Workflow Skill Designer

Meta-skill for creating structured workflow skills following the orchestrator + phases pattern. Generates complete skill packages with SKILL.md as coordinator and phases/ folder for execution details.

Architecture Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Workflow Skill Designer │ │ → Analyze requirements → Design orchestrator → Generate phases │ └───────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ ┌───────────┼───────────┬───────────┐ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ │ Phase 1 │ │ Phase 2 │ │ Phase 3 │ │ Phase 4 │ │ Require │ │ Orch │ │ Phases │ │ Valid │ │ Analysis│ │ Design │ │ Design │ │ & Integ │ └─────────┘ └─────────┘ └─────────┘ └─────────┘ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ workflow SKILL.md phases/ Complete config generated 0N-*.md skill pkg

Target Output Structure

The skill this meta-skill produces follows this structure:

.claude/skills/{skill-name}/ ├── SKILL.md # Orchestrator: coordination, data flow, TodoWrite ├── phases/ │ ├── 01-{phase-name}.md # Phase execution detail (full content) │ ├── 02-{phase-name}.md │ ├── ... │ └── 0N-{phase-name}.md ├── specs/ # [Optional] Domain specifications └── templates/ # [Optional] Reusable templates

Core Design Patterns

Patterns extracted from successful workflow skill implementations (workflow-plan, project-analyze, etc.):

Pattern 1: Orchestrator + Progressive Loading

SKILL.md = Pure coordinator. Contains:

• Architecture diagram (ASCII)

• Execution flow with Ref: phases/0N-xxx.md markers

• Phase Reference Documents table (read on-demand)

• Data flow between phases

• Core rules and error handling

Phase files = Full execution detail. Contains:

• Complete agent prompts, bash commands, code implementations

• Validation checklists, error handling

• Input/Output specification

• Next Phase link

Key Rule: SKILL.md references phase docs via Ref: markers. Phase docs are read only when that phase executes, not all at once.

Pattern 2: TodoWrite Attachment/Collapse

Phase starts: → Sub-tasks ATTACHED to TodoWrite (in_progress + pending) → Orchestrator executes sub-tasks sequentially

Phase ends: → Sub-tasks COLLAPSED back to high-level summary (completed) → Next phase begins

Pattern 3: Inter-Phase Data Flow

Phase N output → stored in memory/variable → Phase N+1 input └─ or written to session file for persistence

Each phase receives outputs from prior phases via:

• In-memory variables (sessionId, contextPath, etc.)

• Session directory files (.workflow/active/{sessionId}/...)

• Planning notes (accumulated constraints document)

Pattern 4: Conditional Phase Execution

Phase N output contains condition flag ├─ condition met → Execute Phase N+1 └─ condition not met → Skip to Phase N+2

Pattern 5: Input Structuring

User input (free text) → Structured format before Phase 1:

GOAL: [objective] SCOPE: [boundaries] CONTEXT: [background/constraints]

Pattern 6: Interactive Preference Collection (SKILL.md Responsibility)

Workflow preferences (auto mode, force explore, etc.) MUST be collected via AskUserQuestion in SKILL.md before dispatching to phases. Phases reference these as workflowPreferences.{key} context variables.

Anti-Pattern: Command-line flags (--yes , -e , --explore ) parsed within phase files via $ARGUMENTS.includes(...) .

// CORRECT: In SKILL.md (before phase dispatch) const prefResponse = AskUserQuestion({ questions: [ { question: "是否跳过确认？", header: "Auto Mode", options: [ { label: "Interactive (Recommended)", description: "交互模式" }, { label: "Auto", description: "跳过所有确认" } ]} ] }) workflowPreferences = { autoYes: prefResponse.autoMode === 'Auto' }

// CORRECT: In phase files (reference only) const autoYes = workflowPreferences.autoYes

// WRONG: In phase files (flag parsing) const autoYes = $ARGUMENTS.includes('--yes') || $ARGUMENTS.includes('-y')

Pattern 7: Direct Phase Handoff

When one phase needs to invoke another phase within the same skill, read and execute the phase document directly. Do NOT use Skill() routing back through SKILL.md.

