Propose

Use this skill when an idea is still exploratory, cross-cutting, or not yet accepted as a canonical feature.

Hard Stop

This is a proposal-only skill.

After creating or updating proposal artifacts in <proposal_dir>/, stop.

Do not automatically:

• create or update canonical feature planning in <planning_dir>/
• invoke planning, breakdown, slice, execution, or implementation skills
• create execution todos, task tracks, or plan.md files
• edit application or source code
• run implementation builds or tests except minimal context gathering needed to frame the proposal

Only continue beyond proposal work if the user explicitly asks to:

• review the proposal
• accept or reject it
• start planning
• start implementation

Responsibilities

1. Create and maintain proposal-scoped folders under the repository proposal layout.
2. Keep speculative work out of the canonical feature registry until it is accepted.
3. Track proposal lifecycle state in machine-readable metadata.
4. Preserve early discovery and optional story artifacts in a durable repo location.
5. Hand accepted proposals back to guide-planning when the user wants canonical feature planning to begin.

Preferred Input

• a proposal slug or short folder-safe name
• an optional summary
• an optional target feature slug if the expected canonical feature name is already known

Required Output

• <proposal_dir>/README.md
• <proposal_dir>/registry.json
• <proposal_dir>/<proposal-slug>/proposal.md
• <proposal_dir>/<proposal-slug>/.proposal-meta.json

When To Use

• the work is still a candidate capability rather than an approved feature
• the idea is umbrella-scoped and may split into multiple real features later
• you want durable repo-native exploration without polluting docs/features/
• you need an explicit accept/reject step before normal planning starts

Workflow

1. Initialize the proposal registry with manage_proposals.py init if it does not exist yet.
2. Create a proposal with manage_proposals.py add <proposal-slug>.
3. Capture the problem framing in proposal.md and optional candidate stories in user-stories.md.
4. Optionally review the proposal and record the decision with set-status only if the user asked for review or a lifecycle update.
5. If the user explicitly asks to accept the proposal, update proposal status to accepted.
6. If the user explicitly asks to promote the accepted proposal or start planning, stop proposal work and hand off to guide-planning, which owns the proposal-to-feature transition.
7. Otherwise stop after updating proposal artifacts and summarizing the proposal state.

Source of Truth Rules

• Keep speculative work in <proposal_dir>/ until the team accepts it as real feature planning work.
• Do not register proposals in <planning_dir>/registry.json.
• Do not skip directly from exploratory notes to canonical feature planning when the work is still uncertain.
• Promotion into canonical planning belongs to guide-planning, not this skill.
• Do not interpret use of this skill as permission to start the next lifecycle stage.
• This skill overrides generic autonomy defaults that would otherwise continue into planning or implementation.

Tooling

# Initialize proposal config and registry
python3 skills/propose/scripts/manage_proposals.py init

# Create a proposal
python3 skills/propose/scripts/manage_proposals.py add "workflow-capability-upgrades"

# Mark a proposal as reviewed or accepted
python3 skills/propose/scripts/manage_proposals.py set-status "workflow-capability-upgrades" reviewed --review-note "Scoped as a capability candidate."

# Validate one proposal packet
python3 skills/propose/scripts/manage_proposals.py validate-proposal "workflow-capability-upgrades"

Guardrails

• Do not use this skill for an existing canonical subfeature; use add-subfeature for that.
• Do not treat proposal folders as execution slices.
• Do not keep unaccepted ideas in docs/features/.
• Do not interpret "use the propose skill" as permission to plan or implement.
• Do not promote a proposal from this skill, even if the user asks for promotion; hand off to guide-planning.
• Do not create or update docs/features/ from this skill.
• Do not route into execution from this skill.