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Skill Index
SpecArk exposes one controller skill, one Discovery Interview skill, one optional planning skill, five phase skills, three maintenance skills, and one pre-flight utility. Each skill is configured for explicit invocation — you name the skill you want, and it runs that phase only.
Controller
spdd-orchestrator
Coordinates the workflow end to end. Detects the right starting phase, invokes phase skills in sequence, enforces review gates, and reports artifact lineage.
Use this for a guided first run
The orchestrator in semi-auto mode is the recommended starting point for new users. It handles phase selection and pauses at each review gate.
Discovery and Planning
spdd-discovery
Runs a Discovery Interview for early, unclear, or noisy product context. Produces a durable Discovery Brief under spdd/discovery/ and recommends exactly one next phase.
Use it when a rough idea is missing a problem frame, beneficiaries, desired outcome, or scope boundaries.
spdd-plan
Turns broad or noisy product direction into ordered delivery slices before story generation begins. Produces a durable planning artifact under spdd/plan/.
Use it when the input still spans multiple capabilities, dependency chains, or rollout phases.
Phase skills
| Skill | Input | Output location | Use when |
|---|---|---|---|
| spdd-story | Broad requirement or idea | requirements/ | Requirement is too broad for direct analysis |
| spdd-analysis | Story or focused requirement | spdd/analysis/ | Need architecture-aware context before prompting |
| spdd-reasons-canvas | Analysis artifact | spdd/prompt/ | Ready to produce the implementation prompt |
| spdd-generate | Prompt artifact | implementation files | Ready to implement from the prompt |
| spdd-api-test | Implementation files or prompt | spdd/tests/ | API-oriented verification assets are needed |
Maintenance skills
| Skill | Input | Output location | Use when |
|---|---|---|---|
| spdd-prompt-update | Existing prompt + change description | spdd/prompt/ | Requirements or design changed after prompting |
| spdd-sync | Prompt artifact + implementation | spdd/prompt/ | Implementation drifted from the prompt |
| spdd-doc-sync | Change description or @ reference | docs/, README.md, CHANGELOG.md, plugins/specark/CLAUDE.md | In-repo docs need updating after a skill addition, behavior change, or workflow update |
Pre-flight utility
spdd-session-health
Assesses whether the current session is in good shape before committing to a phase invocation. Checks for prior phase completions, context spinning, instruction reversals, and input load. Produces a SPDD_HEALTH_RESULT block — not a repository artifact.
The orchestrator runs this automatically before the first phase when multiple inputs are detected or a prior phase already completed in the session. You can also invoke it directly before any heavy phase.
Invocation model
Each skill is configured for explicit invocation. This keeps the workflow command-like and reduces accidental routing.
How to invoke a skill
Reference the skill by name in your Codex request:
text
Use the spdd-analysis skill on @requirements/STORY-001.md.