Backlog Kickoff

Backlog kickoff — create decision + progress

You assist the developer implementing this project. Given one backlog item, set up its empty decision-doc skeleton (decision) and task checklist (progress). Leave the decision body empty — the developer fills in real decisions while implementing. No guessing, no invention — blanks stay blank.

0. Confirm the backlog key (varies per project — never hardcode)

• `` is this project's Jira/space key. Derive it, do not assume:
• from existing docs/decisions/decision_*.md filenames (e.g. decision_PROJ-7.md exists → KEY=PROJ), or
• from the backlog-item key the user said (e.g. "start PROJ-6" → KEY=PROJ, N=6), or from the Jira project key.
• Every filename and in-doc backlog-item reference uses this -N (each project has its own key — the examples here use PROJ).

1. Context gathering (for the checklist, metadata, and orientation)

Collect context to ① build the progress checklist, ② fill the decision doc's identifying metadata (prd_ref, title), and ③ orient the developer in the prior decision flow. Do not fill the decision body.

1. Freshen the repo and the plan — before anything else.

(1) Pull the project repo. Kicking off unaware of backlog items teammates completed and pushed in parallel (code, validators, seed-structure changes, etc.) breaks the checklist's premises (real incident: a kickoff almost started assuming an old data format, unaware a teammate had already shipped the new-format validator and archived the old seeds).

• git status --short first — **if uncommitted changes exist (especially decision/progress),

tell the user and confirm before pulling** (a rebase or sync could clobber them).

• If clean, git pull --rebase -q. On a rebase conflict, do not resolve it on your own — stop and report.
• If incoming commits (git log --oneline ORIG_HEAD.. or the pull output) show changes

overlapping this backlog item, factor them into context steps 1–4 below.

(2) Freshen the plan (local lore vault clone). The single home of the plan is the local lore vault clone (Obsidian auto-pulls it, so it is always current — including PRD changes made in Slack and resolved decisions). Before kickoff, update it and read the context below directly from the lore vault (do not copy into repo docs/).

• Find the project's lore-vault clone (usually a sibling checkout of this repo, e.g.

../-lore-vault; raw/ and wiki/concepts/ sit directly at the vault root). Freshen: git -C ../-lore-vault pull --ff-only -q (proceed even if it fails).

• From here on, reference the PRD, prior decisions, and concepts **directly in the vault

raw/ (raw/PRD.md, raw/decisions/*) and wiki/concepts/**. Repo docs/ is where the developer authors decisions; the plan's source is the lore vault — the PRD copy in repo docs/ can be stale, so read raw.

• (repo→wiki publishing is automatic: when the developer pushes a decision, the

server-side Loremaster host propagates it raw→wiki. Nothing to sync locally.)

1. The Jira issue (-N, a.k.a. ticket) — the kickoff's starting point. Fetch this issue

via the Atlassian/Jira MCP tools (summary, description, acceptance criteria, priority, assignee, status, comments). It is the primary basis for "what to build and when it counts as done."

• If MCP is not connected, ask the user to connect Atlassian via /mcp or to paste the

issue essentials (summary, acceptance criteria). Never fill by guessing.

• The issue's acceptance criteria are the backbone of the progress checklist

(1 criterion → verifiable task steps). Pull the decision title and prd_ref from the issue too.

• Reflect the kickoff — status transition: since this backlog item is being started,

transition the issue To Do → In Progress via the Jira MCP (list the available transitions and pick "In Progress" — status names may be localized in your Jira's language). The assignee explicitly kicked off, so proceed without separate approval. If it is already In Progress or in a done state, leave it alone.

1. PRD (lore vault raw/PRD.md — the plan's source): the what/why/scope of the

feature/policy this backlog item implements (connect the issue to the PRD section it implements). The PRD copy in repo docs/ can be stale, so read raw.

1. Project wiki — graphify query (prior backlog decisions, connected concepts):

• Locate the wiki vault (e.g. the sibling checkout ../-lore-vault/; if absent,

git clone git@github.com:your-org/-lore-vault.git).

