opensquad Development Checklist

You are running the opensquad-dev verification skill inside the opensquad repository. Your job is to detect and report distribution issues before they reach users.

How opensquad Distribution Works

Understand this before checking anything:

• templates/ → Copied by src/init.js:copyCommonTemplates() during npx opensquad init and by src/update.js during npx opensquad update. Everything in templates/ except ide-templates/ is copied recursively to the user's project. This is the PRIMARY distribution mechanism — if a file isn't in templates, users don't get it on init.

• templates/ide-templates/ → IDE-specific files. Copied selectively based on user's IDE selection during init. Each subfolder (claude-code/, opencode/, codex/, antigravity/) maps to one IDE choice.

• agents/ (project root) → Predefined agent catalog, distributed via npm (package.json files[]). Auto-installed during npx opensquad init and new agents added during npx opensquad update. Protected from overwrites in src/update.js:PROTECTED_PATHS. Users can also install manually via npx opensquad agents install.

• skills/ (project root) → Bundled skills catalog, distributed via npm (package.json files[]). Non-MCP skills are auto-installed during init. MCP skills (type: mcp/hybrid or with env vars) are offered interactively during init. Users can also install manually via npx opensquad skills install.

• _opensquad/core/* → Framework core files. MUST have a mirror copy in templates/_opensquad/core/*. Any change to a core file that isn't synced to templates means npx opensquad init delivers STALE content to new users.

• skills/* → Bundled skills catalog. Two distribution sub-types:

  • Multi-file skills (have scripts/assets/agents dirs alongside SKILL.md, e.g. opensquad-skill-creator): also have a mirror in templates/skills/* so the full directory structure is copied during init. Check B verifies this sync.
  • Single-file skills (only SKILL.md, no subdirs, e.g. opensquad-agent-creator): distributed via installSkill() — no template copy needed. Check B does NOT apply to these.

• package.json files[] → Controls what enters the npm package. Currently: bin/, src/, agents/, skills/, templates/.

• src/update.js:PROTECTED_PATHS → Directories NEVER overwritten during update: _opensquad/_memory, _opensquad/_investigations, agents, squads.

Multi-IDE Architecture

opensquad supports multiple IDEs. When a user runs npx opensquad init, they choose which IDE(s) to install for. Files are copied from two places:

1. Common templates (templates/, excluding ide-templates/) — copied to every project regardless of IDE
2. IDE-specific templates (templates/ide-templates/{ide}/) — copied only for the selected IDE(s)

File Classification

Type	Definition	Location
SHARED	Applies to all IDEs equally	_opensquad/core/, templates/ (excluding ide-templates/)
IDE-SPECIFIC	Applies to one IDE only	templates/ide-templates/{ide}/

Supported IDEs and Their Template Folders

IDE	Template Folder	Example Files
Claude Code	templates/ide-templates/claude-code/	SKILL.md, CLAUDE.md, .mcp.json
Antigravity	templates/ide-templates/antigravity/	.agent/rules/opensquad.md, .agent/workflows/opensquad.md
OpenCode	templates/ide-templates/opencode/	AGENTS.md, .opencode/commands/opensquad.md
Codex	templates/ide-templates/codex/	AGENTS.md

The Golden Rule

When a change is requested for a specific IDE, modify ONLY files inside templates/ide-templates/{ide}/. NEVER add conditional logic ("if antigravity, do X") to shared files.

Violation example:

• User asks: "Add sequential execution support for Antigravity in the pipeline."
• ❌ Wrong: Edit _opensquad/core/runner.pipeline.md adding if antigravity: run sequentially
• ✅ Correct: Edit templates/ide-templates/antigravity/.agent/rules/opensquad.md with the sequential execution instructions

Legitimate shared file edit:

• User asks: "Add a new researcher agent type to the architect."
• ✅ Fine: Edit _opensquad/core/architect.agent.yaml because the change benefits ALL IDEs equally.

Verification Process

Step 1: Detect what changed

Run these commands to identify changed files:

# Uncommitted changes (staged + unstaged)
git diff --name-only HEAD

# If no uncommitted changes, check recent commits
git log --oneline -5
git diff --name-only HEAD~5..HEAD

Collect all changed file paths into a list.

Step 2: Run applicable checks

For each changed file, apply the matching verification rules below. Only run checks that are relevant to the actual changes detected.

Check A: Core file sync (_opensquad/core/** changed)

For EACH changed file matching _opensquad/core/**:

1. Compute the expected template path: templates/{same relative path} Example: _opensquad/core/runner.pipeline.md → templates/_opensquad/core/runner.pipeline.md

2. Run diff:

   diff "_opensquad/core/{file}" "templates/_opensquad/core/{file}"
   

3. If diff shows differences:

   • FAIL: Report the file and show the diff summary
   • Fix: cp _opensquad/core/{file} templates/_opensquad/core/{file}

4. If template file doesn't exist:

   • FAIL: "Template missing for _opensquad/core/{file}"
   • Fix: mkdir -p templates/_opensquad/core/{dir} && cp _opensquad/core/{file} templates/_opensquad/core/{file}

Check B: Skills sync (skills/** changed)

Only applies to multi-file skills — skills that have subdirectories (scripts/, assets/, agents/, etc.) alongside their SKILL.md. These require a template mirror so the full directory is copied during init.

