Wicked Garden Archetype

wicked-garden-archetype

v11 entry point for work-shape archetypes. Each archetype is a complete unit with its own phase shape, produces, HITL discipline, and cost band. There is no universal pipeline.

When to use this skill

Invoke when:

• A ` or ` system-reminder tag appears

(emitted by the v11 prompt hook).

• The user explicitly asks to "run the {archetype} archetype" or "do this

as a {archetype}" workflow.

• You're routing from triage to a real archetype after classifying the

work.

Do not use this skill for:

• Continuation tokens ("yes", "ok", "do it"). Those carry no new shape;

keep going on the current archetype.

• Simple-edit work (typos, single-line fixes, cosmetic changes). The v11

hook already suppresses archetype tags on simple-edit intent.

The archetypes

| Archetype | Phases | Produces | HITL | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------------| | triage | classify | routing decision | none | | explore | frame → diverge → converge | option set / hypothesis | continuous | | specify | elicit → structure → validate | SMART acceptance criteria | discrete:validate | | decide | brief → options → score → record | ADR / decision artifact | discrete:select | | ship | canary → ramp → full → soak | rollout verdict / SLO snapshot | discrete:ramp | | review | scope → assess → findings → remediate-or-accept | verdict / remediation list | hard:final-verdict | | incident | triage → investigate → mitigate → resolve → followup | mitigation / RCA / followup | hard:mitigate | | build | plan → implement → test → review | shipped code / test report | discrete:review | | migrate | plan → expand → backfill → cutover → contract | shape change / rollback proof | hard:cutover | | modernize | discover → extract → blueprint → transform → parity → cutover | modernization blueprint / parity proof | hard:cutover |

Direct invocation

This skill is also the user-facing entry point for each archetype (replacing the former /wicked-garden:archetype:{name} slash commands). Invoke it with archetype= plus the user's arguments; the skill loads refs/{name}.md and runs that playbook.

| archetype | argument hint | description | |-----------|---------------|-------------| | triage | [prompt] | Classify a prompt into a work-shape archetype and route to its playbook. When the prompt is empty, run the detector against the conversation context. | | explore | [problem statement] | Explore an open problem space — diverge then converge. Produces an option set or hypothesis, NOT a decision. | | specify | [ask] | Turn an ask into SMART acceptance criteria. | | decide | [decision context] | Pick between options with an ADR-shaped decision artifact. | | ship | [release / change ref] | Roll out an already-built change with widening blast radius. | | review | [artifact / PR / commit] | Independent assessment with hard verdict (APPROVE/CONDITIONAL/REJECT) — the only review producing a binding verdict (scope notes in refs/review.md). | | incident | [INC-id or symptom] | Live-fire production incident response — mitigate first, RCA second. | | build | [work description] | Implement and ship a feature or fix — test rigor scales with signals. | | migrate | [migration description] | Schema/API/data shape change with expand-contract pattern. | | modernize | [modernization target, e.g. "port this AngularJS app to Angular"] | Port a legacy codebase to a new stack — legacy→new-stack porting, NOT in-place shape change (that is migrate). |

Procedure

1. Identify the archetype. Read the `` tag in the system

reminder OR ask the user which archetype they want when ambiguous.

1. Load the playbook. Read refs/{archetype}.md for the phase-by-phase

playbook, the produces contract, and the HITL discipline.

1. Execute the phases. Run each phase in order. At each phase boundary

ask: "do I have what this phase produces?" Don't move on until yes.

1. Honor HITL. When the playbook marks a gate as hard:*, **stop and

ask the user** before proceeding. discrete:* gates may auto-pass when the produces contract is met. none and continuous carry no gate.

1. Multi-archetype prompts. When the hook emitted ``

with two co-firing matches (e.g. build + migrate for a schema-change feature), run them in dependency order: migrate shape work first, then build integration work. The dependency graph lives in each archetype's next_archetypes field in the catalog.

Catalog source of truth

.claude-plugin/archetypes.json is canonical. The detector lives at scripts/crew/archetypes_v11.py. The CLI shim:

sh "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/_python.sh" \
  "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/crew/archetypes_v11.py" \
  detect --prompt "" --signals '{"production_impact": true}' --steering

Refs

• refs/triage.md — entry classification
• refs/explore.md — diverge/converge for open problems
• refs/specify.md — elicit + structure + validate ACs
• refs/decide.md — ADR-shaped option scoring
• refs/ship.md — canary/ramp rollout
• refs/review.md — independent assessment with verdict
• refs/incident.md — live-fire response
• refs/build.md — plan/implement/test/review (the common case)
• refs/migrate.md — expand/backfill/cutover/contract (in-place shape change)
• refs/modernize.md — discover/extract/blueprint/transform/parity/cutover (legacy→new-stack port)

What v11 archetypes are NOT

• They are not the v6.3 target-kind archetypes (code-repo, docs-only,

config-infra, etc.). Those classify what is being changed; v11 classifies what shape of work is happening. Both stay; they answer different questions.

• They are not rigor tiers (minimal | standard | full). v11 obsoletes

the rigor-tier dial: each archetype owns its own cost band and HITL.

• They are not phase slots in a universal pipeline. Each archetype's

phases live only inside that archetype.

Source & license

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

• Author: mikeparcewski
• Source: mikeparcewski/wicked-garden
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://wg.wickedagile.com/

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