Charting a Decision Map

A loose idea has arrived — too big for one agent session, and wrapped in fog: the way from here to the destination isn't visible yet. Wayfinding is about finding that way, not charging at the destination. This skill charts the way as a shared map on the repo's issue tracker, then works its decision tickets — questions whose resolution is a decision, not slices of a build to execute — one at a time until the route is clear.

The destination varies per effort, and naming it is the first act of charting — it shapes every ticket. It might be a spec to hand off and iterate on, a decision to lock before planning starts, or a change made in place like a data-structure migration. The map is domain-agnostic — engineering work, course content, whatever fits the shape.

Plan, don't do

This skill is planning by default: each ticket resolves a decision, and the map is done when the way is clear — nothing left to decide before someone goes and does the thing. The pull to just do the work is usually the signal you've reached the edge of the map and it's time to hand off. An effort can override this in its Notes — carrying execution into the map itself — but absent that, produce decisions, not deliverables.

When the map clears, hand off — don't build

The map is done when no open tickets remain and Not yet specified is empty. Hand off to /vibe-plan at its spec stage. For Local Markdown, pass the cleared map.md path; /vibe-plan reuses its parent .agents/plans/<effort>/ directory, writes spec.md there in Stage 2, and writes implementation tickets under that same directory's issues/ in Stage 3. For GitHub, GitLab, or another hosted tracker, pass the map URL or number; /vibe-plan reads the map and every linked closed ticket. First it loads each linked decision's question and final answer: for Local Markdown this is ## Question and ## Answer, while hosted trackers use the issue question/body and final resolution comment or note. It follows raw research, comments, attachments, or prototype artifacts only when the final answer references them or the spec needs their evidence. The map is an index, not a store: its Destination and Decisions-so-far plus those linked decisions are the handoff input, so there is nothing left to interview.

Going straight to /vibe-implement instead skips that synthesis and throws the linked detail away. Take that shortcut only when the effort turned out genuinely small — one ticket's worth of work.

When a session fills up mid-ticket

That's a different exit: the ticket isn't resolved, you've just run out of room. Leave the ticket claimed, hand the thread off (see the /vibe-handoff skill), and resume it in a fresh session. Don't post a half-answer as the resolution comment.