// CORRECT: Direct handoff (executionContext already set) Read("phases/02-lite-execute.md") // Execute with executionContext (Mode 1)

// WRONG: Skill routing (unnecessary round-trip) Skill(skill="workflow-lite-plan", args="--in-memory")

Pattern 8: Phase File Hygiene

Phase files are internal execution documents. They MUST NOT contain:

Prohibited Reason Correct Location

Flag parsing ($ARGUMENTS.includes(...) ) Preferences collected in SKILL.md SKILL.md via AskUserQuestion

Invocation syntax (/skill-name "..." ) Not user-facing docs Removed or SKILL.md only

Conversion provenance (Source: Converted from... ) Implementation detail Removed

Skill routing for inter-phase (Skill(skill="...") ) Use direct phase read Direct Read("phases/...")

Pattern 9: Compact Recovery (Phase Persistence)

Multi-phase workflows span long conversations. Context compression (compact) will naturally summarize earlier phase documents. The strategy uses 双重保险: TodoWrite 跟踪 active phase 保护其不被压缩，sentinel 作为兜底在压缩发生时触发恢复。

Design principle: TodoWrite in_progress = active phase → protect from compact | Sentinel = re-read fallback if protection fails.

Double insurance mechanism:

Layer Role Mechanism

1. Active Phase Protection 预防 TodoWrite in_progress 标记当前 phase → compact 时保留该 phase 完整内容，不压缩

2. Sentinel Re-read 恢复 Phase 文件嵌入标识符 → 若仍被压缩，检测到 sentinel-only 状态时立即 re-read

When to apply: 任何通过 direct handoff (Pattern 7) 跨 phase 执行的场景，尤其是后续 phase 包含复杂执行协议（多 Step、agent 调度、CLI 编排）时。

Layer 1: Active Phase Protection (TodoWrite 联动)

TodoWrite 已经跟踪每个 phase 的执行状态。利用此信息驱动 compact 策略：

TodoWrite status → Compact behavior: ┌─ completed → ✅ 可压缩（已完成，不再需要完整内容） ├─ in_progress → 🛡️ 禁止压缩（正在执行，必须保留完整协议） └─ pending → ✅ 可压缩（尚未加载，无内容）

SKILL.md Execution Flow 中标注 compact 联动:

Execution Flow

⚠️ COMPACT DIRECTIVE: Context compression MUST check TodoWrite phase status. The phase currently marked in_progress is the active execution phase — preserve its FULL content. Only compress phases marked completed or pending.

Phase 1: Requirements Analysis ← TodoWrite tracks status └─ Ref: phases/01-xxx.md Phase 2: Execution Engine ← TodoWrite tracks status └─ Ref: phases/02-xxx.md ...

TodoWrite 状态转换 时自动更新 compact 保护范围:

Phase 1: in_progress 🛡️ → completed ✅ (compact 可压缩 Phase 1) Phase 2: pending ✅ → in_progress 🛡️ (compact 保护 Phase 2)

Layer 2: Sentinel Re-read (兜底恢复)

即使有 Layer 1 保护，compact 仍可能在极端场景（超长上下文、多轮 agent 调度）下压缩 active phase。Sentinel 确保恢复能力：

Phase 文件顶部嵌入 sentinel:

📌 COMPACT SENTINEL [Phase N: {phase-name}] This phase contains {M} execution steps (Step N.1 — N.{M}). If you can read this sentinel but cannot find the full Step protocol below, context has been compressed. Recovery: Read("phases/0N-xxx.md")

Sentinel 设计特点：

• 结构化、醒目 → compact 会将其作为关键信息保留在摘要中

• 包含 step 数量 → 提供自检依据（"应该看到 M 个 Step，但只有摘要"）

• 包含 re-read 路径 → 无需查表即可恢复

Phase Reference Table (整合双重保险)

Compact Rules:

1. TodoWrite in_progress → 保留完整内容，禁止压缩
2. TodoWrite completed → 可压缩为摘要
3. 🔄 sentinel fallback → 带此标记的 phase 包含 compact sentinel；若 compact 后仅存 sentinel 而无完整 Step 协议，必须立即 Read("phases/0N-xxx.md") 恢复后再继续

Checkpoint (执行步骤前双重验证)

⚠️ CHECKPOINT: Before proceeding, verify:

1. This phase is TodoWrite in_progress (active phase protection)
2. Full protocol (Step N.X — N.{M}) is in active memory, not just sentinel If only sentinel remains → Read("phases/0N-xxx.md") now.

