Skills

aid-design-backlog

Frontmatter

name — aid-design-backlog
description — Develop the defined-and-prioritized item set as a DESIGN SEED in .aid/design/backlog.md — item definitions, done-conditions, priorities, and which tech-debt.md rows the user is accepting into the plan. Use this skill when what belongs in the backlog is still being decided, and you want that thinking captured as a seed before the document is written. Grounded in the Knowledge Base (.aid/knowledge/, including tech-debt.md) and the project source. It WRITES NO KB DOCUMENT and NO production code — realize the seed into backlog.md with /aid-create-backlog once it is ready. For direction rather than items, use /aid-design-roadmap instead. Produced by the aid-architect agent and independently verified by aid-reviewer (full verify). Allocates a work-NNN folder.
allowed-tools — Read, Glob, Grep, Bash, Write, Edit, Agent
argument-hint — <items> — the items to define and prioritize, and any tech-debt.md rows to accept

Definition: canonical/skills/aid-design-backlog/SKILL.md

Flow

flowchart TB
  classDef aidNode color:#fff
  classDef aidEntry fill:#166534,stroke:#14532d,color:#fff
  classDef aidExit fill:#991b1b,stroke:#7f1d1d,color:#fff
  classDef aidDecision fill:#92400e,stroke:#78350f,color:#fff
  classDef aidLoopBack fill:#1e3a8a,stroke:#1e3a8a,color:#fff
  classDef aidStep fill:#1a2035,stroke:#d4a853,color:#f1f5f9
  n1(["INTAKE"])
  n2["DESIGN"]
  n3["VERIFY"]
  n4["PRESENT<br/>hard stop -- the user decides"]
  n5(["DONE"])
  n1 --> n2
  n2 --> n3
  n3 -.-> n2
  n3 --> n4
  n4 --> n5
  class n1 aidEntry
  class n2 aidStep
  class n3 aidLoopBack
  class n4 aidStep
  class n5 aidExit
  class n1 aidNode
  class n2 aidNode
  class n3 aidNode
  class n4 aidNode
  class n5 aidNode

Source fragments

Every node in the chart above, in chart order, with the exact canonical/ text it was derived from.

1 · INTAKE · entry

## State: INTAKE

1. **Require a subject.** Empty argument -> ask one bootstrapping question ("What items do
   you want to define and prioritize, and are there `tech-debt.md` rows you're ready to
   accept into the plan?") and wait.
2. **Allocate, exactly per `design-lifecycle.md § Skill shape -- Allocation`** -- the Work
   Initiation Gate, then `initiator: aid-design-backlog`, `active_skill:
   aid-design-backlog`, `pipeline.path: lite`, `lifecycle: Running`. `phase` is not
   driven.
3. **Acquire `.aid/design/`.** Per `design-lifecycle.md § Before writing a seed` -- ensure
   the folder exists and seed its `README.md` on first use, before writing anything.
4. **Read the existing seed, if one is present.** `.aid/design/backlog.md` --
   re-invocation iterates the same seed rather than starting over.
5. **Classify complexity (model + effort)** for the `aid-architect` dispatch below;
   verifier tier >= producer tier (`agent-dispatch-tiering.md`).

Source: canonical/skills/aid-design-backlog/SKILL.md#L41-L55 · full step: canonical/skills/aid-design-backlog/SKILL.md#L41-L57

2 · DESIGN · step

## State: DESIGN

Dispatch **`aid-architect`** (clean context, tiered) to develop or iterate the seed,
grounded in `.aid/knowledge/` (including `tech-debt.md`'s open inventory) and the project
source, plus the seed read in INTAKE if one exists. Draws out: **item definitions,
done-conditions and priorities; which `tech-debt.md` rows the user is accepting into the
plan.**

Source: canonical/skills/aid-design-backlog/SKILL.md#L61-L67 · full step: canonical/skills/aid-design-backlog/SKILL.md#L61-L76

3 · VERIFY · loop-back

## State: VERIFY

**Full verify** -- exactly as `design-lifecycle.md § Skill shape -- "Full verify"`
defines it. Not clean -> loop to DESIGN; the circuit-breaker there governs escalation to
IMPEDIMENT + `lifecycle: Blocked`.

Source: canonical/skills/aid-design-backlog/SKILL.md#L80-L84 · full step: canonical/skills/aid-design-backlog/SKILL.md#L80-L86

4 · PRESENT — hard stop — the user decides · step

## State: PRESENT (hard stop -- the user decides)

Set `lifecycle: Paused-Awaiting-Input`. Present the seed clearly. Assert no resolution --
the user decides whether to iterate further (re-invoke this skill) or realize it now
(`/aid-create-backlog`).

Source: canonical/skills/aid-design-backlog/SKILL.md#L90-L94 · full step: canonical/skills/aid-design-backlog/SKILL.md#L90-L96

5 · DONE · exit · UNSPECIFIED

## State: DONE

Set `lifecycle: Completed`, `updated` now, append a `## Lifecycle History` row. The seed
stays at `.aid/design/backlog.md` -- consumption happens at `/aid-create-backlog`, not
here.

Source: canonical/skills/aid-design-backlog/SKILL.md#L100-L104 · full step: canonical/skills/aid-design-backlog/SKILL.md#L100-L104

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