Gather Session Goals

Overview

Collect and classify work items at the start of a collab session through iterative questioning.

Invoked by: collab skill after creating a new session

Returns to: collab skill (which manages the work item loop)

Collab Session Required

Before proceeding, check for active collab session:

1. Check if

   .collab/

   directory exists

2. Check if any session folders exist within

3. If no session found:

   No active collab session found.
   
   Use /collab to start a session first.
   

   STOP - do not proceed with this skill.

4. If multiple sessions exist, check

   COLLAB_SESSION_PATH

   env var or ask user which session.

The Process

Step 1: Open Question

Ask the user: "What do you want to accomplish this session?"

Store the initial response. Parse any items mentioned and add them to the work items list with type = "unknown".

Step 2: Anything Else Loop

After parsing the initial response:

1. Infer type for each item from context:

   • Contains "setup", "install", "configure", "organize", "clean up", "docker", "deploy" → type = "task"
   • Contains "fix", "bug", "broken", "error", "crash", "fail" → type = "bugfix"
   • Contains "add", "new", "create", "implement", "build", "refactor", "clean", "simplify", "restructure", "investigate", "explore", "spike" → type = "code"
   • Otherwise → type = "unknown"

2. Ask: "Anything else?"

3. If user provides more items:

   • Parse and infer types
   • Repeat from step 2

4. If user says no/done/that's it:

   • Proceed to Step 3

Step 3: Classify Unknown Items

For each item still marked as type = "unknown":

Ask: "What type is '[item title]'?"

1. code
2. bugfix
3. task

Set the item type based on user response.

Step 4: Present Summary

Display the work items for confirmation:

Here are the work items for this session:

1. [bugfix] Fix login redirect issue
2. [code] Add user authentication
3. [code] Clean up database layer

Does this list look correct?

1. Yes
2. Add more
3. Remove item
4. Edit item

Handle user responses:

• 1 (Yes) - Proceed to Step 5
• 2 (Add more) - Return to Step 2
• 3 (Remove) - Ask which item to remove, remove it, return to Step 4
• 4 (Edit) - Ask which item to edit, update it, return to Step 4

Step 5: Write Work Items

Before writing, output: "Writing work items..."

5a. Write to session state (source of truth for routing)

Build the workItems array and save to session state:

Tool: mcp__plugin_mermaid-collab_mermaid__update_session_state
Args: {
  "project": "<cwd>",
  "session": "<session>",
  "workItems": [
    { "number": 1, "title": "<title>", "type": "<code|bugfix|task>", "status": "pending" },
    { "number": 2, "title": "<title>", "type": "<code|bugfix|task>", "status": "pending" },
    ...
  ]
}

5b. Create design doc with work items

1. Build the design doc content with Work Items section:

# Session: <session-name>

## Session Context
**Out of Scope:** (session-wide boundaries)
**Shared Decisions:** (cross-cutting choices)

---

## Work Items

### Item 1: <title>
**Type:** <type>
**Status:** pending

**Problem/Goal:**

**Approach:**

**Root Cause:** (only if type is bugfix)

**Success Criteria:**

**Decisions:**

---

### Item 2: <title>
...

---

## Diagrams
(auto-synced)

2. Create the design doc: Tool: mcp__plugin_mermaid-collab_mermaid__create_document Args: { "project": "<cwd>", "session": "<session>", "name": "design", "content": "<full-content>" }

   If document already exists, use update_document instead.

After writing, display:

Work items saved. Returning to collab workflow.

Return control to the collab skill.

Key Constraints

• One question at a time - Never batch multiple questions together
• Don't skip classification - Every item must have a type before proceeding
• Must get explicit confirmation - User must approve the list before writing to design doc

Contract

Preconditions:

• Collab session exists

Postconditions:

• Session state contains

  workItems

  array (source of truth for routing)
• Design doc contains

  ## Work Items

  section (human-readable view)
• At least one work item defined
• All items have

  status: pending

• User has confirmed the list

Side effects:

• Writes

  workItems

  to session state
• Creates/updates design doc

Browser-Based Questions

When a collab session is active, prefer

render_ui

for user interactions.

For item type classification:

Tool: mcp__plugin_mermaid-collab_mermaid__render_ui
Args: {
  "project": "<absolute-path-to-cwd>",
  "session": "<session-name>",
  "ui": {
    "type": "Card",
    "props": { "title": "Classify item" },
    "children": [
      { "type": "Markdown", "props": { "content": "What type is **[item title]**?" } },
      {
        "type": "RadioGroup",
        "props": {
          "name": "type",
          "options": [
            { "value": "code", "label": "Code (feature, refactor, investigation)" },
            { "value": "bugfix", "label": "Bugfix (fix, error, crash)" },
            { "value": "task", "label": "Task (setup, config, organization)" }
          ]
        }
      }
    ],
    "actions": [{ "id": "classify", "label": "Continue", "primary": true }]
  },
  "blocking": true
}

For work items list confirmation:

Tool: mcp__plugin_mermaid-collab_mermaid__render_ui
Args: {
  "project": "<absolute-path-to-cwd>",
  "session": "<session-name>",
  "ui": {
    "type": "Card",
    "props": { "title": "Confirm work items" },
    "children": [
      { "type": "Markdown", "props": { "content": "[markdown list of items]" } },
      {
        "type": "RadioGroup",
        "props": {
          "name": "action",
          "options": [
            { "value": "yes", "label": "Yes, this is correct" },
            { "value": "add", "label": "Add more items" },
            { "value": "remove", "label": "Remove an item" },
            { "value": "edit", "label": "Edit an item" }
          ]
        }
      }
    ],
    "actions": [{ "id": "confirm", "label": "Continue", "primary": true }]
  },
  "blocking": true
}

Integration

Called by:

• collab skill - After session creation

Returns to:

• collab skill - To start the work item loop

Completion

At the end of this skill's work, call complete_skill:

Tool: mcp__plugin_mermaid-collab_mermaid__complete_skill
Args: { "project": "<cwd>", "session": "<session>", "skill": "gather-session-goals" }

Handle response:

• If

  action == "clear"

  : Invoke skill: collab-clear
• If

  next_skill

  is not null: Invoke that skill
• If

  next_skill

  is null: Workflow complete