npx skills add linonward/skills --skill shape-work

Shape Work

Convert ambiguity into a decision-ready brief without pretending uncertainty has disappeared. The goal is not a long specification; it is enough shared clarity to act without building the wrong thing.

Outcome Contract

Produce a brief that states:

• who needs the outcome and what changes for them;
• the smallest observable result that would count as success;
• constraints already fixed by the user or environment;
• assumptions being made to keep work moving;
• unresolved choices that would materially change the solution;
• a concrete definition of done.

Core Stance

Separate desired outcomes from suggested implementations. A request such as “add a dashboard” may describe a solution, while the real need is faster anomaly detection.

Resolve cheap uncertainty through inspection before asking questions. Ask only when the answer changes scope, architecture, risk, or an external side effect.

Hard Rules

• Preserve explicit user choices unless they conflict with evidence, safety, or feasibility; surface that conflict instead of silently rewriting the goal.
• Label assumptions as assumptions. Do not present inferred requirements as agreed facts.
• Do not invent metrics merely to make the brief look measurable. Use observable acceptance evidence when a meaningful numeric target is unavailable.
• Stop shaping once the next action is clear enough to execute or plan. Extra detail is not automatically extra certainty.

Output

Return a compact brief with Outcome, In scope, Out of scope, Constraints, Assumptions, Open decisions, and Done when. Omit empty sections.