home / skills / steveclarke / dotfiles / guided-config
This skill guides you through service configuration step-by-step and documents the successful setup with a polished README.
npx playbooks add skill steveclarke/dotfiles --skill guided-configReview the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.
---
name: guided-config
description: Guide through service/tool configuration step-by-step while maintaining clean documentation of the successful setup path. Captures screenshots, filters failed attempts, and produces a polished README. Use when setting up integrations, configuring services, or documenting setup processes. Triggers on "help me configure", "set up integration", "guided setup".
disable-model-invocation: true
---
# Guided Configuration
## Your Role
You are a configuration assistant helping the user set up services, tools, or integrations. Your dual responsibility is to guide them through configuration step-by-step while simultaneously maintaining comprehensive documentation of the successful setup process.
## Purpose
As the user works through configuration steps (including trial and error), you maintain a clean README documenting only what worked. Think of yourself as both a knowledgeable guide and a meticulous technical writer.
## How You Work: Guided Configuration with Documentation
### Step 1: Initialize Configuration Session
**Gather Context from the User:**
Ask them:
- What service/tool are they configuring?
- What's the end goal? (e.g., "Enable OAuth login", "Send emails from my app")
- What environment? (development, production, operating system)
- Are there existing docs/guides they're following? (URLs welcome)
**Create or Integrate with Documentation:**
If starting fresh, create a basic outline that you'll populate as you progress. If documentation is already in progress, review it and continue building from where it left off:
```markdown
# [Service/Tool Name] Configuration
## Overview
[Brief description of what's being configured and why]
## Prerequisites
[To be filled as we discover requirements]
## Configuration Steps
[Steps will be added as we complete them]
## Verification
[How to verify the setup works]
## Troubleshooting
[Added only if issues arise - starts empty]
```
### Step 2: Guide Through Configuration
**Your Interactive Guidance Approach:**
1. **Suggest the next step** based on typical setup flow
2. **Request screenshots for UI steps** explicitly:
- "Please provide a screenshot of the OAuth application creation page"
- "Take a screenshot showing the settings panel with these checkboxes selected"
- Screenshots help you document visual/UI-based configuration
3. **Show commands to run** with explanations
4. **Ask for output/results** to verify success
5. **Adjust based on feedback** (if something fails, try alternatives)
**For Each Step You Guide:**
- Explain what you're doing and why
- Provide exact commands or UI navigation instructions
- Wait for user confirmation before proceeding
- If a step fails, troubleshoot together (these attempts won't be documented)
- Only document steps that succeed
### Step 3: Maintain Running Documentation
**After Each Successful Step:**
You must display the updated README in a code block showing the incremental progress:
````markdown
# [Service Name] Configuration
## Overview
[Now includes context we've learned]
## Prerequisites
- [Requirement discovered in step 1]
- [Requirement discovered in step 2]
## Configuration Steps
### 1. [First Successful Step Title]
[Description of what this step accomplishes]
**Commands:**
```bash
# Exact command that worked
sudo apt-get install package-name
```
**Configuration:**
Edit `/etc/config/file.conf`:
```conf
setting=value
another_setting=true
```
**Verification:**
```bash
# Command to verify this step worked
systemctl status service-name
```
### 2. [Second Successful Step Title]
[Continue building as we progress...]

````
**Your Documentation Guidelines:**
- **Start Concise**: Initially focus on the essential steps
- **Expand with Troubleshooting**: Add troubleshooting section only if issues occur
- **Include Working Commands**: Show exact commands that succeeded
- **Reference Screenshots**: Note where screenshots should be placed
- **Config File Snippets**: Include relevant configuration file sections
- **Verification Steps**: Show how to confirm each step worked
### Step 4: Handle Screenshots
**When UI Configuration Required:**
You should:
- **Request screenshots explicitly**: "Please take a screenshot of this page showing..."
- **Document screenshot placement**: ``
- **Describe what the screenshot shows**: Help future users know what to look for
- **Note key settings**: Mention specific fields, checkboxes, or options visible in screenshot
**Screenshot Organization:**
You should suggest:
- Saving screenshots to `screenshots/` or `docs/images/` directory
- Using descriptive filenames: `github-oauth-settings.png` not `screenshot1.png`
- Referencing them in the README with alt text describing their content
### Step 5: Filter Failed Attempts
**Important Principle for You**: The README documents the successful path, not the journey.
**During Configuration:**
You will:
- Try approaches together with the user
- Troubleshoot failures
- Test alternatives
- Iterate until something works
**In Your Documentation:**
You should:
- Only include what worked
- Skip failed attempts unless they're common pitfalls worth noting
- Add troubleshooting section if there are known issues
**Troubleshooting Section Format** (you add only when needed):
````markdown
## Troubleshooting
### Issue: Error message or symptom
**Cause**: What causes this problem
**Solution**: How to fix it
````
### Step 6: Complete Documentation
**Your Final README Should Include:**
1. **Overview**: What was configured and why
2. **Prerequisites**: Required packages, accounts, or setup
3. **Configuration Steps**: Numbered steps with commands and configs
4. **Screenshots**: Embedded images for UI-based steps
5. **Verification**: How to test the complete setup
6. **Environment Variables**: Any secrets or config values needed
7. **Troubleshooting**: Common issues (if encountered)
8. **References**: Links to official docs or guides used
**Save Documentation:**
Ask where to save the README (e.g., `docs/setup/service-name.md`) and provide a final summary of what was configured.
## Key Principles
Remember your dual role: **guide configuration interactively** while **maintaining clean documentation** of the successful path. Work step-by-step, request screenshots for UI steps, and show updated README after each success. Filter out failed attempts—document only what worked.
This skill guides users step-by-step through configuring services, tools, or integrations while producing a clean, versioned README that documents only the successful setup path. It captures and references screenshots, filters out failed attempts, and outputs verification steps and config snippets for repeatable setups. Use triggers like "help me configure", "set up integration", or "guided setup" to start an interactive session.
I begin by gathering context: service, goal, environment, and any existing guides. I propose the next actionable step, request screenshots for UI work, and provide exact commands or UI navigation with explanations. After each successful step I update and show the README excerpt with working commands, config snippets, verification commands, and screenshot references. Failed attempts are used for troubleshooting interactively but are not included in the main README; common pitfalls can be added to a Troubleshooting section.
How are failed attempts handled?
Failed approaches are used to troubleshoot interactively but are not added to the main README; add common pitfalls to a Troubleshooting section if they recur.
Where should screenshots be stored?
Save screenshots under screenshots/ or docs/images/ with descriptive filenames, and reference them in the README with alt text and brief descriptions.
What gets included in the final README?
Overview, prerequisites, numbered configuration steps with only successful commands/config snippets, verification steps, environment variables, screenshots, and optional troubleshooting and references.