sft-build-plugin

Build Plugin

Single entry point for building skills and plugins in the skill-factory repo. Pre-loads the right sft skills at each phase boundary, then hands off to the superpowers workflow chain.

When to Use

• Building a new skill or plugin from scratch in the skill-factory repo
• Adding a new skill to an existing plugin in the skill-factory repo

When NOT to Use

• Editing an existing skill (use the Refinement Workflow below instead)
• Working outside the skill-factory repo
• Brainstorming without intent to build (use superpowers:brainstorming directly)

Phase Map

Phase	Pre-load these sft skills	Then invoke
Brainstorm	sft-skill-comparison-matrix, sft-skill-anatomy	superpowers:brainstorming
Plan	sft-cross-cutting-patterns, sft-scaffold-plugin	superpowers:writing-plans
Implement	(sft context carried in the plan)	superpowers:subagent-driven-development or superpowers:executing-plans
Version	sft-versioning-guide	(manual — bump version and changelog)

Checklist

You MUST create a task for each of these items and complete them in order:

1. Pre-load brainstorm context — invoke skill-factory-toolkit:sft-skill-comparison-matrix and skill-factory-toolkit:sft-skill-anatomy
2. Brainstorm — invoke superpowers:brainstorming (spec saved to docs/specs/)
3. Pre-load plan context — invoke skill-factory-toolkit:sft-cross-cutting-patterns and skill-factory-toolkit:sft-scaffold-plugin
4. Plan — invoke superpowers:writing-plans (plan saved to docs/plans/)
5. User selects execution path — subagent-driven (recommended) or inline
6. Implement — invoke the selected execution skill
7. Pre-load version context — invoke skill-factory-toolkit:sft-versioning-guide
8. Version — bump plugin version and update CHANGELOG.md
9. Quality gate — run the quality gate checklist below
10. Finish — invoke superpowers:finishing-a-development-branch

Flow Control

Steps 1-2 are atomic. Do not invoke brainstorming without the sft context loaded first. Load both sft skills, then invoke brainstorming in the same turn.

Steps 3-4 intercept brainstorming's exit. When brainstorming completes, it will say "invoke writing-plans." STOP. Return to THIS checklist. Load the sft skills in step 3 BEFORE invoking writing-plans in step 4. This checklist is the authority — it overrides brainstorming's hardcoded exit.

Steps 5-6 pass through. Writing-plans will offer the execution choice (subagent vs inline). Follow its lead.

Steps 7-8 fire after implementation. When all implementation tasks are done, return to this checklist. Load sft-versioning-guide before touching the version or changelog.

Quality Gate

Before finishing (step 10), verify ALL of these pass:

• Description starts with "Use when" and contains triggering conditions only (no workflow summary)
• Skill has all type-required sections (discipline: Iron Law, Red Flags, Rationalizations, Verification Checklist)
• All .md files referenced in SKILL.md body exist in the skill directory
• No @ link references in SKILL.md
• No file path references (../, /plugins/, /skills/, /references/) in SKILL.md
• Word count is appropriate for skill type (see sft-cross-cutting-patterns Word Count Targets)
• bin/validate-plugin plugins/<plugin-name> passes with zero errors
• Baseline test is documented (failures recorded, mapped to skill sections)

If any item fails, fix it before proceeding to step 10.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Invoking brainstorming before loading sft skills	Steps 1-2 are atomic. Load first, invoke second.
Following brainstorming's "invoke writing-plans" exit directly	Return to this checklist. Step 3 must happen before step 4.
Skipping the version phase	Step 7 exists because this was missed in the first build. Don't skip it.
Loading all sft skills at once	Only load the subset for the current phase. The table tells you which.

Refinement Workflow

For iterating on existing skills (not building new ones):

1. Load skill-factory-toolkit:sft-cross-cutting-patterns
2. Read the target SKILL.md
3. Identify what needs to change (content, structure, enforcement, supporting files)
4. If adding supporting files or sections, check the comparison matrix: skill-factory-toolkit:sft-skill-comparison-matrix
5. Make the changes
6. Load skill-factory-toolkit:sft-versioning-guide
7. Determine bump type (patch for content fixes, minor for new sections/files)
8. Update version and CHANGELOG.md
9. Run bin/validate-plugin plugins/<plugin-name> to verify