Multi-Phase Skill Creator

Create skills that execute multiple phases in sequence, where each phase builds on the previous phase's output.

When to Use Multi-Phase Skills

Multi-phase skills are appropriate when:

• A task naturally decomposes into distinct sequential stages
• Each stage transforms or filters the previous stage's output
• Separating concerns improves reliability and debuggability
• The same pipeline applies to different inputs

Examples: gap analysis, code review pipelines, document processing chains.

Multi-Phase Skill Structure

skill-name/
├── start-skill-name/SKILL.md   # Orchestrator (invokes phases in order)
├── skill-name-1/SKILL.md       # Phase 1 (raw collection/identification)
├── skill-name-2/SKILL.md       # Phase 2 (analysis/filtering)
└── skill-name-3/SKILL.md       # Phase 3 (refinement/final output)

Orchestrator Pattern (start-*)

The start-* skill defines the sequence and ensures all phases run without stopping:

---
name: start-skill-name
description: [What it does]. Use when user explicitly asks start-skill-name.
---

Body lists procedure steps and includes:

**IMPORTANT:** Do NOT stop between steps. Run all steps skill-name-* in a single turn.

Phase Pattern (skill-name-N)

Each phase skill:

• Has description: Triggered by start-skill-name.
• Defines specific task, rules, output format, anti-patterns
• References previous step's output in conversation context

Creation Process

Step 1: Design the Pipeline

Define phases before creating files:

1. What does each phase do?
2. What is the input/output format for each phase?
3. What rules constrain each phase?

Step 2: Initialize with Script

scripts/init_multi_skill.py <skill-name> --path <output-dir> [--phases N]

Examples:

# Default 3 phases
scripts/init_multi_skill.py code-reviewer --path skills/public

# Custom 4 phases
scripts/init_multi_skill.py doc-analyzer --path skills/private --phases 4

Step 3: Edit Each Phase

For each generated SKILL.md, replace TODOs with:

1. Phase description: What this phase accomplishes
2. Rules: Numbered constraints (keep to 3-5)
3. Output format: Exact structure with example
4. Anti-patterns: What to avoid

Step 4: Test the Pipeline

Invoke start-skill-name and verify:

• All phases execute without stopping
• Output formats match specifications
• Each phase correctly uses previous output

Example: Gap Finder Structure

gap-finder/
├── start-gap-finder/SKILL.md
│   └── Procedure: invoke gap-finder-1, then -2, then -3
├── gap-finder-1/SKILL.md
│   └── Task: Generate raw list of potential gaps (max 20)
├── gap-finder-2/SKILL.md
│   └── Task: Mark each gap CORE or NOT CORE with verdict table
└── gap-finder-3/SKILL.md
    └── Task: Output only CORE items with clusters summary

Each phase has strict output format, enabling reliable handoff between phases.