Project Stage Detection

This skill scans your project to determine its current development stage, completeness of artifacts, and gaps that need attention. It's especially useful when:

• Starting with an existing project

• Onboarding to a codebase

• Checking what's missing before a milestone

• Understanding "where are we?"

Workflow

1. Scan Key Directories

Analyze project structure and content:

Design Documentation (design/ ):

• Count GDD files in design/gdd/*.md

• Check for game-concept.md, game-pillars.md, systems-index.md

• If systems-index.md exists, count total systems vs. designed systems

• Analyze completeness (Overview, Detailed Design, Edge Cases, etc.)

• Count narrative docs in design/narrative/

• Count level designs in design/levels/

Source Code (src/ ):

• Count source files (language-agnostic)

• Identify major systems (directories with 5+ files)

• Check for core/, gameplay/, ai/, networking/, ui/ directories

• Estimate lines of code (rough scale)

Production Artifacts (production/ ):

• Check for active sprint plans

• Look for milestone definitions

• Find roadmap documents

Prototypes (prototypes/ ):

• Count prototype directories

• Check for READMEs (documented vs undocumented)

• Assess if prototypes are archived or active

Architecture Docs (docs/architecture/ ):

• Count ADRs (Architecture Decision Records)

• Check for overview/index documents

Tests (tests/ ):

• Count test files

• Estimate test coverage (rough heuristic)

2. Classify Project Stage

Based on scanned artifacts, determine stage. Check production/stage.txt first — if it exists, use its value (explicit override from /gate-check ). Otherwise, auto-detect using these heuristics (check from most-advanced backward):

Stage Indicators

Concept No game concept doc, brainstorming phase

Systems Design Game concept exists, systems index missing or incomplete

Technical Setup Systems index exists, engine not configured

Pre-Production Engine configured, src/ has <10 source files

Production src/ has 10+ source files, active development

Polish Explicit only (set by /gate-check Production → Polish gate)

Release Explicit only (set by /gate-check Polish → Release gate)

3. Collaborative Gap Identification

DO NOT just list missing files. Instead, ask clarifying questions:

• "I see combat code (src/gameplay/combat/ ) but no design/gdd/combat-system.md . Was this prototyped first, or should we reverse-document?"

• "You have 15 ADRs but no architecture overview. Should I create one to help new contributors?"

• "No sprint plans in production/ . Are you tracking work elsewhere (Jira, Trello, etc.)?"

• "I found a game concept but no systems index. Have you decomposed the concept into individual systems yet, or should we run /map-systems ?"

• "Prototypes directory has 3 projects with no READMEs. Were these experiments, or do they need documentation?"

4. Generate Stage Report

Use template: .claude/docs/templates/project-stage-report.md

Report structure:

Project Stage Analysis

Date: [date] Stage: [Concept/Systems Design/Technical Setup/Pre-Production/Production/Polish/Release]

Completeness Overview

• Design: [X%] ([N] docs, [gaps])
• Code: [X%] ([N] files, [systems])
• Architecture: [X%] ([N] ADRs, [gaps])
• Production: [X%] ([status])
• Tests: [X%] ([coverage estimate])

Gaps Identified

1. [Gap description + clarifying question]
2. [Gap description + clarifying question]

Recommended Next Steps

[Priority-ordered list based on stage and role]

5. Role-Filtered Recommendations (Optional)

If user provided a role argument (e.g., /project-stage-detect programmer ):

Programmer:

• Focus on architecture docs, test coverage, missing ADRs

• Code-to-docs gaps

Designer:

• Focus on GDD completeness, missing design sections

• Prototype documentation

Producer:

• Focus on sprint plans, milestone tracking, roadmap

• Cross-team coordination docs

General (no role):

• Holistic view of all gaps

• Highest-priority items across domains

6. Request Approval Before Writing

Collaborative protocol:

I've analyzed your project. Here's what I found:

[Show summary]

Gaps identified:

1. [Gap 1 + question]
2. [Gap 2 + question]

Recommended next steps:

• [Priority 1]
• [Priority 2]
• [Priority 3]

May I write the full stage analysis to production/project-stage-report.md?

Wait for user approval before creating the file.

Example Usage

General project analysis

/project-stage-detect

Programmer-focused analysis

/project-stage-detect programmer

Designer-focused analysis

/project-stage-detect designer

Follow-Up Actions

After generating the report, suggest relevant next steps:

• Concept exists but no systems index? → /map-systems to decompose into systems

• Missing design docs? → /reverse-document design src/[system]

• Missing architecture docs? → /architecture-decision or /reverse-document architecture

• Prototypes need documentation? → /reverse-document concept prototypes/[name]

• No sprint plan? → /sprint-plan

• Approaching milestone? → /milestone-review

Collaborative Protocol

This skill follows the collaborative design principle:

• Question First: Ask about gaps, don't assume

• Present Options: "Should I create X, or is it tracked elsewhere?"

• User Decides: Wait for direction

• Show Draft: Display report summary

• Get Approval: "May I write to production/project-stage-report.md?"

Never silently write files. Always show findings and ask before creating artifacts.