home / skills / laurigates / claude-plugins / project-continue

This skill analyzes project state and resumes development from where left off, guiding tests, tasks, and incremental commits.

npx playbooks add skill laurigates/claude-plugins --skill project-continue

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

Files (1)
SKILL.md
4.2 KB
---
model: opus
description: "Analyze project state and continue development where left off"
args: "[--task <id>] [--skip-status]"
argument-hint: "--task to resume specific task, --skip-status to skip state analysis"
allowed-tools: Read, Bash, Grep, Glob, Edit, Write
created: 2025-12-16
modified: 2026-02-03
reviewed: 2025-12-17
name: project-continue
---

Continue project development by analyzing current state and resuming work.

**Note**: Configure project-specific test/build commands in `CLAUDE.md` or `.claude/rules/` for automatic detection.

**Steps**:

1. **Check current state**:
   ```bash
   # Check git status
   git status

   # Check recent commits
   git log -5 --oneline

   # Check current branch
   git branch --show-current
   ```

2. **Read project context**:
   - **PRDs**: Read all files in `.claude/blueprints/prds/`
     * Understand project goals and requirements
     * Identify features and phases
   - **Feature Tracker**: Read `docs/blueprint/feature-tracker.json` tasks section
     * Current phase and progress
     * Completed, in-progress, and pending tasks
   - **Work Orders**: Check `.claude/blueprints/work-orders/`
     * Recent work-orders (see what's been done)
     * Pending work-orders (see what's planned)

3. **Analyze state and determine next task**:

   **If uncommitted changes exist**:
   - Review uncommitted files
   - Determine if work-in-progress should be continued
   - Ask user if they want to continue current work or start fresh

   **If on clean state**:
   - Compare feature tracker tasks against PRD requirements
   - Identify next logical task:
     * Next pending task in feature-tracker.json
     * Next requirement in PRD
     * Next work-order to execute
   - Consider dependencies (start with unblocked tasks first)

4. **Report status before starting**:
   ```
   📊 Project Status:

   Current Branch: [branch]
   Uncommitted Changes: [yes/no - list files if yes]

   Recent Work:
   - [Last 3 commits]

   PRDs Found:
   - [List PRD files with brief summary]

   Work Overview: Phase [N] - [Phase name]
   ✅ Completed: [N] tasks
   ⏳ In Progress: [Current task if any]
   ⏹️ Pending: [N] tasks

   Next Task: [Identified next task]
   Approach: [Brief plan]
   ```

5. **Begin work following TDD**:
   - Activate project-specific skills automatically:
     * Architecture patterns
     * Testing strategies
     * Implementation guides
     * Quality standards
   - Follow **RED → GREEN → REFACTOR** workflow:
     * Write failing test first
     * Minimal implementation to pass
     * Refactor while keeping tests green
   - Commit incrementally:
     * Use conventional commits
     * Commit after each RED → GREEN → REFACTOR cycle
     * Reference PRD or issue in commit message

6. **Update feature tracker as you go**:
   - Mark tasks in-progress
   - Mark tasks completed
   - Update next steps

**Important**:
- **Always start with tests** (TDD requirement)
- **Apply project skills** (architecture, testing, implementation, quality)
- **Commit incrementally** (after each successful cycle)
- **Update feature tracker** (keep project state current)

**Handling Common Scenarios**:

**Scenario: Starting new feature**:
1. Create work-order first with `/blueprint-work-order`
2. Then continue with this command

**Scenario: Blocked by dependency**:
1. Report the blocker
2. Suggest working on a different task
3. Or: Suggest implementing the dependency first

**Scenario: Tests failing**:
1. Analyze failures
2. Fix failing tests (always complete RED step first)
3. Continue once tests pass

**Scenario: Unclear what to do next**:
1. Review PRDs for requirements
2. Ask user for clarification
3. Suggest creating work-orders for clarity

## Agent Teams (Optional)

For large codebases with multiple work fronts, spawn teammates for parallel progress:

| Teammate | Focus | Value |
|----------|-------|-------|
| Research teammate | Investigate codebase state, PRDs, work-orders | Parallel context gathering |
| Implementation teammate | Begin work on next task from feature tracker | Start implementation immediately |

The research teammate gathers project state while the implementation teammate begins the most obvious next task. This is optional — single-session continuation works for most projects.

Overview

This skill analyzes a repository's current development state and resumes work from where it was left off. It reads project artifacts (PRDs, feature tracker, work-orders), inspects git state, and identifies the next actionable task. It then follows a TDD-driven workflow and updates tracking artifacts as work progresses.

How this skill works

The skill inspects git status, recent commits, and the active branch to determine uncommitted work or a clean state. It reads PRDs in the blueprint folder, the feature-tracker tasks, and work-orders to map requirements to pending tasks. It selects the next unblocked task, reports a concise status summary, then proceeds with RED → GREEN → REFACTOR cycles while committing incrementally and updating the tracker.

When to use it

  • You return to a repository and need an automated resume plan.
  • There is ambiguity about next tasks across PRDs, feature tracker, or work-orders.
  • You want to enforce TDD and incremental commits on ongoing work.
  • A teammate handed off work and you must continue without context loss
  • You need to unblock development when dependencies are missing

Best practices

  • Always start with tests: write a failing test before implementation.
  • Keep commits small and conventional; reference PRD or work-order IDs.
  • Prefer unblocked tasks first; document blockers immediately.
  • Update feature-tracker tasks to reflect in-progress and completed work.
  • Use project-specific build/test commands configured in project rules.

Example use cases

  • Resume a feature after a pause: detect WIP changes, ask whether to continue, then proceed with TDD cycles.
  • Start the next item from the feature tracker when the working tree is clean.
  • Handle a blocker by reporting it and recommending alternative tasks or implementing the dependency first.
  • Onboarding: gather PRDs and work-orders to produce a short ramp-up plan for a new contributor.
  • Parallel work: spawn research and implementation teammates to accelerate progress in large codebases.

FAQ

What if there are uncommitted changes?

The skill lists those files and asks whether to continue the work-in-progress or start fresh. It will preserve or commit WIP based on your choice.

How are next tasks chosen?

It compares the feature-tracker, PRD requirements, and work-orders, then selects the next unblocked logical task—favoring the tracker’s pending items.

Are tests mandatory?

Yes. The workflow enforces TDD: write a failing test first, implement minimally to pass, then refactor and commit.