Handoff 注释

// Phase N is tracked by TodoWrite — active phase protection applies. // Sentinel fallback: if compressed despite protection, re-read triggers automatically. Read("phases/0N-xxx.md")

Execution Flow

Phase 1: Requirements Analysis └─ Ref: phases/01-requirements-analysis.md ├─ Input source: commands, descriptions, user interaction └─ Output: workflowConfig (phases, data flow, agents, conditions)

Phase 2: Orchestrator Design (SKILL.md) └─ Ref: phases/02-orchestrator-design.md ├─ Input: workflowConfig └─ Output: .claude/skills/{name}/SKILL.md

Phase 3: Phase Files Design └─ Ref: phases/03-phase-design.md ├─ Input: workflowConfig + source content └─ Output: .claude/skills/{name}/phases/0N-*.md

Phase 4: Validation & Integration └─ Ref: phases/04-validation.md └─ Output: Validated skill package

Phase Reference Documents (read on-demand):

Phase Document Purpose

1 phases/01-requirements-analysis.md Analyze workflow requirements from various sources

2 phases/02-orchestrator-design.md Generate SKILL.md with orchestration patterns

3 phases/03-phase-design.md Generate phase files preserving full execution detail

4 phases/04-validation.md Validate structure, references, and integration

Input Sources

This meta-skill accepts workflow definitions from multiple sources:

Source Description Example

Existing commands Convert .claude/commands/ orchestrator + sub-commands plan.md

• session/start.md
• tools/*.md

Text description User describes workflow in natural language "Create a 3-phase code review workflow"

Requirements doc Structured requirements file requirements.md with phases/agents/outputs

Existing skill Refactor/redesign an existing skill Restructure a flat skill into phases

Frontmatter Conversion Rules

When converting from command format to skill format:

Command Field Skill Field Transformation

name

name

Prefix with group: plan → workflow-plan

description

description

Append trigger phrase: Triggers on "xxx"

argument-hint

(removed) Arguments handled in Input Processing section

examples

(removed) Examples moved to inline documentation

allowed-tools

allowed-tools

Expand wildcards: Skill(*) → Skill , add commonly needed tools

group

(removed) Embedded in name prefix

Orchestrator Content Mapping

What goes into SKILL.md vs what goes into phase files:

SKILL.md (Coordinator)

Section Content Source

Frontmatter name, description, allowed-tools Command frontmatter (converted)

Architecture Overview ASCII diagram of phase flow Derived from execution structure

Key Design Principles Coordination rules Extracted from command coordinator role

Execution Flow Phase sequence with Ref: markers + Phase Reference table Command execution process

Core Rules Orchestration constraints Command core rules

Input Processing Structured format conversion Command input processing

Data Flow Inter-phase data passing Command data flow

TodoWrite Pattern Attachment/collapse lifecycle Command TodoWrite sections

Post-Phase Updates Planning notes / state updates between phases Command inter-phase update code

Error Handling Failure recovery Command error handling

Coordinator Checklist Pre/post phase actions Command coordinator checklist

Related Commands Prerequisites and follow-ups Command related commands

Phase Files (Execution Detail)

Content Rule

Full agent prompts Preserve verbatim from source command

Bash command blocks Preserve verbatim

Code implementations Preserve verbatim

Validation checklists Preserve verbatim

Error handling details Preserve verbatim

Input/Output spec Add if not present in source

Phase header Add # Phase N: {Name}

Objective section Add ## Objective with bullet points

Next Phase link Add ## Next Phase with link to next

Critical Rule: Phase files must be content-faithful to their source. Do NOT summarize, abbreviate, or simplify. The phase file IS the execution instruction - every bash command, every agent prompt, every validation step must be preserved.