• graphify query "" --graph /graphify-out/graph.json narrows the

reading to related concepts and prior decisions (e.g. for an auth item, a prior "settled on Firebase Auth" decision surfaces). graphify explain "" for connections.

• If there is no graph, fall back: read the lore vault raw/decisions/*.md (prior decisions) directly.
• Purpose: surface the related decisions up front so that when the developer later

fills the body, it does not contradict prior decisions (e.g. if auth is already Firebase, they know that premise).

1. Codebase: find the files/packages this backlog item will touch and read the current

structure and related code (the reference tables in CLAUDE.md, related directories).

2. Create ① docs/decisions/decision_-N.md — empty decision skeleton (format only; the developer fills the body)

At kickoff, how to implement is not yet decided. So lay down only a clean skeleton for the decision doc and leave the body empty. The developer fills real decisions into this skeleton while implementing (once filled and stable, it is pushed → the wiki tracks it). Use exactly the format below — a decision-log table (header + 1 empty row). The developer fills one row per decision as they arise. Never fill it by guessing.

---
backlog: -N
doc_type: decision
status: draft            # becomes stable once it reflects the implementation
prd_ref: "§"             # related PRD section (fill if known)
updated: 
tags: []
---

# -N · 

> Format: `date | decision | rationale | alternatives`
> Record the **implementation decisions that take shape** while implementing per the PRD (§)
> — library, approach, schema: what to build and how. If the plan itself must change,
> request it in Slack, not here.

| Date | Decision | Rationale | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|
|  |  |  |  |

• Fill only the identifying metadata — backlog/updated/title, plus the prd_ref

confirmed from Jira/PRD (and the §N in > ... PRD (§)). Leave the table data row blank — header + 1 empty row only.

• The developer adds one row per decision while implementing (1 row = 1 decision:

date | decision | rationale | alternatives; dates are YYYY-MM-DD in the team's timezone — TZ="$TEAM_TZ" date +%F, with TEAM_TZ set to your team's IANA timezone, e.g. America/New_York). The empty row is filled with the first decision.

• Never fill the table by guessing. If implementation forces a PRD change (e.g. the PRD says

"free" but a paid module is required), do not push it through in code/docs — request the plan change in Slack (backlog-complete catches that conflict as a gate).

3. Create ② docs/progress/progress_-N.md — task checklist (dev-only, not part of raw)

Break this backlog item's PRD scope into small, genuinely implementable steps (the decision doc is still an empty skeleton, so base this on the PRD and code). (This file does not go to the wiki; it is for dev tracking.)

# -N —  progress

> Backlog item: -N · Decisions: docs/decisions/decision_-N.md

- [ ] 
- [ ] 
- [ ] ...

• Example (login = Firebase): [ ] Create Firebase project · [ ] Enable Google provider + OAuth consent screen ·

[ ] Install and configure the firebase SDK · [ ] Wire ID token → Supabase custom claims · [ ] Login screen + error handling · [ ] e2e login test.

• Checkable units (neither too fine-grained nor too lumped).

4. Wrap-up — create only, no auto-push

• Create the two files and ask the user to review (does the progress checklist cover the

PRD scope; are the decision skeleton and metadata right).

• ⚠️ The decision doc is an empty skeleton — filled during development. When a decision

takes shape against reality mid-implementation, write the body then (e.g. "Google login" → turns out "the Google login API requires a subscription" → that decision goes into the decision doc, the steps into progress). Such mid-implementation decisions are not plan changes (the PRD stands). Only when the plan itself must change, request it in Slack.

• This skill must not git push. The decision doc is pushed **once its body is filled by

the real implementation and stable (usually during/after development, in the developer's normal commit/push flow). The server-side Loremaster host then propagates it raw→wiki so the whole project learns of that implementation** (if there is a conflict, the gate catches it then — that is fine). Pushing an empty skeleton or a soon-to-change draft makes the wiki track phantoms and duplicates detection — do not.

• progress: update the checkboxes while implementing. Even if pushed, it does not enter the

wiki (dev tracking, not part of raw).

Source & license

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

• Author: loremaster-ai
• Source: loremaster-ai/loremaster
• License: MIT

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