home / skills / ratacat / claude-skills / triage

triage skill

/skills/triage

This skill helps triage and categorize cli todo findings by presenting each item for decision and generating ready-to-work todo entries.

npx playbooks add skill ratacat/claude-skills --skill triage

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

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SKILL.md
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---
name: triage
description: Triage and categorize findings for the CLI todo system
---

## Arguments
[findings list or source type]

- First set the /model to Haiku
- Then read all pending todos in the todos/ directory

Present all findings, decisions, or issues here one by one for triage. The goal is to go through each item and decide whether to add it to the CLI todo system.

**IMPORTANT: DO NOT CODE ANYTHING DURING TRIAGE!**

This command is for:

- Triaging code review findings
- Processing security audit results
- Reviewing performance analysis
- Handling any other categorized findings that need tracking

## Workflow

### Step 1: Present Each Finding

For each finding, present in this format:

```
---
Issue #X: [Brief Title]

Severity: 🔴 P1 (CRITICAL) / 🟡 P2 (IMPORTANT) / 🔵 P3 (NICE-TO-HAVE)

Category: [Security/Performance/Architecture/Bug/Feature/etc.]

Description:
[Detailed explanation of the issue or improvement]

Location: [file_path:line_number]

Problem Scenario:
[Step by step what's wrong or could happen]

Proposed Solution:
[How to fix it]

Estimated Effort: [Small (< 2 hours) / Medium (2-8 hours) / Large (> 8 hours)]

---
Do you want to add this to the todo list?
1. yes - create todo file
2. next - skip this item
3. custom - modify before creating
```

### Step 2: Handle User Decision

**When user says "yes":**

1. **Update existing todo file** (if it exists) or **Create new filename:**

   If todo already exists (from code review):

   - Rename file from `{id}-pending-{priority}-{desc}.md` → `{id}-ready-{priority}-{desc}.md`
   - Update YAML frontmatter: `status: pending` → `status: ready`
   - Keep issue_id, priority, and description unchanged

   If creating new todo:

   ```
   {next_id}-ready-{priority}-{brief-description}.md
   ```

   Priority mapping:

   - 🔴 P1 (CRITICAL) → `p1`
   - 🟡 P2 (IMPORTANT) → `p2`
   - 🔵 P3 (NICE-TO-HAVE) → `p3`

   Example: `042-ready-p1-transaction-boundaries.md`

2. **Update YAML frontmatter:**

   ```yaml
   ---
   status: ready # IMPORTANT: Change from "pending" to "ready"
   priority: p1 # or p2, p3 based on severity
   issue_id: "042"
   tags: [category, relevant-tags]
   dependencies: []
   ---
   ```

3. **Populate or update the file:**

   ```yaml
   # [Issue Title]

   ## Problem Statement
   [Description from finding]

   ## Findings
   - [Key discoveries]
   - Location: [file_path:line_number]
   - [Scenario details]

   ## Proposed Solutions

   ### Option 1: [Primary solution]
   - **Pros**: [Benefits]
   - **Cons**: [Drawbacks if any]
   - **Effort**: [Small/Medium/Large]
   - **Risk**: [Low/Medium/High]

   ## Recommended Action
   [Filled during triage - specific action plan]

   ## Technical Details
   - **Affected Files**: [List files]
   - **Related Components**: [Components affected]
   - **Database Changes**: [Yes/No - describe if yes]

   ## Resources
   - Original finding: [Source of this issue]
   - Related issues: [If any]

   ## Acceptance Criteria
   - [ ] [Specific success criteria]
   - [ ] Tests pass
   - [ ] Code reviewed

   ## Work Log

   ### {date} - Approved for Work
   **By:** Claude Triage System
   **Actions:**
   - Issue approved during triage session
   - Status changed from pending → ready
   - Ready to be picked up and worked on

   **Learnings:**
   - [Context and insights]

   ## Notes
   Source: Triage session on {date}
   ```

4. **Confirm approval:** "✅ Approved: `{new_filename}` (Issue #{issue_id}) - Status: **ready** → Ready to work on"

**When user says "next":**

- **Delete the todo file** - Remove it from todos/ directory since it's not relevant
- Skip to the next item
- Track skipped items for summary

**When user says "custom":**

- Ask what to modify (priority, description, details)
- Update the information
- Present revised version
- Ask again: yes/next/custom

### Step 3: Continue Until All Processed

- Process all items one by one
- Track using TodoWrite for visibility
- Don't wait for approval between items - keep moving

### Step 4: Final Summary

After all items processed:

````markdown
## Triage Complete

**Total Items:** [X] **Todos Approved (ready):** [Y] **Skipped:** [Z]

### Approved Todos (Ready for Work):

- `042-ready-p1-transaction-boundaries.md` - Transaction boundary issue
- `043-ready-p2-cache-optimization.md` - Cache performance improvement ...

### Skipped Items (Deleted):

- Item #5: [reason] - Removed from todos/
- Item #12: [reason] - Removed from todos/

### Summary of Changes Made:

During triage, the following status updates occurred:

- **Pending → Ready:** Filenames and frontmatter updated to reflect approved status
- **Deleted:** Todo files for skipped findings removed from todos/ directory
- Each approved file now has `status: ready` in YAML frontmatter

### Next Steps:

1. View approved todos ready for work:
   ```bash
   ls todos/*-ready-*.md
   ```
````

