Archetype

wicked-garden-archetype

v11 entry point for work-shape archetypes. Each archetype is a complete unit with its own phase shape, produces, HITL discipline, and cost band. There is no universal pipeline.

When to use this skill

Invoke when:

• A <wg archetype="X"> or <wg archetypes> system-reminder tag appears (emitted by the v11 prompt hook).
• The user explicitly asks to "run the {archetype} archetype" or "do this as a {archetype}" workflow.
• You're routing from triage to a real archetype after classifying the work.

Do not use this skill for:

• Continuation tokens ("yes", "ok", "do it"). Those carry no new shape; keep going on the current archetype.
• Simple-edit work (typos, single-line fixes, cosmetic changes). The v11 hook already suppresses archetype tags on simple-edit intent.

The archetypes

Archetype	Phases	Produces	HITL
triage	classify	routing decision	none
explore	frame → diverge → converge	option set / hypothesis	continuous
specify	elicit → structure → validate	SMART acceptance criteria	discrete:validate
decide	brief → options → score → record	ADR / decision artifact	discrete:select
ship	canary → ramp → full → soak	rollout verdict / SLO snapshot	discrete:ramp
review	scope → assess → findings → remediate-or-accept	verdict / remediation list	hard:final-verdict
incident	triage → investigate → mitigate → resolve → followup	mitigation / RCA / followup	hard:mitigate
build	plan → implement → test → review	shipped code / test report	discrete:review
migrate	plan → expand → backfill → cutover → contract	shape change / rollback proof	hard:cutover
modernize	discover → extract → blueprint → transform → parity → cutover	modernization blueprint / parity proof	hard:cutover

Direct invocation

This skill is also the user-facing entry point for each archetype (replacing the former /wicked-garden:archetype:{name} slash commands). Invoke it with archetype=<name> plus the user's arguments; the skill loads refs/{name}.md and runs that playbook.

archetype	argument hint	description
triage	[prompt]	Classify a prompt into a work-shape archetype and route to its playbook. When the prompt is empty, run the detector against the conversation context.
explore	[problem statement]	Explore an open problem space — diverge then converge. Produces an option set or hypothesis, NOT a decision.
specify	[ask]	Turn an ask into SMART acceptance criteria.
decide	[decision context]	Pick between options with an ADR-shaped decision artifact.
ship	[release / change ref]	Roll out an already-built change with widening blast radius.
review	[artifact / PR / commit]	Independent assessment with hard verdict (APPROVE/CONDITIONAL/REJECT) — the only review producing a binding verdict (scope notes in refs/review.md).
incident	[INC-id or symptom]	Live-fire production incident response — mitigate first, RCA second.
build	[work description]	Implement and ship a feature or fix — test rigor scales with signals.
migrate	[migration description]	Schema/API/data shape change with expand-contract pattern.
modernize	[modernization target, e.g. "port this AngularJS app to Angular"]	Port a legacy codebase to a new stack — legacy→new-stack porting, NOT in-place shape change (that is migrate).

Procedure

1. Identify the archetype. Read the <wg archetype> tag in the system reminder OR ask the user which archetype they want when ambiguous.
2. Load the playbook. Read refs/{archetype}.md for the phase-by-phase playbook, the produces contract, and the HITL discipline.
3. Execute the phases. Run each phase in order. At each phase boundary ask: "do I have what this phase produces?" Don't move on until yes.
4. Honor HITL. When the playbook marks a gate as hard:*, stop and ask the user before proceeding. discrete:* gates may auto-pass when the produces contract is met. none and continuous carry no gate.
5. Multi-archetype prompts. When the hook emitted <wg archetypes> with two co-firing matches (e.g. build + migrate for a schema-change feature), run them in dependency order: migrate shape work first, then build integration work. The dependency graph lives in each archetype's next_archetypes field in the catalog.

Catalog source of truth

.claude-plugin/archetypes.json is canonical. The detector lives at scripts/crew/archetypes_v11.py. The CLI shim:

sh "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/_python.sh" \
  "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/crew/archetypes_v11.py" \
  detect --prompt "<text>" --signals '{"production_impact": true}' --steering

Refs

• refs/triage.md — entry classification
• refs/explore.md — diverge/converge for open problems
• refs/specify.md — elicit + structure + validate ACs
• refs/decide.md — ADR-shaped option scoring
• refs/ship.md — canary/ramp rollout
• refs/review.md — independent assessment with verdict
• refs/incident.md — live-fire response
• refs/build.md — plan/implement/test/review (the common case)
• refs/migrate.md — expand/backfill/cutover/contract (in-place shape change)
• refs/modernize.md — discover/extract/blueprint/transform/parity/cutover (legacy→new-stack port)

What v11 archetypes are NOT

• They are not the v6.3 target-kind archetypes (code-repo, docs-only, config-infra, etc.). Those classify what is being changed; v11 classifies what shape of work is happening. Both stay; they answer different questions.
• They are not rigor tiers (minimal | standard | full). v11 obsoletes the rigor-tier dial: each archetype owns its own cost band and HITL.
• They are not phase slots in a universal pipeline. Each archetype's phases live only inside that archetype.