Initiative Status Skill

Procedural knowledge for analyzing initiative status and determining next steps.

When to Use

• Running /status [initiative-name]
• Answering "where are we with [initiative]?"
• Checking if initiative is ready to advance phases
• Identifying blockers or gaps
• Generating status reports

Data Sources

Load these files for analysis. Initiatives are organized into subdirectories:

pm-workspace-docs/initiatives/
├── active/[name]/          # Active initiatives (mapped 1:1 to Notion Projects DB)
│   ├── _meta.json          # Phase, status, notion_project_id, updated_at
│   ├── research.md         # User research
│   ├── prd.md              # Product requirements
│   ├── design-brief.md     # Design specifications
│   ├── engineering-spec.md # Technical spec
│   ├── prototype-notes.md  # Prototype documentation
│   ├── gtm-brief.md        # Go-to-market plan
│   └── jury-evaluations/   # Validation results
├── done/[name]/            # Completed initiatives (Notion Phase = Done)
├── archived/[name]/        # Local-only initiatives not in Notion
└── _template/              # Initiative template

Resolution order when looking up [name]:

1. Check active/[name]/ first
2. Check done/[name]/
3. Check archived/[name]/
4. Fall back to root [name]/ (legacy)

Also check:

• pm-workspace-docs/signals/_index.json - For linked signals
• pm-workspace-docs/roadmap/roadmap.json - For roadmap position
• pm-workspace-docs/initiatives/active/[name]/metrics-contract.json - Measurement readiness + instrumentation gaps

MCP Tools Available (Optional Enhancement)

Server: composio-config (Composio)

Use MCP tools to enrich initiative status with live data:

Source	Tools	Enhancement
Linear	LINEAR_GET_LINEAR_PROJECT, LINEAR_SEARCH_ISSUES	Pull live issue status, assignees, blockers
PostHog	POSTHOG_RETRIEVE_PROJECT_INSIGHT_DETAILS	Pull current success metric values
Notion	NOTION_RETRIEVE_PAGE	Sync with Notion project status

When to use:

• Initiative has linear_project_id in _meta.json → Query Linear for live dev status
• Initiative has posthog.dashboard_id in _meta.json → Query PostHog for metrics
• Status conflicts between local and external → Show discrepancy in report

Analysis Framework

Step 1: Read Metadata

From _meta.json, extract:

{
  "name": "initiative-name",
  "phase": "discovery | define | build | validate | launch",
  "status": "on_track | at_risk | blocked | paused",
  "personas": ["persona-id"],
  "strategic_pillar": "pillar-name",
  "current_version": "v1",
  "updated_at": "ISO8601",
  "created_at": "ISO8601"
}

Calculate:

• Days in phase: now - updated_at (or phase transition date)
• Total age: now - created_at

Step 2: Check Artifact Completeness

Artifact	File	Completeness Criteria
Research	research.md	Has user quotes, problems identified, personas tagged, JTBD, user breakdown
PRD	prd.md	Has outcome chain, success metrics, user stories, E2E experience (all 5 steps)
Design Brief	design-brief.md	Has user flows, states, edge cases
Engineering Spec	engineering-spec.md	Has technical approach, dependencies
Prototype	prototype-notes.md	Has component list, Chromatic URL, version, discovery/activation/day-2 flows
GTM Brief	gtm-brief.md	Has customer story (experience language), launch materials checklist, rollout plan
Jury Evaluation	jury-evaluations/*.md	Has verdict, pass rate, experience journey scores
METRICS	METRICS.md	Has metric names, data sources, and baseline values
Metrics Contract	metrics-contract.json	Has north-star metric, instrumentation requirements, readiness status, and gap list
Decisions	decisions.md	Has at least one documented decision with who/when/why

Status Levels:

• ✅ Complete - File exists and meets criteria
• ⚠️ Incomplete - File exists but missing key sections
• ❌ Missing - File doesn't exist

Step 3: Evaluate Graduation Criteria

Discovery → Define

Criterion	How to Check
Research exists	research.md exists and has content
User problems documented	Research has ## User Problems with quotes
Primary JTBD articulated	Research has ## Primary Job-to-Be-Done section
Personas identified	_meta.json.personas is non-empty
3+ evidence points	Count quotes/data points in research
Owner assigned	_meta.json.owner is non-null

Define → Build

Criterion	How to Check
PRD exists and approved	prd.md exists, check for approval marker
Design brief exists	design-brief.md exists
Outcome chain defined	PRD has ## Outcome Chain section
Success metrics specified	PRD has ## Success Metrics with measurable items
E2E experience addressed	PRD has all 5 experience steps filled (Discovery, Activation, Usage, Ongoing Value, Feedback)
Feedback method defined	PRD specifies how feedback will be collected; _meta.json.feedback_method is set
Decisions documented	decisions.md exists with at least the "why we're pursuing this" decision

