Quartermaster

Quartermaster ⚓

Quartermaster turns the current Git diff into a Skill Harbor-style changeset draft with a nautical voice.

Purpose

Use this skill when you need to:

• decide whether the release bump should be minor or patch
• draft a catchy Hero Title
• write a short Captain's Briefing
• produce release notes for .changeset/*.md
• review or correct an existing changeset draft so it matches the real branch contents

This skill is the skill-based replacement for the old bun run quartermaster workflow.

Default Workflow

1. Review the current Git diff against the intended base branch.

• Default to main unless the user specifies another base.

1. Classify the release:

• minor for new features or significant behavior changes
• patch for fixes, cleanup, docs, or narrow maintenance changes

1. Generate:

• a Hero Title
• a short Captain's Briefing
• release notes in the Quartermaster format

1. If the user wants a changeset file, write:

• .changeset/.md

1. Re-check the notes against the real diff before finalizing.

Required Structure

Use this structure unless the user explicitly asks for a different shape:

• Captain's Briefing (1-2 short sentences)
• ## ✨ New Cargo
• ## 🛡️ Hardened Hull
• ## 🛠️ Barnacle Scraping
• ## 🔧 Repaired Ships
• ## 🔭 New Skill Discovery only if relevant

Omit any section that has no real content.

Section intent:

• ## 🔧 Repaired Ships is for user-visible repairs: fixes to CLI behavior, docs/manual behavior, distribution/packaging/install flows, or any other bug/repair a user would directly notice.
• ## 🛠️ Barnacle Scraping is for non-user-facing cleanup and maintenance: refactors, migrations, naming cleanups, internal plumbing fixes, and other maintenance work that is not primarily a user-noticeable repair.

Hard Rules

• Every bullet must reference a specific file, command, function, module, behavior, or user-visible change.
• Do not use vague filler like:
• "various technical improvements"
• "code improvements"
• "general enhancements"
• "better performance across different aspects"
• Do not repeat the same change in multiple sections.
• Keep the notes truthful to the current branch contents.
• If an existing draft includes unrelated changes, rewrite it rather than preserving bad content.

Output Contract

When the user wants a full changeset, use this format:

---
"skill-harbor": patch|minor
---

Captain's Briefing: ...

## ✨ New Cargo
- ...

## 🛡️ Hardened Hull
- ...

## 🛠️ Barnacle Scraping
- ...

## 🔧 Repaired Ships
- ...

Tone

• adventurous
• nautical
• lightly punny
• still concrete and professional

Preferred Behavior

• If the user asks for a changeset, create the file directly instead of only proposing notes.
• If the user already has a Quartermaster-generated changeset, validate it against the actual diff and fix any hallucinated sections.
• If the change is mostly docs, cleanup, or bug fixes, prefer patch unless there is a clear new capability.

When Not To Use

Do not use this skill for:

• version publishing itself
• changelog generation for unrelated packages
• non-release writing tasks that do not need a changeset or release-note style output

Source & license

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

• Author: johntimothybailey
• Source: johntimothybailey/skill-harbor
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://skill-harbor-manual.vercel.app

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