Phase gate: EXPLORE checkpoint. This skill MUST complete all steps before proceeding to Isolate.

Steps

1. Fetch issue context (if issue number provided):

   gh issue view <number> --json title,body,labels,assignees
   

   If no issue number provided, ask the user to describe the task. If gh is not available (remote session without GH_TOKEN), skip issue fetch and proceed with manual description.

2. Auto-detect task type from labels or description:

   Label / keyword	Type	Branch prefix
   bug, error, crash, broken, fix	Bugfix	fix/
   enhancement, feature, add, want, should, new	Feature	feat/
   chore, config, deps, ci, tooling	Chore	chore/
   docs, documentation, readme	Docs	docs/
   Default	Feature	feat/

3. Scan for relevant ADRs:

   ls ai-workspace/decisions/*.md 2>/dev/null | head -20
   

   Check ADR titles/filenames for keywords matching the issue title/body. If matches found, read the relevant ADR and surface it. If ADR scan finds contradictions, surface explicitly: "This task may conflict with ADR-NNN"

4. Check for interrupted work: If .branch-context.md exists, read it and include in the brief (resuming work).

5. Read recent memory:

   tail -20 ai-workspace/MEMORY.md 2>/dev/null
   

6. Present brief:

   ## Orient Brief
   **Task**: [title or description]
   **Type**: [bugfix/feature/chore/docs] → branch prefix: [fix/feat/chore/docs]/
   **Suggested branch**: [prefix]/[kebab-case-name]
   **Relevant ADRs**: [list or "none found"]
   **Resuming?**: [yes — from .branch-context.md / no]
   **Files likely affected**: [educated guess from issue description + ADR context]
   

7. Auto-route using the one-sentence rule:

   • Can the entire diff for this task be described in ONE sentence? → Direct to Isolate (skip Design/Review)
   • Otherwise → Plan first (proceed to Design after Isolate)

   Present the routing decision. The agent auto-decides — no human input required. If human is present, they can override.

Edge Cases

• No issue number + no user description → ask for a description
• gh not available → skip issue fetch, proceed with manual description
• No ADRs directory → skip ADR scan