Triage

triage

Groom the existing backlog: re-rank, flag, state, and route. Backlog only — never re-orders a locked Active Sprint. Re-prioritisation and state changes are HITL: propose with reasons, get a y, then apply.

Pipeline: /task-decomposer (intake) → /triage (groom + re-prioritise) → /lean-doc-generator promote (form sprint) → /orchestrator (build).

When to invoke

• The backlog has grown and priorities have drifted from reality.
• Before a Sprint Promote, to surface what is genuinely ready.
• A specific task needs a state or priority decision.

Task states (light)

A Backlog task carries an optional state: — orthogonal to the HITL/AFK label (which says who acts, not whether it's ready):

| state | meaning | |---|---| | ready | fully specified, has a done-when — promotable | | needs-info | missing detail or an unanswered question — not promotable yet | | blocked | waiting on a dependency or another task (depends-on) |

Rejected work is not a state — it leaves the backlog (see .out-of-scope/). Default when unset: ready if it has a done-when, else needs-info.

Flow

1. Scan .out-of-scope/ first — if a backlog task resembles a prior rejection, surface it and ask before keeping it.
2. Load — read TODO.md § Backlog (+ § Tech Debt). Ignore the Active Sprint.
3. Re-rank — re-evaluate each task's P0–P3 tier; propose moves with a one-line reason each. Order within a tier by dependency, then impact × urgency.
4. Flag — surface stale (no movement / superseded), duplicate (same concern → merge or differentiate), conflict (acceptance criteria that contradict another task).
5. State — set ready / needs-info / blocked; for needs-info list the specific questions; for blocked name the blocker.
6. Route rejects — for work that will not be done, write an .out-of-scope/ entry, then remove the task from the backlog with a pointer.
7. Output — the groomed backlog + a ready-to-promote shortlist (P-order, ready only). Apply changes only after human y.

.out-of-scope/ knowledge base

Rejected enhancements are remembered, not forgotten — so they are not re-litigated next quarter. Create lazily (only on the first rejection). **One file per concept, not per task** — repeat requests for the same thing accumulate under one file's prior-requests list.

.out-of-scope/.md
# 
- date: YYYY-MM-DD
- decision: out of scope
- reason: 
- revisit-if: 
- prior-requests: TASK-012, TASK-031, …

• Durable reason, not a deferral — "we're too busy right now" is a deferral, not a rejection; don't file it. The reason must still hold next year.
• Match by concept, not keyword — "night theme" matches dark-mode.md. On a match, surface it: "resembles .out-of-scope/.md, rejected because … — still true?" → confirm (append to prior-requests, drop the task) · reconsider (delete the file, task proceeds) · disagree (related but distinct, task proceeds).

Hard rules

• Backlog only — never re-order or re-state the Active Sprint (a sprint in flight is locked).
• HITL — propose re-ranks, state changes, merges, and rejections; apply only after y.
• Never silently delete — a removed task goes to .out-of-scope/ with a pointer, or is merged with a note. No task vanishes without a trail.
• Don't re-decompose — triage grooms existing tasks; new tasks come from /task-decomposer.

Red flags

❌ Re-prioritising the Active Sprint — a sprint is locked; grooming is a Backlog activity. ❌ Deleting a task with no trail — route to .out-of-scope/ or merge with a note. ❌ Promoting a needs-info / blocked task — only ready work is promotable. ❌ Re-ranking without a reason — every priority move carries a one-line justification. ❌ Ignoring .out-of-scope/ — re-litigates settled rejections; always scan it first.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: aldianriski
• Source: aldianriski/lean-flow
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.