overall Score

86/100

Grade

A

Excellent

Safety

92

Quality

85

Clarity

86

Completeness

82

Summary

This skill scaffolds per-repository configuration for Matt Pocock's engineering skills by setting up an `## Agent skills` block and documentation files in `docs/agents/`. It guides users through three interactive decisions: choosing an issue tracker (GitHub, GitLab, local markdown, or custom), mapping triage label vocabulary, and confirming domain documentation layout. The skill is prompt-driven and explores the repo's existing state before writing.

Detected Capabilities

Read git configuration and remote URLsExplore existing repository structure (AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, CONTEXT.md, docs/adr/, .scratch/)Present interactive user decisions with explanations and defaultsConditionally write configuration files based on user inputEdit or append to existing markdown files without overwriting user contentGenerate domain-specific documentation from templates

Trigger Keywords

Phrases that MCP clients use to match this skill to user intent.

setup engineering skillsconfigure issue trackerinitialize skill environmenttriage workflow setupdomain documentation config

Risk Signals

WARNING

Skill edits existing markdown files (AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md) — could overwrite unrelated content

Step 4: Write section
INFO

References external CLI tools (gh, glab) without verifying installation

issue-tracker-github.md, issue-tracker-gitlab.md
INFO

Assumes git remote exists and is accessible

Step 1: Explore, all issue-tracker templates

Referenced Domains

External domains referenced in skill content, detected by static analysis.

gitlab.com

Use Cases

  • Initialize a repository for use with Matt Pocock's engineering skills
  • Configure issue tracker integration before using to-issues, triage, or diagnose skills
  • Document triage label vocabulary for a new or existing project
  • Set up domain documentation consumer rules for multi-context or monorepo layouts

Quality Notes

  • Excellent pedagogical approach — each decision section starts with an explainer of what the term means and why it matters before presenting choices
  • Clear guidance on handling edge cases: explicitly states 'ask user' when neither AGENTS.md nor CLAUDE.md exists, preventing accidental file creation
  • Well-structured iterative workflow (explore → present → confirm → write) reduces cognitive load and ensures user agency
  • Comprehensive template files provided for all issue tracker types; each includes CLI conventions and workflow guidance
  • Step 4 includes important guardrails: never create duplicate config files, update in-place if block exists, preserve surrounding user content
  • Supporting documentation files (domain.md, triage-labels.md) are genuinely useful — they help downstream skills understand repo conventions without re-exploring
  • Graceful degradation in domain.md: 'proceed silently' if CONTEXT.md doesn't exist, with explanation that producer skills create lazily
  • Minor: Step 1 lists `.scratch/` as a sign of local-markdown convention, but doesn't explain the connection until Step 2B; could clarify earlier
  • Minor: 'Other' issue tracker option asks for freeform prose description, but doesn't explain what the skill will do with it or how accurately it can infer workflows
Model: claude-haiku-4-5-20251001Analyzed: May 2, 2026

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