zcross00/agent-orientation

Agent Orientation

Use this skill at the beginning of every session before doing any work. It produces a session brief and confirms the active role.

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Step 1 — Pull Current State

git fetch --prune
git checkout {active-branch}
git pull

Confirm you are on the active branch and it is up to date before reading any design artifacts.

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Step 2 — Read Artifacts in Order

Read these files in sequence. Each one narrows context established by the previous.

| Order | File | Purpose | |-------|------|---------| | 1 | design/GOALS.md | What success looks like. Understand what the project is optimizing for. | | 2 | design/DESIGN.md | Comprehensive design breakdown. Understand the intended path to those goals. | | 3 | design/FEATURES.md | What has been implemented. Understand the current state. | | 4 | design/BACKLOG.md | All open items: priorities, dependencies. Identify what is unblocked. | | 5 | design/DRIFT.md | Active drift items. Understand where the project has diverged from goals. |

If any of these files do not exist, note the gap — the PLANNER needs to create them.

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Step 3 — Determine Active Role

1. Explicit assignment: If the user has said "you are a PLANNER" or "you are an EXECUTOR" — use that role. Skip all other conditions.
2. Default: You are an EXECUTOR unless explicitly told otherwise.

Once assigned, your role is permanent for the session. No transitions.

Refer to process/roles.md for the full definition of each role's responsibilities.

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Step 4 — Session Brief

After completing Steps 1–3, output a session brief with this structure:

ROLE:        [PLANNER | EXECUTOR]

GOALS:       [version] — [count] goals
DESIGN:      [version] — [status]

BACKLOG:
  P1: [count] items ([list BL-N IDs])
  P2: [count] items ([list BL-N IDs])
  P3: [count] items ([list BL-N IDs])
  P4: [count] items ([list BL-N IDs])

DRIFT:       [count active items, or "none"]

NEXT ACTION: [one sentence describing the first thing to do this session]

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Step 5 — Proceed

After producing the brief, begin the first action without waiting for direction unless the role assignment is ambiguous.

• EXECUTOR: Pick the highest-priority unblocked backlog item and begin the executor loop.
• PLANNER: Assess what needs attention first — goals update, design update, backlog creation, implementation review, or drift logging.