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Ask Zsl

Bucket: Engineering · Slash command: /zsl:ask-zsl · Source: skills/engineering/ask-zsl/SKILL.md

User-invocable only

This skill is marked disable-model-invocation: true — Claude won't auto-trigger it, so you must invoke it explicitly with the slash command above.

What it does

Interactive router that helps you find the right ZSL skill for what you're doing right now, without leaving your work. Use when you're mid-session and unsure which skill fits — "which ZSL skill should I use", "how do I do X with these skills", or when you want to be routed to the right part of the loop.

A thin interactive router. You're mid-session, you know roughly what you want to do, but you're not sure which ZSL skill fits — ask-zsl asks you a couple of situational questions and points you at the right one. It's routing logic only: it doesn't re-describe each skill (the Skills overview and each SKILL.md already do that) — it just gets you to the right door.

User-invoked only (disable-model-invocation: true): you ask it; it never fires on its own.

How to route

Ask the user a short, situational question, branch on the answer, and name the skill (and why it fits) — then stop. Don't run the skill for them; hand them the slash command. If they're already deep in one phase, jump straight to that branch.

"What are you trying to do right now?"

  • Mature a fuzzy, multi-session idea before it's a PRD → /decision-mapping (decision map under .scratch/decision-maps/, then hands to /to-prd).
  • Stress-test a concrete plan / align on what to build → /grill-me (non-code) or /grill-with-docs (sharpens CONTEXT.md + ADRs inline).
  • Package the current conversation into a PRD → /to-prd.
  • Break a PRD into independently-grabbable slices → /to-issues, then /triage each child to ready-for-agent.
  • Build it → see the build sub-questions below.
  • Hunt a bug or perf regression → /diagnose.
  • Understand an unfamiliar repo before touching it → /teach-me-the-codebase.
  • Fight architectural entropy → /improve-codebase-architecture.
  • Ship / review / commit → /code-review, then /commit or /commit-push-pr (and /git-branch first if you're still on the default branch).

Build: one slice or many?

  • One slice, here, now → /tdd (single-issue red-green-refactor on your branch).
  • Several unblocked [AFK] slices of a PRD, integrated into one PR → /tdd-parallel (fans out, integrates, auto-chains coverage, opens one PR).
  • Manual [HITL] steps an agent can't do → /human-itl first — /tdd-parallel refuses while any [HITL] is open.
  • /tdd vs /tdd-parallel? One issue at a time on the current checkout → /tdd. A whole PRD's worth of parallel slices into a single integration PR → /tdd-parallel.

Verify and prove coverage

  • Is every PRD user story actually covered by a passing, non-vacuous test? → /verify-coverage (Tier A maps to an existing test; Tier B generates one and mutation-proves it). Usually auto-chained by /tdd-parallel; invoke it directly to audit a PRD whose slices shipped elsewhere.

Run it overnight (remote agents)

  • Schedule unattended overnight runs of several PRDs → /afk-fanout in the evening (one remote routine per PRD, 2h apart).
  • What each scheduled routine fires → /afk-worker (per-PRD remote executor; you don't invoke it by hand).
  • Walk the overnight results in the morning → /morning-review (reconciles the afk-runs ledger, surfaces PRs to verify/merge and halts to re-triage).

Off the loop

  • Throwaway exploration of a design → /prototype.
  • Compact this session for the next agent → /handoff.
  • Standup notes from recent sessions → /timesheet.
  • Author or sharpen a skill → /writing-great-skills.

Keep routing in sync

ask-zsl and the "Which skill do I want?" decision tree in docs/skills/index.md are two views of the same routing. When a loop skill is added or removed, both must change together — this pairing is recorded in CLAUDE.md's skill-sync contract. If you find yourself routing to a skill that isn't in the tree (or vice versa), one of them is stale.

What this skill is not

  • Not a doc. It defers every skill's description to that skill's page — it only owns the routing.
  • Not an executor. It points you at a slash command; it never runs the skill on your behalf.