• When you have an idea for a new PM skill
• When you want to add a domain skill (phase-specific), foundation skill (cross-cutting), or utility skill (meta/tooling) to the pm-skills library
• When a contributor needs guided skill creation that follows repo conventions

• To modify an existing skill → use a future validation/iteration utility (planned)
• To create a skill for a non-pm-skills context → use a general agent skill builder (planned)
• To create a workflow → workflows are authored directly, not via this builder

• Problem-first: "What PM problem does this skill solve? Who runs into this problem, and what do they currently produce (or fail to produce)?"
• Skill-first: "Describe the skill you want to create. What artifact does it produce? What PM activity does it support?"

skills/

• Name each overlapping skill and explain what it covers
• Identify the specific gap this new skill would fill
• If overlap is high, trigger the Why Gate (see below)

• "Revise [existing skill] to cover this case"
• "Create a workflow combining [skill A] + [skill B]"
• "Add a command variant, not a new skill"
• "This is a documentation improvement, not a new skill"

• The idea produces multiple distinct artifact types
• The idea crosses Triple Diamond phases (e.g., Discover + Deliver)
• The description naturally contains "and" connecting two activities

1. [Activity A] → produces [Artifact A]
2. [Activity B] → produces [Artifact B] These work better as separate skills that can be chained via a workflow. Want to proceed with just [Activity A] for now?"

• Phase: discover | define | develop | deliver | measure | iterate
• Directory:

  {phase}-{skill-name}

• Frontmatter:

  phase: {phase}

  (required), no

  classification

  field

• No phase
• Directory:

  foundation-{skill-name}

• Frontmatter:

  classification: foundation

  (required), no

  phase

  field
• Use when: the skill applies to multiple phases equally

• No phase
• Directory:

  utility-{skill-name}

• Frontmatter:

  classification: utility

  (required), no

  phase

  field
• Use when: the skill operates on the repo, workflow, or other skills

• Same phase > same category > similar artifact type
• Read their SKILL.md to understand section structure, instruction style, output contract format, and quality checklist pattern
• Name the exemplars explicitly: "Modeled after [skill] . same phase, [category] category"

references/TEMPLATE.md

1. Decision . recommendation + Why Gate evidence (if applicable)
2. Classification . type, phase (if domain), category, directory name
3. Overlap Analysis . what was found, why this skill is still needed
4. Quality Forecast . K/P/C/W zone distribution + writing guidance:
   • Knowledge-heavy (≥35% K): reference frameworks, include When to Use
   • Process-heavy (≥35% P): numbered steps, prescriptive, clear I/O per step
   • Constraint-heavy (≥35% C): MUST/SHOULD/MUST NOT rules, separate section
   • Wisdom-heavy (≥25% W): reflective questions, guide thinking
5. Exemplar Skills . which existing skills modeled, why
6. Draft Frontmatter . complete, valid YAML block
7. Draft SKILL.md . full content (not an outline), mirroring exemplar structure
8. Draft TEMPLATE.md . section headers with guidance comments
9. Draft EXAMPLE.md . complete, realistic example (150-300 lines) with a specific PM scenario, every section filled, optional sections demonstrated both filled and skipped
10. Draft Command . command frontmatter
11. AGENTS.md Entry . exact text to add
12. Validation Checklist . all CI rules checked against the draft
13. Next Steps . local CI, testing, contribution workflow

_staging/pm-skill-builder/{skill-name}/
├── SKILL.md               ← draft skill file
├── references/
│   ├── TEMPLATE.md        ← draft template
│   └── EXAMPLE.md         ← draft example
└── command.md             ← draft command

Note:

_staging/

is gitignored . draft artifacts never ship in releases. The staging folder is discarded after promotion.

_staging/pm-skill-builder/{skill-name}/SKILL.md

skills/{dir-name}/SKILL.md

_staging/pm-skill-builder/{skill-name}/references/TEMPLATE.md

skills/{dir-name}/references/TEMPLATE.md

_staging/pm-skill-builder/{skill-name}/references/EXAMPLE.md

skills/{dir-name}/references/EXAMPLE.md

_staging/pm-skill-builder/{skill-name}/command.md

commands/{command-name}.md

{dir-name}

deliver-change-communication

1. Create the target directory:

   skills/{dir-name}/references/

2. Copy each file to its canonical location
3. Append the AGENTS.md entry from the packet
4. Run CI validation:

   bash scripts/lint-skills-frontmatter.sh && bash scripts/validate-agents-md.sh && bash scripts/validate-commands.sh

5. If validation passes, delete the staging folder:

   _staging/pm-skill-builder/{skill-name}/

6. If validation fails, report the error and keep staging intact for fixes

• "Run CI locally:

  bash scripts/lint-skills-frontmatter.sh

  "
• "Test the skill: try

  /{command-name}

  with a realistic scenario"
• "If contributing: create a GitHub issue with the skill-proposal template, then open a PR"

• SKILL.md

  . full skill instructions

• references/TEMPLATE.md

  . output template with guidance comments

• references/EXAMPLE.md

  . complete worked example (150-300 lines)

• command.md

  . slash command file

_staging/pm-skill-builder/{skill-name}/

• name

  matches directory name
• Description is 20-100 words (single-line, no multiline YAML)

• version

  ,

  updated

  ,

  license

  all present
• Classification correct (domain →

  phase:

  , foundation/utility →

  classification:

  )
• Directory name follows convention:

  {phase/classification}-{skill-name}

• TEMPLATE.md has ≥3

  ##

  sections
• Command file references correct skill path
• AGENTS.md entry uses

  ####

  +

  **Path:**

  format

• Gap analysis checked all existing skills (not just same-phase)
• Why Gate evidence is specific (names prompts/scenarios, not vague)
• EXAMPLE.md is a complete artifact (150-300 lines), not an outline
• Output contract is present in draft SKILL.md
• Quality checklist is present in draft SKILL.md
• Quality Forecast identifies dominant zone and provides writing guidance