Claude-Code-Game-Studios/CCGS Skill Testing Framework/skills/utility/start.md

Skill Test Spec: /start

Skill Summary

/start is the first-time onboarding skill. Phase 1 silently detects project state (engine from project.yaml or technical-preferences.md, concept or brief, source code under the engine's code root, prototypes, GDDs, production artifacts, and whether .git/config's origin still points at the template repo). Phase 2 asks where the user is with four AskUserQuestion options (A No idea yet, B Vague idea, C Clear concept, D Existing work); engine choice is not asked here — it is deferred to /setup-engine.

Phase 3 routes by answer and names only the immediate next step. Phase 3c asks "May I write project.stage: [stage] to project.yaml (and the legacy mirror production/stage.txt)?" — one approval that also covers the Phase 3d and 3e answers — then writes both and announces them. Phase 3d asks the rigor question and Phase 3e the automation question, each skipped when the key is already set; each answer is written to project.yaml straight from the selection. /start never writes any of the six knobs modes.rigor fronts (modes.review_mode, modes.workflow, docs.density, qa.level, modes.story_granularity, team.size) or production/review-mode.txt. Phase 4 prints the path for the chosen rigor — Path D2's retrofit path included — and asks which step to take first; Phase 5 prints a single "Type [skill command] to begin." line. A returning user (engine configured and a concept or brief present) skips onboarding. No director gates apply. Verdict: COMPLETE.

---

Static Assertions (Structural)

Checked against the SKILL.md by /skill-test spec — no fixture needed.

• Has required frontmatter fields: name, description, argument-hint, user-invocable, allowed-tools
• Has ≥2 phase headings
• Contains verdict keyword: COMPLETE
• States the write rule for every write it makes: "May I write" before the project.yaml write, the same ask naming the production/stage.txt legacy mirror; modes.rigor and modes.automation written as a direct consequence of the user's selection, under that approval
• Has a next-step handoff at the end (Phase 5: "Type [skill command] to begin.")

---

Director Gate Checks

None. /start is a utility setup skill. No director agents exist yet at the point this skill runs.

---

Test Cases

Case 1: Happy Path — Fresh repo, Path A, minimal rigor

Fixture:

• No project.yaml, no production/stage.txt; technical-preferences.md holds only placeholders
• No design docs, prototypes or source code; origin is the user's own repo
• The user picks A) No idea yet, approves the project.yaml write, then picks Jam / prototype / first game, then Guided

Input: /start

Expected behavior:

1. Phase 1 detection runs without printing its findings
2. Phase 2 AskUserQuestion offers exactly A–D; no engine question is asked
3. Path A: explains /brainstorm tier-neutrally and names only /brainstorm open as the next step ("I'll lay out the full path once I know how much process you want")
4. Phase 3c asks "May I write project.stage: Concept to project.yaml (and the legacy mirror production/stage.txt)?", saying the file will be created; on approval it creates project.yaml from the v1.1 minimal template with project: stage: Concept (no modes.rigor, no modes.review_mode), writes Concept to production/stage.txt under the same approval, and announces both
5. Phase 3d offers Jam / prototype / first game (Recommended) first (no concept → minimal); modes.rigor: minimal is written on selection
6. Phase 3e writes modes.automation: guided on selection
7. Phase 4 prints the minimal 4-step path (/setup-engine, /brainstorm, /create-stories, /dev-story) and asks which step to take first
8. Phase 5 prints only "Type [skill command] to begin."; verdict COMPLETE

Assertions:

• Phase 2 offers exactly the four A–D options and no engine choice
• project.yaml and production/stage.txt are written only after the one "May I write" ask that names both
• project.stage and production/stage.txt are both Concept
• project.yaml ends up holding only project.stage, modes.rigor and modes.automation from /start — none of the six rigor-fronted knobs — and production/review-mode.txt is not written
• The recommended rigor option is listed first with (Recommended)
• Phase 4 prints the minimal 4-step path
• The next skill is not auto-run; Verdict is COMPLETE

---

Case 2: Returning User — Onboarding skipped

Fixture:

• project.yaml has engine.name: Godot and modes.rigor: minimal; no explicit modes.review_mode
• design/game-brief.md exists

Input: /start

Expected behavior:

1. Phase 1 finds the engine configured and the brief present
2. Skill skips onboarding: "It looks like you're already set up! Your engine is Godot and you have … a game brief at design/game-brief.md."
3. Review mode is reported as solo (resolved from modes.rigor: minimal)
4. Skill points to /help or asks what the user would like to work on

Assertions:

• The A–D starting-point question is not asked
• The message names the configured engine (Godot) and the brief path
• Review mode is reported as solo, resolved from rigor
• No write is made to project.yaml or production/stage.txt

---

Case 3: Existing Work on Unity — Path D2, stage and rigor already set

Fixture:

• project.yaml has engine.name: Unity, modes.rigor: standard and modes.automation: collaborative
• C# scripts exist under Assets/Scripts/; design/gdd/ holds 3 system GDDs; no design/gdd/game-concept.md, no docs/architecture/
• The user picks D) Existing work and approves the project.yaml write

Input: /start

Expected behavior:

