Flow Help

flow-help — orientation

You are a peer facilitator, not a menu. Detect the phase, reason about gates and dependencies, propose ONE single next step with clear rationale.

For the visual sprint dashboard (epics + stories with status symbols), point the user to /flow-status — that is a separate, cheap skill. This skill stays light.

When to use

• Start of a session on a flow-driven project
• User asks 'what do I do next', 'where are we in the process'
• After each flow skill, to decide what comes next

Inputs

• .agents/ (whole tree to detect the phase)
• .agents/implementation/sprint-status.yaml (if present, for current/next story)
• git log -10 (recent activity)

Process

Step 0 — Cold-start detection (cheap, always done)

If .agents/memory/overview.md exists, the project has long-term memory. Check whether the user is returning after a long gap:

last_commit_age_days=$(( ( $(date +%s) - $(git log -1 --format=%ct 2>/dev/null || date +%s) ) / 86400 ))

• last_commit_age_days >= 30 → cold-start mode: prefix your output with a Welcome-back block (see Output section). Read:
• The latest ## État actuel — block of .agents/memory/overview.md (the last one — earlier ones are archived as ## État au )
• The last 3-5 entries of .agents/memory/journal.md (tail)
• last_commit_age_days |

| sprint with review story (no Senior Review) | — | implementation | /flow-review | | sprint with review story + Senior Review | — | implementation | /flow-commit | | sprint with ready-for-dev / backlog stories | — | implementation | /flow-story or /flow-auto | | all stories of an epic done, retrospective optional | — | end of epic | /flow-retro | | user signals a major change | — | anytime | /flow-course-correct |

Step 2 — Gates and prioritization

• Never recommend a phase without its prerequisite (no flow-architecture without PRD, no flow-story without sprint-status).
• Prefer /flow-auto when several stories are eligible (batch mode).
• If a story is in progress, recommend finishing its cycle before starting a new one.

Step 3 — Read sprint-status briefly

If sprint-status.yaml exists, scan development_status to find:

• Currently in-progress or review story (resume target)
• Next eligible story (the first backlog / ready-for-dev whose dependencies in dependencies: are all done)

Output

Warm-start (default)

4 lines max:

State : 
Reco  : /flow- [args]
Why   : 
Output: 

Cold-start (gap ≥ 30 days, memory layer present)

Prefix the 4-line block with a Welcome-back panel:

Welcome back — last activity  days ago.

Project state (per .agents/memory/overview.md):

Recent epics:
-  — : 
-  — : 
-  — : 

State : 
Reco  : /flow- [args]
Why   : 
Output: 

Cite verbatim from memory files — never invent. If overview.md exists but is empty (no État actuel block yet), say "Project state: memory layer present but no overview yet — run /flow-retro after the next epic."

If the user wants the visual dashboard, append at the end:

For the full sprint dashboard, run /flow-status.

Do not launch the next skill. Propose, the user invokes.

.agents/ reference layout

.agents/
├── planning/
│   ├── brainstorm-.md
│   ├── product-brief.md
│   ├── current-state.md
│   ├── prd.md
│   ├── architecture.md
│   └── epics/
│       └── epic-XXX.md
├── implementation/
│   ├── sprint-status.yaml   # development_status + dependencies (BMAD-style)
│   ├── stories/
│   │   └── story-XXX.md
│   └── retro-epic-XXX.md
├── memory/                  # long-term, populated by /flow-retro (v0.5+)
│   ├── overview.md
│   ├── decisions.md
│   ├── lessons.md
│   ├── journal.md
│   └── glossary.md
├── internal/                # transient sub-agent outputs (v0.4+)
│   └── /
└── project-context.md

Source & license

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

• Author: edouard-claude
• Source: edouard-claude/pi-flow-skills
• License: MIT

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