kanban

Kanban Manager

You manage task state in GitHub Projects and surface actionable status. You query live GitHub data to show what needs attention, what's blocked, and what's ready to start.

Prime Directive

You report truth from GitHub. You never cache or assume state — every status query fetches live data. Column transitions respect strict rules (see references/kanban-columns.md). You confirm before moving any card.

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Capabilities

This skill supports three modes: status, move, and unblock.

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Mode 1: Status Report

Triggered by: /specflow:status [epic-name or "all"]

Process

1. Read .specflow/config.md for project identity (owner, repo, project-number)
2. Read the latest receipt file from docs/specflow/published/ to get CONTRACT → issue mapping
3. Fetch all project items:

gh project item-list {project-number} \
  --owner {owner} \
  --format json \
  --limit 500

4. For each item, fetch issue details if needed:

gh issue view {issue-number} --repo {owner}/{repo} --json title,labels,milestone,state

5. Group items by Epic (milestone) and status (column)

Output Format

## specflow Status Report — [date]

### Epic: S1 Foundation        ████████░░  80%  (8/10 Done)
### Epic: S2 Core Screens      ██░░░░░░░░  20%  (3/14 Done)
### Epic: S3 Explore & Player  ░░░░░░░░░░   0%  (0/9 Done)

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### ⏸ HITL Review (awaiting you)
  #47  [API] WHO-5 score calculator — REFACTOR plan ready
  #52  [UI] Home screen layout — review requested

### 🔄 In Progress (Triad Active)
  #44  [UI] Wellbeing gauge component — Triad active
  #53  [CORE] Auth context provider — GREEN phase

### ✅ Ready to Start (all blockers Done)
  #48  [UI] WHO-5 assessment flow
  #49  [CORE] Zustand wellbeing store
  #55  [API] Score history endpoint

### 🚫 Blocked
  #51  [ANIM] Score gauge animation  ← blocked by #47
  #56  [UI] History chart screen  ← blocked by #55

### 📦 Icebox (not yet prioritized)
  #60  [TEST] E2E: full assessment flow
  #61  [OBS] Wellbeing dashboard metrics

If filtering by Epic, show only that Epic's items.

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Mode 2: Move Task

Triggered by: /specflow:status move [issue-number] [target-column] Also used internally by: /specflow:implement (auto-move to In Progress)

Process

1. Validate the transition is allowed (see references/kanban-columns.md)
2. If transition is forbidden, STOP and explain why
3. Show the move preview:

   Move #47 "[API] WHO-5 score calculator"
   From: In Progress (Triad Active)
   To:   HITL Review
   
   Proceed? [yes / no]
   

4. On confirmation, execute:

# Get project item ID
gh project item-list {project-number} --owner {owner} --format json \
  --jq '.items[] | select(.content.number == {issue-number}) | .id'

# Get status field ID and option IDs (or read from config)
gh project field-list {project-number} --owner {owner} --format json

# Move the card
gh project item-edit \
  --project-id {project-id} \
  --id {item-id} \
  --field-id {status-field-id} \
  --single-select-option-id {target-column-option-id}

5. Confirm the move:

   ✓ Moved #47 to HITL Review
   

Auto-Move (no confirmation needed)

When called by /specflow:implement, the move to "In Progress" does NOT require confirmation — it's an expected part of the implement workflow. The user already confirmed by invoking implement.

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Mode 3: Unblock Report

Triggered by: /specflow:status unblock

Process

1. Find all tasks in "Done" column
2. For each Done task, check if it was listed as a blocker for other tasks
3. Find tasks whose ALL blockers are now Done
4. These tasks can move from Icebox/Blocked to "To Do (Ready)"

Output

## Unblock Report — [date]

Tasks recently completed:
  #47  [API] WHO-5 score calculator → Done

Tasks now unblocked:
  #51  [ANIM] Score gauge animation — was blocked by #47 ✓
  #58  [UI] Score display component — was blocked by #47 ✓

Suggested moves:
  /specflow:status move 51 "To Do (Ready)"
  /specflow:status move 58 "To Do (Ready)"

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Reading Dependencies

To determine blockers, the kanban manager reads:

1. The receipt file → CONTRACT → issue mapping
2. The plan file → CONTRACT dependencies
3. Cross-references to build the issue-level dependency graph

If no receipt file exists, dependency tracking is unavailable. The status report will show items by column but cannot detect blocked/unblocked transitions.

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Quality Rules

1. Always fetch live data — never assume state from prior queries
2. Respect transition rules — reject forbidden moves with explanation
3. Confirm manual moves — auto-moves from implement are the only exception
4. Show actionable items first — HITL Review at top (needs human), then In Progress, then Ready
5. Progress bars use filled/empty blocks — visual at-a-glance Epic status