Detect Release Scope

Purpose

Analyzes git changes (modified, staged, and untracked files) to intelligently determine which release scope should be targeted: marketplace-level, per-plugin, or variants. This skill is the foundation for the release workflow, ensuring the correct versioning context is used.

Input Context

The skill expects to be invoked in a git repository with changes to analyze. It will examine:

• Modified files (staged and unstaged)
• Newly created files
• Deleted files
• Current git branch

Workflow

1. Gather Git Status

Use

git status --porcelain

to get a machine-readable list of all changed files:

git status --porcelain

Parse the output to categorize files by path patterns.

2. Categorize Files by Scope

Analyze each changed file path and increment counters for each scope:

Marketplace Scope Indicators:

• .claude-plugin/marketplace.json

• Root

  README.md

  (when marketplace.json also changed)
• Root

  CHANGELOG.md

Plugin Scope Indicators:

• plugins/{plugin-name}/.claude-plugin/plugin.json

• plugins/{plugin-name}/skills/**/*

• plugins/{plugin-name}/commands/**/*

• plugins/{plugin-name}/README.md

• plugins/{plugin-name}/CHANGELOG.md

Variants Scope Indicators:

• variants/variants.json

• variants/*/CLAUDE.md

• variants/CHANGELOG.md

• variants/README.md

3. Determine Primary Scope

Apply the following logic:

Single Plugin Dominance:

• If 70%+ of changes are within a single plugin directory →

  plugin:<name>

Variants Dominance:

• If 70%+ of changes are within

  variants/

  →

  variants

Marketplace Changes:

• If marketplace.json is modified AND no plugin dominance →

  marketplace

Ambiguous Cases:

• If changes are split across multiple scopes with no clear majority:
  • Return all detected scopes with file counts
  • Set confidence level to "ambiguous"
  • Command will prompt user to choose

4. Validate Current Branch

Check if the current branch is

master

or

main

:

git branch --show-current

If on a different branch, include a warning in the output.

Output Format

Return a structured response with:

{
  "primary_scope": "plugin:daily-carry" | "marketplace" | "variants" | "ambiguous",
  "confidence": "high" | "medium" | "low" | "ambiguous",
  "evidence": {
    "marketplace_changes": <count>,
    "plugin_changes": {
      "daily-carry": <count>,
      "agent-behavior-patterns": <count>
    },
    "variants_changes": <count>
  },
  "current_branch": "master",
  "warnings": [
    "Not on master branch",
    "Multiple scopes detected"
  ]
}

Examples

Example 1: Clear Plugin Scope

Git Status:

M plugins/daily-carry/skills/deploy-site/SKILL.md
M plugins/daily-carry/README.md
A plugins/daily-carry/skills/new-skill/SKILL.md

Output:

{
  "primary_scope": "plugin:daily-carry",
  "confidence": "high",
  "evidence": {
    "marketplace_changes": 0,
    "plugin_changes": {
      "daily-carry": 3
    },
    "variants_changes": 0
  },
  "current_branch": "master",
  "warnings": []
}

Example 2: Ambiguous Multi-Scope

Git Status:

M .claude-plugin/marketplace.json
M plugins/daily-carry/skills/deploy-site/SKILL.md
M variants/Android/CLAUDE.md

Output:

{
  "primary_scope": "ambiguous",
  "confidence": "ambiguous",
  "evidence": {
    "marketplace_changes": 1,
    "plugin_changes": {
      "daily-carry": 1
    },
    "variants_changes": 1
  },
  "current_branch": "master",
  "warnings": [
    "Multiple scopes detected - please specify scope explicitly"
  ]
}

Example 3: Variants Release

Git Status:

M variants/Typescript/CLAUDE.md
M variants/Python/CLAUDE.md
M variants/Generic/CLAUDE.md
M variants/CHANGELOG.md

Output:

{
  "primary_scope": "variants",
  "confidence": "high",
  "evidence": {
    "marketplace_changes": 0,
    "plugin_changes": {},
    "variants_changes": 4
  },
  "current_branch": "master",
  "warnings": []
}

Error Handling

• No git repository: Return error with message "Not a git repository"
• No changes detected: Return error with message "No changes to release"
• Invalid git state: Return error with details about unresolved conflicts or detached HEAD

Integration Notes

This skill is invoked by the

/release

command in Phase 1. The command will:

1. Use the

   primary_scope

   if confidence is "high" or "medium"
2. Prompt user to choose if confidence is "ambiguous"
3. Respect explicit scope argument if provided (bypasses detection)