Engineering
Chapter 14 of 35
Turn the current conversation into a spec and publish it to the project issue tracker — no interview, just synthesis of what you’ve already discussed.
2 minutes · 445 words · 8 sections
This skill takes the current conversation context and codebase understanding and produces a spec. Do NOT interview the user — just synthesize what you already know.
The issue tracker and triage label vocabulary should have been provided to you — run /setup-matt-pocock-skills if not.
Explore the repo to understand the current state of the codebase, if you haven’t already. Use the project’s domain glossary vocabulary throughout the spec, and respect any ADRs in the area you’re touching.
Sketch out the seams at which you’re going to test the feature. Existing seams should be preferred to new ones. Use the highest seam possible. If new seams are needed, propose them at the highest point you can. The fewer seams across the codebase, the better - the ideal number is one.
Check with the user that these seams match their expectations.
ready-for-agent triage label - no need for additional triage.The problem that the user is facing, from the user’s perspective.
The solution to the problem, from the user’s perspective.
A LONG, numbered list of user stories. Each user story should be in the format of:
This list of user stories should be extremely extensive and cover all aspects of the feature.
A list of implementation decisions that were made. This can include:
Do NOT include specific file paths or code snippets. They may end up being outdated very quickly.
Exception: if a prototype produced a snippet that encodes a decision more precisely than prose can (state machine, reducer, schema, type shape), inline it within the relevant decision and note briefly that it came from a prototype. Trim to the decision-rich parts — not a working demo, just the important bits.
A list of testing decisions that were made. Include:
A description of the things that are out of scope for this spec.
Any further notes about the feature.
Install this repository
npx skills add mattpocock/skills/plugin marketplace add mattpocock/skillsSkills install per repository, not per chapter — the CLI has no documented per-skill form, so we do not print one.
main, last pushed 7 August 2026.SKILL.md, not by matching a directory convention. 4 distinct layouts observed: skills/engineering/*/SKILL.md, skills/in-progress/*/SKILL.md, skills/misc/*/SKILL.md, skills/productivity/*/SKILL.md..claude-plugin/marketplace.json by Matt Pocock, declaring 1 plugin. It is read for editorial metadata only — never as the skill index, which is always the repository tree./mattpocock/skills.md, and each chapter at its own .md URL.1 file · 135 B
Everything this skill ships beside its prose. All of it is set here, as a subchapter of chapter 14.
Everything else published alongside the skill.