1. Phase 1 resolves the code root as Assets/ for Unity and finds source files there (it does not scan src/ and conclude there is no code)
2. Phase 3 D shares what it found (source files, 3 design docs, engine Unity)
3. Sub-case D2: recommends /project-stage-detect then /adopt, naming /project-stage-detect as the immediate step; the tiered path waits for Phase 4
4. Phase 3c asks "May I write project.stage: Systems Design to project.yaml (and the legacy mirror production/stage.txt)?", then writes Systems Design (GDDs, no architecture) to the existing project.yaml (read first, then edited) and to production/stage.txt
5. Phase 3d prints "Rigor is set to standard." and Phase 3e "Automation is set to collaborative." — neither question is asked
6. Phase 4 prints the D2 retrofit path at standard: /project-stage-detect, /adopt, /design-system retrofit, /architecture-decision retrofit, /architecture-review, /gate-check

Assertions:

• Source files are found under Assets/, not reported as absent
• /project-stage-detect and /adopt are recommended for D2
• Stage Systems Design is written to both project.yaml and production/stage.txt, after the "May I write" ask
• The rigor and automation questions are skipped because both keys are set
• The D2 retrofit path is printed in Phase 4, including the GDD, ADR and registry retrofit steps
• Verdict is COMPLETE

---

Case 4: Clone Still Wired to the Template Repo — remote note, never run

Fixture:

• Fresh project as in Case 1
• .git/config has [remote "origin"] with url https://github.com/Donchitos/Claude-Code-Game-Studios.git
• The user picks B) Vague idea with the hint "a small weekend puzzler"

Input: /start

Expected behavior:

1. Phase 1 reads .git/config as a file and matches the template URL case-insensitively
2. Path B recommends /brainstorm a small weekend puzzler as the immediate step
3. Phase 3d recommends Jam / prototype / first game for the described scope
4. After the Phase 4 path, the skill adds once: the clone's origin still points at the Claude Code Game Studios repo, and suggests git remote rename origin template then git remote add origin <your repo URL>
5. The commands are suggested only — no git command is run

Assertions:

• The template-origin note appears exactly once, after the path
• Both suggested commands are given as written above
• No git command is executed (read of .git/config only)
• The minimal rigor option is the recommended one for the described scope

---

Case 5: Director Gate Check — No gate; start is a utility setup skill

Fixture:

• Fresh project and answers as in Case 1 (A) No idea yet, the write approved, Jam / prototype / first game, Guided)

Input: /start

Expected behavior:

1. Skill completes the onboarding flow through Phase 5
2. No director agents are spawned at any point
3. No gate IDs (CD-, TD-, AD-, PR-) appear in the output

Assertions:

• No director gate is invoked during the skill execution
• No gate skip messages appear (gates are absent, not suppressed)
• Skill reaches COMPLETE without any gate verdict

---

Case 6: Path D2 With Rigor Unset — the retrofit path waits for the answer

Fixture:

• project.yaml has engine.name: Godot and no modes block
• src/ holds GDScript files; design/gdd/ holds 4 system GDDs; no docs/architecture/
• The user picks D) Existing work, approves the project.yaml write, then picks Several systems that affect each other and Collaborative

Input: /start

Expected behavior:

1. Phase 3 D2 names /project-stage-detect as the immediate step and prints no tiered path yet
2. Phase 3c asks, then writes Systems Design
3. Phase 3d asks the rigor question, since modes.rigor is unset; modes.rigor: standard is written on selection
4. Phase 4 prints the D2 retrofit path at standard, including /design-system retrofit, /architecture-decision retrofit and /architecture-review — not the minimal stop after /adopt and /setup-engine

Assertions:

• No tiered D2 path is printed before Phase 3d has the rigor
• The rigor question is asked because the key is unset
• Phase 4's D2 path matches the chosen standard, with the GDD, ADR and registry retrofit steps
• None of the six rigor-fronted knobs is written — only modes.rigor and modes.automation are added

---

Protocol Compliance

• Detects project state silently before the first question
• Asks the starting-point question via AskUserQuestion with options A–D; defers engine choice to /setup-engine
• Never writes any of the six rigor-fronted knobs (modes.review_mode, modes.workflow, docs.density, qa.level, modes.story_granularity, team.size) or production/review-mode.txt
• Skips the rigor and automation questions when those keys are already set
• Asks "May I write" before the project.yaml write, naming production/stage.txt in the same ask; announces the stage it wrote; writes rigor/automation only from the user's selection
• Prints the Path D2 retrofit path only in Phase 4, after the rigor is known
• Never auto-runs the next skill; a completed onboarding run (not the returning-user skip, which ends at its /help pointer) ends with "Type [skill command] to begin." and Verdict COMPLETE

---

Coverage Notes

• Path C (clear concept, Formalize it first vs Jump straight in) is not separately tested.
• The standard and full Phase 4 paths follow Case 1 with the longer pipeline; not separately tested.
• The mismatch note (a rigor that contradicts the described project) and the edge cases "picks D but project is empty" / "picks A but code exists" are not separately tested.
• A declined Phase 3c write (neither file written, the stage and the two answers kept for the run and reported as not saved) is not separately tested.