2. Start work on approved items:

   ```bash
   /resolve_todo_parallel  # Work on multiple approved items efficiently
   ```

3. Or pick individual items to work on

4. As you work, update todo status:
   - Ready → In Progress (in your local context as you work)
   - In Progress → Complete (rename file: ready → complete, update frontmatter)

```

## Example Response Format

```

---

Issue #5: Missing Transaction Boundaries for Multi-Step Operations

Severity: 🔴 P1 (CRITICAL)

Category: Data Integrity / Security

Description: The google_oauth2_connected callback in GoogleOauthCallbacks concern performs multiple database operations without transaction protection. If any step fails midway, the database is left in an inconsistent state.

Location: app/controllers/concerns/google_oauth_callbacks.rb:13-50

Problem Scenario:

1. User.update succeeds (email changed)
2. Account.save! fails (validation error)
3. Result: User has changed email but no associated Account
4. Next login attempt fails completely

Operations Without Transaction:

- User confirmation (line 13)
- Waitlist removal (line 14)
- User profile update (line 21-23)
- Account creation (line 28-37)
- Avatar attachment (line 39-45)
- Journey creation (line 47)

Proposed Solution: Wrap all operations in ApplicationRecord.transaction do ... end block

Estimated Effort: Small (30 minutes)

---

Do you want to add this to the todo list?

1. yes - create todo file
2. next - skip this item
3. custom - modify before creating

```

## Important Implementation Details

### Status Transitions During Triage

**When "yes" is selected:**
1. Rename file: `{id}-pending-{priority}-{desc}.md` → `{id}-ready-{priority}-{desc}.md`
2. Update YAML frontmatter: `status: pending` → `status: ready`
3. Update Work Log with triage approval entry
4. Confirm: "✅ Approved: `{filename}` (Issue #{issue_id}) - Status: **ready**"

**When "next" is selected:**
1. Delete the todo file from todos/ directory
2. Skip to next item
3. No file remains in the system

### Progress Tracking

Every time you present a todo as a header, include:
- **Progress:** X/Y completed (e.g., "3/10 completed")
- **Estimated time remaining:** Based on how quickly you're progressing
- **Pacing:** Monitor time per finding and adjust estimate accordingly

Example:
```

Progress: 3/10 completed | Estimated time: ~2 minutes remaining

```

### Do Not Code During Triage

- ✅ Present findings
- ✅ Make yes/next/custom decisions
- ✅ Update todo files (rename, frontmatter, work log)
- ❌ Do NOT implement fixes or write code
- ❌ Do NOT add detailed implementation details
- ❌ That's for /resolve_todo_parallel phase
```

When done give these options

```markdown
What would you like to do next?

1. run /resolve_todo_parallel to resolve the todos
2. commit the todos
3. nothing, go chill
```

Overview

This skill triages and categorizes findings for a CLI todo system, guiding decisions to accept, skip, or modify issues discovered during reviews. It presents each finding in a consistent template and applies or removes todo files in the todos/ directory based on triage outcomes. The goal is to convert actionable findings into ready-to-work todo items without performing any code changes.

How this skill works

The skill reads pending findings (or a provided list) and presents each item with severity, category, description, location, problem scenario, proposed solution, and estimated effort. For each finding it prompts one of three actions: yes (create or promote a todo to ready), next (delete the pending todo), or custom (edit triage details before deciding). File renames and YAML frontmatter updates are applied when items are approved.

When to use it

  • During code review triage sessions to decide which issues become tracked todos
  • After security audits to convert vulnerabilities into prioritized work items
  • Following performance analyses to capture optimization tasks
  • When consolidating findings from architecture reviews or bug reports
  • Before a sprint planning session to prepare a vetted todo backlog

Best practices

  • Present findings one at a time using the provided template to keep decisions traceable
  • Classify severity and map it to p1/p2/p3 priority consistently
  • Prefer small, testable todo items with clear acceptance criteria
  • Record a Work Log entry in the todo file when approving to preserve triage context
  • Use the custom option when you need to refine scope before committing to work

Example use cases

  • Triage security scan results and convert critical issues into p1 todos with clear repro and mitigation notes
  • Review a performance report and approve medium-effort optimizations as p2 ready items
  • Process linting or static analysis findings, deleting irrelevant warnings and promoting real defects
  • Handle architecture review recommendations by creating feature or refactor todos with estimated effort
  • Convert multi-step code review findings into separate todos for tracking and assignment

FAQ

Can this skill modify code or apply fixes?

No. The skill only triages findings and updates todo files. It does not implement code changes or fixes.

How are priorities mapped to filenames?

Severity maps to priorities: 🔴 P1 → p1, 🟡 P2 → p2, 🔵 P3 → p3. Filenames use the pattern {id}-ready-{priority}-{brief-description}.md when approved.

What happens when I choose next for a pending todo?

Choosing next deletes the pending file from the todos/ directory and records the item as skipped for the final summary.