Edit Phase Skill

You are helping the user edit an existing phase's details. This skill is for modifying phase metadata, not status (use /mark-status for status-only changes).

Your Task

Update phase name, description, or other metadata while preserving tasks and structure.

Hierarchy Reminder

The tracker follows this structure:

•Phase (sequential stages) → contains multiple Tracks
•Track (feature groupings) → spans across Phases, contains Tasks
•Task (individual work items) → belongs to a Phase and Track

Process Flow

Step 1: Parse Arguments and Find Tracker

•
Parse $ARGUMENTS for:
- •Tracker name (first argument)
- •
  Required flag:
  - •--phase=N - Phase number to edit
- •
  Optional flags:
  - •--name="New Name" - New phase name
  - •--description="text" - New or updated description
  - •--remove-description - Remove existing description
•
If tracker name not provided:
- •
  List available trackers:
  bash
  ls -1 .trackers/
- •
  If no trackers exist:
  - •Inform user: "No trackers found. Create one with /create-tracker"
  - •Exit
- •
  If trackers exist:
  - •Show list and ask user to select
•
Verify tracker exists:
- •Check if .trackers/{TRACKER_NAME}/TRACKER.md exists
- •If not found, inform user and exit
•
Read the tracker file:
- •Use Read tool on .trackers/{TRACKER_NAME}/TRACKER.md
- •Parse existing phases

Step 2: Identify and Verify Phase

•

Parse phase number from arguments:

•If --phase flag provided, extract phase number

•If not provided:

code

Available phases:
1. Phase 1: {NAME} - {STATUS}
2. Phase 2: {NAME} - {STATUS}
3. Phase 3: {NAME} - {STATUS}

Which phase would you like to edit?
Enter phase number:

•
Verify phase exists:
- •Check if phase number is valid (1 to total phases)
- •
  If not found:
  - •Inform user: "Phase {N} not found"
  - •Show available phases
  - •Exit
•
Extract current phase information:
- •
  Parse the phase section:
  - •Current name
  - •Current status
  - •Current description (if exists)
  - •Started/completed dates

•

Display current information:

code

Current phase information:
- Number: Phase {N}
- Name: {CURRENT_NAME}
- Status: {CURRENT_STATUS}
- Description: {DESCRIPTION or "None"}
- Started: {DATE or "-"}
- Completed: {DATE or "-"}

Step 3: Gather Update Information

Ask for updates (skip fields provided via arguments):

•

If no update flags provided:

code

What would you like to edit?

Options:
1. Phase name
2. Description
3. Both
4. Cancel

Enter choice:

•

Phase Name (if --name not provided and selected):

code

Current name: {CURRENT_NAME}

Enter new phase name (or press Enter to keep current):
Examples: "Foundation", "Implementation", "Testing"

•

Description (if --description not provided and selected):

code

Current description: {CURRENT_DESCRIPTION or "None"}

Enter new description (or press Enter to keep current):
Leave blank to remove description.

Step 4: Update Phase in Phases Section

•
Find the phase section:
- •Locate: ### Phase {N}: {OLD_NAME}
•
Build updated phase entry:

markdown

### Phase {N}: {NEW_NAME or CURRENT_NAME}
**Status**: {CURRENT_STATUS}
**Started**: {START_DATE or "-"}
**Completed**: {COMPLETE_DATE or "-"}
{IF_DESCRIPTION}

{NEW_DESCRIPTION}
{END_IF}

•
Replace the phase section:
- •Use Edit tool to update the phase header and content
- •Maintain position in Phases section
- •Preserve status and timestamp fields

Step 5: Update Phase Name in Tasks Section

If the phase name was changed:

•
Find Tasks section:
- •Locate: ### Phase {N}: {OLD_NAME}
- •Replace with: ### Phase {N}: {NEW_NAME}
- •Use Edit tool
•
Maintain task structure:
- •All tasks under this phase remain unchanged
- •Only the phase header is updated

Step 6: Update Metadata

•
Update tracker's updated field:
- •
  Get current date:
  bash
  date +%Y-%m-%d
- •Update frontmatter updated: field
- •Use Edit tool

Step 7: Confirm Update

code

Phase updated successfully!

**Phase {N}**: {NEW_NAME or CURRENT_NAME}

**Changes made**:
{IF_NAME_CHANGED}- Name: {OLD_NAME} → {NEW_NAME}{END_IF}
{IF_DESCRIPTION_CHANGED}- Description updated{END_IF}
{IF_DESCRIPTION_REMOVED}- Description removed{END_IF}

**Current state**:
- Status: {CURRENT_STATUS}
- Started: {START_DATE or "Not started"}
- Completed: {COMPLETE_DATE or "Not completed"}
{IF_DESCRIPTION}- Description: {NEW_DESCRIPTION}{END_IF}

**Next steps**:
- Update phase status: /mark-status {TRACKER_NAME} --phase={N} --status=value
- Add tasks: /add-task {TRACKER_NAME} --phase={N}
- Review tracker: /review-tracker {TRACKER_NAME}

View tracker: .trackers/{TRACKER_NAME}/TRACKER.md

Important Notes

•This skill edits phase DETAILS, not status
•Use /mark-status for status-only changes
•Phase number never changes (it's the sequential position)
•Renaming updates both Phases and Tasks sections
•Status and timestamps are preserved
•All tasks in the phase remain unchanged
•Description is optional and can be added/removed

Examples

Example 1: Rename Phase

code

/edit-phase my-app --phase=2 --name="Core Development"
> Phase 2 renamed from "Implementation" to "Core Development"

Example 2: Update Description

code

/edit-phase my-app --phase=1 --description="Foundation work including architecture and setup"
> Description updated for Phase 1

Example 3: Both Name and Description

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/edit-phase my-app --phase=3 --name="QA & Testing" --description="Quality assurance and user acceptance testing"
> Phase 3 name and description updated

Example 4: Interactive Mode

code

/edit-phase my-app --phase=1
> What to edit? 3 (both)
> New name: "Project Setup"
> Description: "Initial setup and configuration"

Example 5: Remove Description

code

/edit-phase my-app --phase=2 --remove-description
> Description removed from Phase 2

Error Handling

•If tracker doesn't exist, inform user and exit
•If phase number invalid, show available phases
•If no changes made, inform user (no-op)
•Validate all inputs before modifying
•Preserve existing structure and formatting
•Maintain all tasks and relationships

Integration with Other Skills

Works with:

•/add-phase - Add phases before editing them
•/mark-status - Update phase status
•/add-task - Add tasks to edited phases
•/review-tracker - View phase changes

Common workflows:

•

Refine phase naming:

code

/edit-phase my-app --phase=1 --name="Foundation & Architecture"

•

Add phase descriptions later:

code

/edit-phase my-app --phase=2 --description="Core feature implementation"

•

Restructure phase content:

code

/edit-phase my-app --phase=3 --name="Testing & QA" --description="Comprehensive testing before deployment"
/mark-status my-app --phase=3 --status="In Progress"