cuioss/manage-references

Manage References Skill

Manage references.json files with field-level access and list management. Tracks files, branches, and external references for a plan.

Enforcement

Base contract: See manage-contract.md for shared enforcement rules, TOON output format, and error response patterns.

Skill-specific constraints:

• Do not mix add-list and set-list without understanding their semantics (append vs replace)
• References are plan-scoped; always provide --plan-id
• File paths in affected_files are always relative to repository root

Storage Location

References are stored in the plan directory:

.plan/plans/{plan_id}/references.json

---

File Format

JSON format for storage:

{
  "branch": "feature/my-feature",
  "base_branch": "main",
  "issue_url": "https://github.com/org/repo/issues/123",
  "build_system": "maven",
  "domains": ["java"],
  "affected_files": [
    "src/main/java/Foo.java"
  ]
}

Schema Fields

| Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | branch | string | Git branch name | | base_branch | string | Base branch for PR (e.g., main) | | issue_url | string | GitHub issue URL | | build_system | string | Build system (maven, gradle, npm, none) | | domains | list | Plan domains (e.g., java, documentation) | | affected_files | list | Files identified during outline phase as potentially needing changes (scope tracking) | | external_docs | table | External documentation references |

---

Operations

Script: plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references

create

Create references.json with basic fields.

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references create \
  --plan-id {plan_id} \
  --branch {branch_name} \
  [--issue-url {url}] \
  [--build-system {maven|gradle|npm}] \
  [--domains {java,documentation}]

Parameters:

• --plan-id (required): Plan identifier (kebab-case)
• --branch (required): Git branch name
• --issue-url: GitHub issue URL
• --build-system: Build system (maven, gradle, npm)
• --domains: Comma-separated domain list (e.g., java,documentation)

Output (TOON):

status: success
plan_id: my-feature
file: references.json
created: true
fields[2]:
  - branch
  - base_branch

Note: Basic fields are created during plan-init. Additional reference fields are added as needed during execution.

read

Read entire references.json content.

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references read \
  --plan-id {plan_id}

Output (TOON):

status: success
plan_id: my-feature

references:
  branch: feature/my-feature
  issue_url: https://github.com/org/repo/issues/123
  affected_files: 3 items

get

Get a specific field value.

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references get \
  --plan-id {plan_id} \
  --field branch

Output (TOON):

status: success
plan_id: my-feature
field: branch
value: feature/my-feature

set

Set a specific field value.

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references set \
  --plan-id {plan_id} \
  --field branch \
  --value feature/new-branch

Output (TOON):

status: success
plan_id: my-feature
field: branch
value: feature/new-branch
previous: feature/my-feature

add-list

Add multiple values to a list field.

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references add-list \
  --plan-id {plan_id} \
  --field affected_files \
  --values "path/to/file1.md,path/to/file2.md,path/to/file3.md"

Parameters:

• --plan-id (required): Plan identifier
• --field (required): List field name (e.g., affected_files)
• --values (required): Comma-separated values to add

Output (TOON):

status: success
plan_id: my-feature
field: affected_files
added_count: 3
total: 3

Notes:

• Creates the field as an empty list if it doesn't exist
• Skips values that already exist in the list (no duplicates)
• Returns error if the field exists but is not a list

set-list

Set a list field to new values, replacing any existing content.

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references set-list \
  --plan-id {plan_id} \
  --field affected_files \
  --values "path/to/file1.md,path/to/file2.md"

Parameters:

• --plan-id (required): Plan identifier
• --field (required): List field name (e.g., affected_files)
• --values (required): Comma-separated values

Output (TOON):

status: success
plan_id: my-feature
field: affected_files
previous_count: 5
count: 2

Notes:

• Replaces the entire list (does not append like add-list)
• Empty --values "" clears the list
• Returns previous_count showing how many items were replaced

When to use set-list vs add-list:

• Use set-list when you have the complete, authoritative list (e.g., after re-scanning affected files)
• Use add-list when incrementally building a list (e.g., adding files as they are modified during execution)

get-context

Get the plan's scalar reference fields (branch, base_branch, and any present issue_url / build_system) in one call. More efficient than multiple get calls when you need the common scalar context.