Build → Validate

Criterion	How to Check
Prototype documented	prototype-notes.md exists
All states implemented	Notes list Loading, Error, Empty, Success states
Flow stories complete	Notes mention Flow_* stories
Chromatic URL present	_meta.json.chromatic_url or in prototype-notes
Discovery flow prototyped	Prototype includes how user finds feature
Activation flow prototyped	Prototype includes first-time experience
METRICS.md exists	METRICS.md has metric names, data sources, and baseline values or explicit plan
Metrics Contract exists	metrics-contract.json exists and has validation status

Validate → Launch

Criterion	How to Check
Jury pass rate ≥70%	Latest jury evaluation verdict
All 5 experience steps validated	Jury evaluated full experience journey
Stakeholder approval	Approval marker in docs
No P0 blockers	No P0 or blocker tags
GTM brief complete	gtm-brief.md exists with customer story and launch materials checklist
Launch materials enumerated	GTM brief has materials checklist with status
Success metric baselines exist	METRICS.md has baseline values established
Measurement readiness tracked	metrics-contract.json.validation.status is set
Feedback instrument planned	_meta.json.feedback_method is set and instrument is planned/live

Step 4: Check Linked Signals

From signals/_index.json, find signals where initiative_id matches:

{
  "signals": [
    {
      "id": "sig-2026-01-20-...",
      "initiative_id": "initiative-name",
      "processed": true,
      "created_at": "ISO8601"
    }
  ]
}

Count:

• Total linked signals
• Unprocessed signals (processed: false)
• New since last update (created_at > _meta.updated_at)

Step 5: Determine Health Status

Status	Criteria
🟢 On Track	All criteria met for current phase, no blockers
🟡 At Risk	Missing 1-2 artifacts, or >14 days in phase
🔴 Blocked	Missing critical artifacts, or explicit blocker
⏸️ Paused	Explicitly paused in _meta.json

Step 6: Generate Next Steps

Based on gaps found, suggest in priority order:

Gap	Suggested Action
No research	/research [name] - Gather user evidence
Research incomplete	Add more user quotes and evidence
No PRD	/pm [name] - Create requirements
PRD incomplete	Fill in missing sections
No design brief	/design [name] - Create design brief
No prototype	/proto [name] - Build prototype
Prototype incomplete	/iterate [name] - Add missing states
Ready for validation	/validate [name] - Run jury evaluation
Jury failed	/iterate [name] - Address feedback
Ready for launch	/share - Create PR for review

Output Template

Workspace Status (no initiative specified)

# Workspace Status

**Generated:** YYYY-MM-DD

## Active Initiatives

| Initiative | Phase   | Status   | Days | Next Step |
| ---------- | ------- | -------- | ---- | --------- |
| [name]     | [phase] | 🟢/🟡/🔴 | [N]  | [action]  |

## Pending Actions

- [ ] [Initiative]: [what's needed]

## Recent Activity

- [Date]: [what happened]

## Roadmap Summary

[Link to roadmap or brief summary]

Initiative Status (specific initiative)

# Status: [Initiative Name]

**Phase:** [phase] (Day [N])
**Status:** 🟢 On Track / 🟡 At Risk / 🔴 Blocked
**Personas:** [list]
**Strategic Pillar:** [pillar]

## Artifact Status

| Artifact        | Status   | Notes    |
| --------------- | -------- | -------- |
| Research        | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [detail] |
| PRD             | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [detail] |
| Design Brief    | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [detail] |
| Prototype       | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [detail] |
| Jury Evaluation | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [detail] |
| METRICS         | ✅/⚠️/❌ | [detail] |
| Metrics Contract| ✅/⚠️/❌ | [detail] |

## Graduation Criteria ([current] → [next])

| Criterion   | Status              |
| ----------- | ------------------- |
| [criterion] | ✅ Met / ❌ Not met |

**Ready to advance:** Yes / No - [reason]

## Linked Signals

- **Total:** [N] signals
- **Unprocessed:** [N] signals
- **New since last update:** [N] signals

## Blockers

- [Blocker if any]

## Measurement Readiness

- **Status:** instrumented / partial / missing
- **Top Gaps:** [gap summaries]
- **PostHog Links:** [dashboard/insight references]
- **Linear Tickets:** [instrumentation issue IDs]

## Next Steps

1. **[Priority action]** - [why]
2. **[Secondary action]** - [why]

**Suggested command:** `/[command] [name]`

Edge Cases

Initiative Not Found

❌ Initiative "[name]" not found in active/, done/, or archived/.

Did you mean one of these?
- [similar-name-1]
- [similar-name-2]

Or create new: `/new-initiative [name]`

No _meta.json

⚠️ Initiative "[name]" exists but missing _meta.json.

Run `/maintain fix` to generate metadata, or create manually.

Stale Initiative (>30 days no update)

⚠️ This initiative hasn't been updated in [N] days.

Options:
- Resume work: [suggested command]
- Pause intentionally: Update _meta.json status to "paused"
- Archive: Move to archived/ folder