Single-file skills (only SKILL.md, no subdirs) are distributed via installSkill() and do NOT need a templates/skills/ counterpart. Do not flag them as missing.

For each changed multi-file skill:

• Source: skills/{skill}/SKILL.md
• Template: templates/skills/{skill}/SKILL.md

Check C: Agents directory (agents/** changed)

1. Read package.json, parse the files array
2. Verify "agents/" is present in the array
3. If missing: FAIL — "agents/" not in package.json files[]

Check D: Init logic (src/init.js changed)

1. Read src/init.js
2. Verify copyCommonTemplates function exists and references TEMPLATES_DIR
3. Verify getTemplateEntries recursively scans the templates directory
4. Flag if any new filtering logic was added that might exclude files

Check E: Update logic (src/update.js changed)

1. Read src/update.js
2. Extract the PROTECTED_PATHS array
3. Verify it includes all user-owned directories:
   • _opensquad/_memory (user preferences and company context)
   • _opensquad/_investigations (Sherlock investigation data)
   • agents (user-installed/customized agents)
   • squads (user-created squads)
4. If a new user-owned top-level directory was added to the project, check if it should be in PROTECTED_PATHS

Check F: Package manifest (package.json changed)

1. Read package.json, parse files array
2. Verify these directories are present: bin/, src/, agents/, skills/, templates/
3. If any distributable directory exists at project root but is NOT in files[]: FAIL

Check G: New top-level directory (any new directory at root)

1. Run ls -d */ at project root
2. For each directory, check:
   • Is it in package.json files[]? (if it should be distributed)
   • Is it in PROTECTED_PATHS? (if it's user-owned content)
   • Is it in templates/? (if it should be copied during init)
3. Flag any directory that seems like it should be distributed but isn't configured

Check H: Init auto-installs agents and skills (src/init.js changed)

1. Read src/init.js
2. Verify it imports from ./agents.js: listAvailable (aliased as listAvailableAgents) and installAgent
3. Verify installAllAgents function exists and is called in init()
4. Verify installNonMcpSkills function exists and is called in init()
5. Verify installNonMcpSkills filters out: opensquad-skill-creator, type mcp, type hybrid, skills with env
6. If any of these are missing: FAIL — "Init does not auto-install agents/skills"

Check I: Update installs new agents/skills (src/update.js changed)

1. Read src/update.js
2. Verify it imports from ./agents.js: listAvailable, listInstalled, installAgent
3. Verify it imports from ./skills.js: listAvailable, listInstalled, installSkill, getSkillMeta
4. Verify the update function installs missing agents (compares available vs installed)
5. Verify it installs missing non-MCP skills with same filtering as init
6. If any of these are missing: FAIL — "Update does not install new agents/skills"

Check J: IDE contamination in shared files (any _opensquad/core/** or templates/** changed, excluding templates/ide-templates/**)

Scan shared files for IDE-specific conditional logic that should live in templates/ide-templates/{ide}/ instead.

Files to scan:

• All files in _opensquad/core/
• All files in templates/ EXCEPT those under templates/ide-templates/

What to look for: Content that says "do X for IDE Y" or "if using IDE Y, behave differently."

Contamination keywords (IDE names used as conditional subjects):

• antigravity or .antigravity
• cursorrules or .cursor/
• windsurf or windsurfrules
• opencode or open-code
• codex
• Conditional patterns: "se antigravity", "if antigravity", "for antigravity", "if cursor", "if windsurf", "if codex"

Exclusions: Mentions inside this opensquad-dev SKILL.md itself (documentation), and any comment explicitly labeled as a cross-reference.

Pass: No IDE-specific conditional logic found in shared files. Fail: Report the file path, relevant line, and the correct location where the change should go instead (i.e., which templates/ide-templates/{ide}/ file).

Step 3: Report results

Present a clear summary:

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔧 opensquad Dev Checklist
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Files changed: {N}
Checks run: {N}

✅ Check A: Core file sync — {N}/{N} files in sync
❌ Check B: Skills sync — {file} out of sync
   Fix: cp skills/{x}/SKILL.md templates/skills/{x}/SKILL.md
✅ Check F: Package manifest — all directories present
✅ Check J: IDE contamination — no IDE-specific logic in shared files

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Result: {N} issues found
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If ALL checks pass, report clean:

✅ All {N} checks passed — distribution is consistent.

If any check fails, list the fix commands at the end so the user can approve them in batch.