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references get-context \
  --plan-id {plan_id}

Parameters:

• --plan-id (required): Plan identifier

Output (TOON):

status: success
plan_id: my-feature
branch: feature/my-feature
base_branch: main
issue_url: https://github.com/org/repo/issues/123
build_system: maven

---

compute-footprint

Derive the plan's actual footprint live from the worktree git state — the single source of truth — without consulting any persisted ledger. Read-only — never mutates references.json. It reads references.json only to resolve base_branch for the diff range.

The footprint is the union of the three-dot {base_ref}...HEAD diff name set and the porcelain working-tree state (git status --porcelain). The derivation primitive is compute_plan_branch_diff in _references_core. Consumers that need to know which files the plan touched (self-review surfacing, pre-commit freshness, the finalize-step scope cap, retrospective consistency checks) call this verb on demand rather than reading a stored array.

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references compute-footprint \
  --plan-id {plan_id} --worktree-path {worktree_path} \
  [--base-ref {ref}]

Parameters:

• --plan-id (required): Plan identifier
• --worktree-path (required): Absolute path to the active git worktree
• --base-ref: Base ref for the diff (defaults to references.base_branch, falling back to main)

Output (TOON):

status: success
plan_id: my-feature
base_ref: main
files[3]:
  - src/main/java/Foo.java
  - src/main/java/Bar.java
  - src/main/java/Baz.java
live_count: 3

---

Scripts

Script: plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references

| Command | Parameters | Description | |---------|------------|-------------| | create | --plan-id --branch [--issue-url] [--build-system] [--domains] | Create references.json | | read | --plan-id | Read entire references | | get | --plan-id --field | Get specific field value | | set | --plan-id --field --value | Set specific field value | | add-list | --plan-id --field --values | Add multiple values to a list field | | set-list | --plan-id --field --values | Set a list field (replaces existing) | | get-context | --plan-id | Get the plan's scalar reference context | | compute-footprint | --plan-id --worktree-path [--base-ref] | Derive the live plan footprint from the worktree git state (read-only) |

---

Canonical invocations

The canonical argparse surface for manage-references.py. The D4 plugin-doctor analyzer (_analyze_manage_invocation.py) reads this section as source-of-truth for markdown notation occurrences across the marketplace. Consuming skills xref this section by name (e.g., "see manage-references Canonical invocations → add-list") instead of restating the command inline.

create

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references create \
  --plan-id PLAN_ID --branch BRANCH \
  [--issue-url URL] [--build-system {maven|gradle|npm}] [--domains LIST]

read

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references read \
  --plan-id PLAN_ID

get

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references get \
  --plan-id PLAN_ID --field FIELD

set

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references set \
  --plan-id PLAN_ID --field FIELD --value VALUE

add-list

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references add-list \
  --plan-id PLAN_ID --field FIELD --values CSV

set-list

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references set-list \
  --plan-id PLAN_ID --field FIELD --values CSV

get-context

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references get-context \
  --plan-id PLAN_ID

compute-footprint

python3 .plan/execute-script.py plan-marshall:manage-references:manage-references compute-footprint \
  --plan-id PLAN_ID --worktree-path ABS_PATH [--base-ref REF]

---

Error Responses

See manage-contract.md for the standard error response format.

| Error Code | Cause | |------------|-------| | file_not_found | references.json doesn't exist | | invalid_plan_id | plan_id format invalid | | field_not_found | Requested field doesn't exist (get) | | type_mismatch | Attempting list operation on non-list field (add-list on a string field) | | file_exists | references.json already exists on create | | field_not_set | Field exists but has no value (returns value: null, exit 0) | | worktree_not_found | --worktree-path does not exist or is not a directory (compute-footprint) | | references_not_found | references.json not found (compute-footprint) | | not_a_git_worktree | --worktree-path is not inside a git worktree (compute-footprint) |

Default values: Unset fields return field_not_found on get. The create command initializes branch and base_branch (the latter to main). All other fields are optional — only present if explicitly set via --field / set-list arguments.

---

Integration

Producers

| Client | Operation | Purpose | |--------|-----------|---------| | phase-1-init | create, set, set-list | Initialize references with branch, domains, build system | | phase-3-outline | set-list | Set affected_files from solution outline |

Consumers

| Client | Operation | Purpose | |--------|-----------|---------| | phase-3-outline | get, get-context | Read domains and build system for skill routing | | phase-5-execute | get-context | Read build system for task execution | | phase-6-finalize | compute-footprint | Derive the live plan footprint for commit scope and PR body |

Related

• manage-files — Generic file operations for plan directories
• manage-plan-documents — Typed plan document operations (request.md)