kevin-engineering-flow

Generated source view for the actual executable engineering/kevin-engineering-flow skill. The durable routing article is Agent Engineering Skills. Source: skills/engineering/kevin-engineering-flow/SKILL.md

Runtime Source

Bundled Resources

No bundled resource files.

Description

Router for Kevin's engineering flow. Use when Kevin invokes /kevin-engineering-flow, asks which engineering skill or flow fits, or wants a path through grill-with-docs, prototype, PRD, issues, implement, triage, and architecture improvement.

Skill Source

---
name: kevin-engineering-flow
description: Router for Kevin's engineering flow. Use when Kevin invokes /kevin-engineering-flow, asks which engineering skill or flow fits, or wants a path through grill-with-docs, prototype, PRD, issues, implement, triage, and architecture improvement.
origin: personal
source_slug: kevin-engineering-flow
upstream_slug: ask-matt
disable-model-invocation: true
---

# Kevin Engineering Flow

You don't remember every skill, so ask.

A **flow** is a path through the skills. Most paths run along one **main flow**, and two **on-ramps** merge onto it. Everything else is standalone.

## The main flow: idea → ship

The route most work travels. You have an idea and want it built.

1. **`/grill-with-docs`** — sharpen the idea by interview. Start here when you **have a codebase**: it's stateful, retaining what it learns in `CONTEXT.md`, wiki pages, and ADRs. No codebase? Use the same questioning loop without writing repo docs.
2. **Branch — can you settle every question in conversation?** If a question needs a runnable answer (state, business logic, a UI you have to see), detour through a prototype, bridged by **`/handoff`** in both directions (see Crossing sessions):
   - **`/handoff`** out, then open a fresh session against that file,
   - **`/prototype`** to answer the question with throwaway code,
   - **`/handoff`** back what you learned, and reference it from the original idea thread.
3. **Branch — is this a multi-session build?**
   - **Yes** → **`/to-prd`** (turn the thread into a PRD) → **`/to-issues`** (split the PRD into independently-grabbable issues). Because the issues are independent, start a fresh session per issue and kick off **`/implement`** by passing it the PRD and the single issue to work on.
   - **No** → **`/implement`** right here, in the same context window.

### Context hygiene

Keep steps 1–3 in **one unbroken context window** — don't compact or clear until after `/to-issues` — so the grilling, PRD, and issues all build on the same thinking. Each `/implement` then starts fresh, working from the issue.

The limit on this is the **[smart zone](https://www.aihero.dev/ai-coding-dictionary/smart-zone)**: the window (~120k tokens on state-of-the-art models) within which the model still reasons sharply. If a session approaches it before `/to-issues`, don't push on degraded — `/handoff` and continue in a fresh thread.

## On-ramps

A starting situation that generates work, then merges onto the main flow.

- **Bugs and requests piling up** → **`/triage`**. It moves issues through triage roles and produces agent-ready issues, which **`/implement`** later picks up.

  Triage is only for issues **you didn't create** — bug reports, incoming feature requests, anything that arrives raw. Issues that `/to-issues` produced are already agent-ready, so **don't triage them**.

## Codebase health

Not feature work — upkeep.

- **`/improve-codebase-architecture`** — run whenever you have a spare moment to keep the codebase good for agents to operate in. It surfaces deepening opportunities; picking one _generates an idea_ you can take into the main flow at `/grill-with-docs`.

## Crossing sessions

- **`/handoff`** — when a thread is full or you need to branch off (e.g. into a `/prototype` session), this compacts the conversation into a markdown file. You don't continue in place — you **open a new session and reference that file** to carry the context across. It's the bridge between context windows, in either direction. Use it when you want a **fresh session** but need the **current conversation preserved**.
- **`/compact`** (built-in) — stay in the **same conversation**, letting the earlier turns be summarized. Use it at **intentional breaks between phases**, when you don't mind losing the verbatim history. Don't compact mid-phase — the agent can lose its way. `/handoff` forks; `/compact` continues.

## Standalone

Off the main flow entirely.

- **`/grill-with-docs` without repo writes** — the same interview loop, but for plans that do not live in a codebase.
- **`/wizard`** — generate a human-run bash wizard for third-party setup, secret capture, `.env` writes, GitHub secrets/vars, one-off migrations, or A-to-B transitions where a human must drive browser/auth steps.
- **`/teacher-mode`** — learn a concept over multiple sessions.
- **`/skill-creator`** — write, tighten, or prune skills. This owns the imported `writing-great-skills` pattern locally.
- **`/no-sus-code-doctor` → `/autoreview` → `/gstack-review`** — local review path after implementation.

## Precondition

**`/setup-kevin-engineering-flow`** — run before your first engineering flow to configure the issue tracker, triage labels, and doc layout the other skills assume. Custom issue trackers also work.

## Kevin Notes

- This is a router, not a replacement for `SKILL-RESOLVER`.
- Use `agent-docs` when the repo needs durable `AGENTS.md` / `SKILL.md` scaffolding.
- Use `loop-me` when the work is recurring and should become an automation or skill.
- If a route touches live services, run the relevant service skill or CLI safety gate before mutation.

Upstream provenance: adapted from `github.com/mattpocock/skills/skills/engineering/ask-matt/SKILL.md` at `5d78bd0903420f97c791f834201e550c765699f8`.

---

Timeline

• 2026-07-15 | Generated a browseable source page from the actual executable skill file. Source: skills/engineering/kevin-engineering-flow/SKILL.md