SKILL.md Template

name: {skill-name} description: {description}. Triggers on "{trigger1}", "{trigger2}". allowed-tools: {tools}

{Title}

{One-paragraph description of what this skill does and what it produces.}

Architecture Overview

{ASCII diagram showing phases and data flow}

Key Design Principles

1. {Principle}: {Description} ...

Interactive Preference Collection

Collect workflow preferences via AskUserQuestion before dispatching to phases: {AskUserQuestion code with preference derivation → workflowPreferences}

Auto Mode Defaults

When workflowPreferences.autoYes === true: {auto-mode behavior}.

Execution Flow

{Phase sequence with Ref: markers}

Phase Reference Documents (read on-demand when phase executes):

Compact Rules:

1. TodoWrite in_progress → 保留完整内容，禁止压缩
2. TodoWrite completed → 可压缩为摘要
3. 🔄 sentinel fallback → 带此标记的 phase 包含 compact sentinel；若 compact 后仅存 sentinel 而无完整 Step 协议，必须立即 Read() 恢复

Core Rules

1. {Rule} ...

Input Processing

{How user input is converted to structured format}

Data Flow

{Inter-phase data passing diagram}

TodoWrite Pattern

{Attachment/collapse lifecycle description with examples}

Post-Phase Updates

{State updates between phases}

Error Handling

{Failure recovery rules}

Coordinator Checklist

{Pre/post phase action list}

Related Commands

{Prerequisites and follow-ups}

Phase File Template

Phase N: {Phase Name}

📌 COMPACT SENTINEL [Phase N: {phase-name}] This phase contains {M} execution steps (Step N.1 — N.{M}). If you can read this sentinel but cannot find the full Step protocol below, context has been compressed. Recovery: Read("phases/0N-xxx.md") (Include for phases marked 🔄 in SKILL.md Phase Reference table — see Pattern 9)

{One-sentence description of this phase's goal.}

Objective

• {Goal 1}
• {Goal 2}

Execution

Step N.1: {Step Name}

{Full execution detail: commands, agent prompts, code}

Step N.2: {Step Name}

⚠️ CHECKPOINT: Before proceeding, verify:

1. This phase is TodoWrite in_progress (active phase protection)
2. Full protocol (Step N.X — N.{M}) is in active memory, not just sentinel If only sentinel remains → Read("phases/0N-xxx.md") now. (Add checkpoints before critical execution steps: agent dispatch, CLI launch, review — see Pattern 9)

{Full execution detail}

Output

• Variable: {variableName} (e.g., sessionId)
• File: {output file path}
• TodoWrite: Mark Phase N completed, Phase N+1 in_progress

Next Phase

Return to orchestrator, then auto-continue to Phase N+1: xxx.

Design Decision Framework

When designing a new workflow skill, answer these questions:

Question Impact Example

How many phases? Directory structure 3-7 phases typical

Which phases are conditional? Orchestrator logic "Phase 3 only if conflict_risk >= medium"

What data flows between phases? Data Flow section sessionId, contextPath, configFlags

Which phases use agents? Phase file complexity Agent prompts need verbatim preservation

What's the TodoWrite granularity? TodoWrite Pattern Some phases have sub-tasks, others are atomic

Is there a planning notes pattern? Post-Phase Updates Accumulated state document across phases

What's the error recovery? Error Handling Retry once then report, vs rollback

Does it need preference collection? Interactive Preference Collection Collect via AskUserQuestion in SKILL.md, pass as workflowPreferences

Does phase N hand off to phase M? Direct Phase Handoff (Pattern 7) Read phase doc directly, not Skill() routing

Will later phases run after long context? Compact Recovery (Pattern 9) Add sentinel + checkpoints, mark 🔄 in Phase Reference table