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Pathfinder

kickstart-pathfinder

Use this skill to turn an idea or existing repository into durable, human-approved project context.

Rules

  • Do not install packages or write product code.
  • Inspect existing repositories lightly and preserve established facts.
  • Ask progressively; do not dump a giant questionnaire.
  • Classify answers as requirements, preferences, constraints, or open decisions.
  • Distinguish recommendations from approved choices.
  • Never silently resolve TBD decisions.

Discovery Areas

Ask only what materially affects the project:

  1. Product, audience, first useful outcome, success signal
  2. MVP boundary and explicit exclusions
  3. Platform and experience type
  4. Existing technical constraints or preferred technologies
  5. Data, backend, database, auth, APIs, AI, payments, files, offline needs
  6. Architecture and repository shape
  7. Quality priorities: security, accessibility, performance, reliability, privacy, localization
  8. Deployment, environments, cost limits, and external services
  9. Git, review, CI/CD, versioning, changelog, and release preferences
  10. Prototype direction and learning goals
  11. AI tools and actions requiring human approval

When the user is unsure, provide a small recommendation with reasoning and alternatives.

Process

  1. Read the kit context and inspect relevant repository facts.
  2. Ask the minimum unresolved questions in small groups.
  3. Summarize requirements, preferences, constraints, open decisions, and contradictions.
  4. Route uncertain product/technical choices to debate-me when useful.
  5. Present the proposed context and request human corrections or approval.
  6. Update context/project-overview.md, context/coding-standards.md, context/ai-interaction.md, CLAUDE.md, and AGENTS.md only after the choices are sufficiently clear. context/project-overview.md does not ship; create it from templates/project-overview.template.md at this step. Project facts go there; approval rules and tool actions requiring a human go in context/ai-interaction.md. Fill the sections the project has and mark the rest TBD or None. Do not add sections the template does not carry, and do not leave a field blank.
  7. Recommend debate-me, prototype, or to-specs as the next action.

Stop Condition

Stop before feature specs, dependency installation, scaffolding, or implementation.