Environment Composition

Environment Composition

Overview

Compose workflows and development environments by combining existing CLI tools. This skill is the composition engine — pull it in when the goal is to BUILD something from known tools, not just diagnose or configure a single tool.

The core principle: compose existing tools before creating new ones. Discover what the user has (brew, XDG configs, history), then compose from that inventory. Follow the Pattern Graduation Pipeline to promote ad-hoc commands into reusable automation at the right level.

Sesh + claude CLI + worktrees are one common composition target, but any combination of installed tools is in scope. fzf is the universal composition glue — it turns any list into an interactive workflow.

When to Use This Skill

• Composing CLI tools into workflows (fzf pipelines, tool chains, automation)
• Discovering the user's tool landscape and usage patterns (/workflow-discover)
• Graduating patterns: ad-hoc commands → zsh functions → mise tasks
• Building multi-tool development environments (sesh + claude + worktrees)
• Writing or modifying sesh.toml configurations
• Setting up paired sesh + claude CLI sessions
• Graceful teardown and decay detection for environments
• fzf composition patterns (preview, multi-select, keybindings)

Core Capabilities

1. Tool Composition Philosophy

Compose from the user's existing tool landscape. Discover what's installed (brew), what's configured (XDG), and what's frequently used (history) before suggesting compositions. Prefer the Unix pattern — small tools piped together — but recognize when multi-tasking tools (mise, sesh) absorb pipeline complexity.

See references/composition_philosophy.md for the full philosophy, Pattern Graduation Pipeline, and composition heuristics.

2. fzf Composition Patterns

fzf is the universal composition glue: source | fzf [--preview] | action. Master the pattern for git branches, brew packages, mise tasks, file operations, and process management. Know when to use alternatives (tv for file search, gum for confirmations).

See references/fzf_composition.md for the complete pattern library, power features, and comparison with tv and gum.

3. Workflow Discovery

Scan multiple signal sources — command history, zoxide frecency, homebrew inventory, XDG configs, git log — to build a picture of how the user works. Surface patterns ripe for graduation and tool preferences.

See references/workflow_discovery.md for signal sources, output format, and profile integration. The discovery script lives at scripts/workflow-discover.sh.

4. Sesh Config System

Sesh's sesh.toml is one of several composition targets. It supports named sessions, wildcard patterns, reusable windows, startup commands, config imports, and picker integrations.

See references/sesh_config_guide.md for the complete config reference.

5. Claude CLI Integration

The claude --continue flag resumes context scoped to the current directory — pairs naturally with sesh sessions and worktrees.

See references/claude_cli_composition.md for session management, project config, and worktree integration.

6. Environment Workflows

Four lifecycle categories: setup/resume, worktree composition, teardown, and decay detection.

See references/workflow_patterns.md for patterns, commands, and diagnostic checklists.

Common Use Cases

"I keep running the same commands, can this be simpler?"

1. Run /workflow-discover to identify the repeated pattern
2. Apply the Pattern Graduation Pipeline (see composition_philosophy.md)
3. If the pattern needs shell context → create a zsh function
4. If the pattern is project-scoped or team-shared → create a mise task
5. If the pattern involves interactive selection → wrap with fzf

"Pipe something through fzf"

1. Identify the source (what list to filter)
2. Add preview (--preview 'command {}') for context
3. Define the action (what to do with the selection)
4. See fzf_composition.md for recipes and power features

"What tools am I using?"

1. Run /workflow-discover for the full landscape
2. Review brew inventory, XDG configs, and history frequency
3. Identify tools that are installed but unconfigured (or configured but unused)
4. Suggest compositions that leverage the existing landscape

"Set up a project environment"

1. Suggest a [[session]] or [[wildcard]] in sesh.toml with startup_command and windows
2. sesh connect to create the session
3. claude --continue to resume AI context

"Clean up old environments"

1. Check for stale sessions: tmux list-sessions
2. Check for orphaned worktrees: git worktree list
3. Review unused sesh configs: sesh list -c
4. See workflow_patterns.md for the full decay detection checklist

Resources

references/

• unix_composition_primer.md — Foundation: piping, filtering, transforming + tool preference matrix (rg/grep, fd/find, sd/sed, jq/yq/xsv, fzf/xargs/tee). Load for "how do I combine X and Y" questions.
• composition_philosophy.md — Unix composition principle, Pattern Graduation Pipeline, tool landscape discovery, fzf as composition glue, composition heuristics
• fzf_composition.md — fzf patterns, preview, multi-select, keybindings, recipes for git/brew/mise/files/processes, comparison with tv and gum
• workflow_discovery.md — Signal sources (history, zoxide, brew, XDG, git), output format, profile integration, version auto-detection
• sesh_config_guide.md — Comprehensive sesh v2.24+ reference: config system, subcommands, picker integrations, naming strategy
• claude_cli_composition.md — Claude CLI features for environment composition: session management, project config, worktree integration
• workflow_patterns.md — Environment lifecycle patterns: setup, worktree composition, teardown, decay detection

scripts/

• workflow-discover.sh — Multi-source workflow discovery script (referenced by /workflow-discover command)

Cross-references

• tmux-dev tmux_session_management.md — tmux session management, keybindings, pane logging, persistence
• chronicle worktrees-experiments.md — Git worktree lifecycle patterns
• zsh-dev zsh_function_patterns.md — Function templates for graduating patterns
• mise-tooling mise_task_patterns.md — Task creation for graduating patterns to mise

Source & license

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

• Author: totallyGreg
• Source: totallyGreg/claude-mp
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://github.com/totallyGreg/claude-mp

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