codingthefuturewithai/teamcraft:pick-next-issue

Goal

Help the developer pick their next piece of work from the backlog. Read the work item index, show what's available, and let them choose.

What to Do

1. Read the backlog. Read .teamcraft/work/INDEX.md to see all work items and their current status. If the index doesn't exist or is empty, tell the developer there are no work items tracked yet and point them to /create-issue.

2. Read individual work item files to resolve blockers. For items in backlog or ready status, also read the work item file to extract any relationships.blocked_by. An item is "blocked" when any of its blockers is still in an active status (backlog, ready, in-progress, in-review) — not yet done. Picking blocked work is almost always wrong, so this is worth the extra reads.

3. Show available items. Present work items that are in backlog or ready status, ordered by priority (critical > high > medium > low). For each item, show the ID, priority, effort (if set), and the one-line summary. Separate them into two groups:

• Ready to pick — items with no open blockers.
• Blocked — items with at least one blocker still open. Show the blocker IDs and their current status, so the developer knows what's holding each up. Don't hide them entirely — sometimes the developer realizes the blocker is wrong, or wants to pick up the blocker itself first.

If there are items in in-progress status, mention them — the developer may have forgotten about work already started.

4. Let the developer choose. The developer picks one (or decides none of the current items are right). If they pick a blocked item, gently note that it's blocked and ask if they want to proceed anyway, pick the blocker first, or pick something else. Don't refuse — the developer may have context you don't. If they pick an unblocked item, point them to /plan-and-implement-issue <id> to start working on it.

Constraints

• This skill is read-only. It does not change work item status — that's plan-and-implement-issue's job when work actually starts.
• If the developer wants more detail about a specific item before choosing, read the full work item file from .teamcraft/work/<id>.md and present it.
• Don't recommend or pressure. Present the options and let the developer decide. They know their context better than you do.
• Resolve blockers by reading each referenced ID's file and checking its status. If a referenced ID doesn't exist on disk, treat it as an open blocker but flag it as a probable stale reference — the developer should clean up the relationship.