--- name: ask-matt description: Ask which skill or flow fits your situation. A router over the user-invoked skills in this repo. disable-model-invocation: true category: "productivity" risk: "safe" source: "community" source_repo: "mattpocock/skills" source_type: "community" date_added: "2026-06-19" author: "Matt Pocock" license: "MIT" license_source: "https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/blob/main/LICENSE" tags: - productivity - workflow - coding-agents tools: - claude-code - codex-cli - cursor --- # Ask Matt ## When to Use Use when this workflow matches the user request: Ask which skill or flow fits your situation. A router over the user-invoked skills in this repo. _Source: [mattpocock/skills](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills) (MIT)._ You don't remember every skill, so ask. A **flow** is a path through the skills. Most paths run along one **main flow**, and two **on-ramps** merge onto it. Everything else is standalone. ## The main flow: idea → ship The route most work travels. You have an idea and want it built. 1. **`/grill-with-docs`** — sharpen the idea by interview. Start here when you **have a codebase**: it's stateful, retaining what it learns in `CONTEXT.md` and ADRs. (No codebase? Use `/grill-me` — see Standalone.) 2. **Branch — can you settle every question in conversation?** If a question needs a runnable answer (state, business logic, a UI you have to see), detour through a prototype, bridged by **`/handoff`** in both directions (see Crossing sessions): - **`/handoff`** out, then open a fresh session against that file, - **`/prototype`** to answer the question with throwaway code, - **`/handoff`** back what you learned, and reference it from the original idea thread. 3. **Branch — is this a multi-session build?** - **Yes** → **`/to-prd`** (turn the thread into a PRD) → **`/to-issues`** (split the PRD into independently-grabbable issues). Because the issues are independent, **clear context between each one**: start a fresh session per issue and kick off **`/implement`** by passing it the PRD and the single issue to work on. - **No** → **`/implement`** right here, in the same context window. ### Context hygiene Keep steps 1–3 in **one unbroken context window** — don't compact or clear until after `/to-issues` — so the grilling, PRD, and issues all build on the same thinking. Each `/implement` then starts fresh, working from the issue. The limit depends on the actual model/client and task; there is no universal token threshold guaranteeing sharp reasoning. If a session approaches it before `/to-issues`, don't push on degraded — `/handoff` and continue in a fresh thread. ## On-ramps A starting situation that generates work, then merges onto the main flow. - **Bugs and requests piling up** → **`/triage`**. It moves issues through triage roles and produces agent-ready issues, which **`/implement`** later picks up. Triage is only for issues **you didn't create** — bug reports, incoming feature requests, anything that arrives raw. Issues that `/to-issues` produced are already agent-ready, so **don't triage them**. ## Codebase health Not feature work — upkeep. - **`/improve-codebase-architecture`** — run whenever you have a spare moment to keep the codebase good for agents to operate in. It surfaces deepening opportunities; picking one _generates an idea_ you can take into the main flow at `/grill-with-docs`. ## Crossing sessions - **`/handoff`** — when a thread is full or you need to branch off (e.g. into a `/prototype` session), this compacts the conversation into a markdown file. You don't continue in place — you **open a new session and reference that file** to carry the context across. It's the bridge between context windows, in either direction. Use it when you want a **fresh session** but need the **current conversation preserved**. - **`/compact`** (built-in) — stay in the **same conversation**, letting the earlier turns be summarized. Use it at **intentional breaks between phases**, when you don't mind losing the verbatim history. Don't compact mid-phase — the agent can lose its way. `/handoff` forks; `/compact` continues. ## Standalone Off the main flow entirely. - **`/grill-me`** — the same relentless interview as `/grill-with-docs`, but for when you have **no codebase**. Stateless: it saves nothing locally, builds no `CONTEXT.md`. Reach for it to sharpen any plan or design that doesn't live in a repo. - **`/teach`** — learn a concept over multiple sessions, using the current directory as a stateful workspace. - **`/writing-great-skills`** — reference for writing and editing skills well. Named slash commands are upstream workflow references, not commands bundled by this single-file catalog entry. Discover installed skills and client capabilities first; unavailable commands do not justify inventing execution or changing tracker configuration. Session creation and external issue writes remain within the user-authorized scope. ## Precondition **`/setup-matt-pocock-skills`** — run before your first engineering flow to configure the issue tracker, triage labels, and doc layout the other skills assume. Custom issue trackers also work. ## Example **User request:** > Use @ask-matt for this task: Ask which skill or flow fits your situation. ## Limitations - Requires the upstream tool, account, API key, or local setup when the workflow names one. - Does not authorize destructive, production, paid, or external-message actions without explicit user approval. - Validate generated artifacts or recommendations against the user's real sources before treating them as final. --- Source attribution: mattpocock/skills contributors, via Agentic Awesome Skills Original project: https://github.com/mattpocock/skills License: MIT + CC-BY-4.0 License information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Dave AI. ## Upstream license notice MIT License Copyright (c) 2026 Matt Pocock Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. # Dave AI resource metadata Creator / publisher: mattpocock/skills contributors, via Agentic Awesome Skills Original project: https://github.com/mattpocock/skills Attribution basis: Recorded upstream repository Fields of work: Development & Engineering Roles: Software Developer Specialties: Specialty not specified Tools: Tool not specified Country applicability: Country not specified Classification basis: Dave AI task classification from package title, description, and declared metadata Instruction SHA-256: d5bdc2ea1ad58d308735a92f3e6e1cc2ee887dbcfcd34e145e82320744df29c8 Metadata reviewed: 2026-10-27 This metadata supersedes earlier Dave AI catalog attribution. Original instruction and supporting files are preserved.