Guardrails
- •Favor straightforward, minimal implementations first and add complexity only when it is requested or clearly required.
- •Keep changes tightly scoped to the requested outcome.
- •Refer to
opence/AGENTS.md(located inside theopence/directory—runls openceoropence updateif you don't see it) if you need additional opence conventions or clarifications. - •Stage boundary: This stage ends when documentation and skill checkpoint are complete. Do NOT automatically proceed to the archive stage or execute
opence archive.
Steps
- •
Determine the change ID:
- •If this prompt already includes a specific change ID (for example inside a
<ChangeId>block populated by slash-command arguments), use that value after trimming whitespace. - •If the conversation references a change loosely, run
opence listto surface likely IDs, share the relevant candidates, and confirm which one the user intends. - •Otherwise, ask the user which change to compound and wait for a confirmed change ID before proceeding.
- •If this prompt already includes a specific change ID (for example inside a
- •
Create a documentation entry under
docs/solutions/summarizing the problem, root cause, and fix. - •
Skill memory checkpoint — Before creating a skill, answer these four questions:
Q1: What problem does this solve?
- •Describe the specific problem or repeated workflow
- •Verify existing skills don't already solve it (
opence skill list) - •If an existing skill can be extended, prefer that over creating a new one
Q2: Who uses it and when?
- •Define target user scenarios
- •List 3-5 specific trigger phrases users would naturally say
- •Example triggers: "how does this work?", "explain the auth flow", "review this PR"
Q3: How should the description be written?
- •Include action verbs (Explains, Creates, Reviews, Validates)
- •Include keywords users naturally say
- •List specific trigger scenarios
- •Good:
"Explains code with visual diagrams. Use when explaining how code works or when user asks 'how does this work?'" - •Bad:
"Helps with development"(too vague),"Fix login CSS on Safari 15.4"(too specific)
Q4: Is it worth creating?
- •Estimate usage frequency over next 6 months
- •If fewer than 3 uses expected, write to
docs/solutions/instead - •Consider maintenance burden vs. value
If all four questions are satisfactorily answered, proceed:
- •Consult the
opence-skill-creatorskill for structure, naming, and best practices - •Use
opence skill add <skill-name> --description "..."to create new skills - •After creation, edit the SKILL.md file to add detailed instructions
- •Move extensive documentation to
references/and reusable code toscripts/
- •
After documentation and any skill updates are complete, consult the
opence-archiveskill to finalize the change. The skill provides guidance on pre-archive verification, runningopence archive <change-id>, and post-archive verification.
Reference
- •Use
opence listto confirm change IDs before documenting. - •Use
opence skill listto see existing skills and avoid duplicates. - •Keep documentation concise and focused on future reuse.
Stage Complete
When documentation and skill checkpoint are complete, report: "Compound phase complete. When ready, invoke /opence-archive to proceed."