doc-spike

Generate a spike/research report from template. Use when the user says "write up the spike", "research report", "document what we found", "investigation results", or "compare options".

SKILL.md

GitHub

Generate Spike Report

Path Resolution

  1. Read workflow.json in the project root
  2. If it exists and docsRepo is ".": this IS the docs repo — use local paths
  3. If it exists and docsRepo is a repo name: resolve via pwsh .claude/skills/tool-worktree/scripts/resolve-repo.ps1 <docsRepo> to get the docs root path. Templates at <resolved>/templates/, output to <resolved>/spikes/
  4. If no workflow.json: templates at templates/, output to docs/spikes/

Instructions

  1. Resolve paths (see Path Resolution above)
  2. Read the template at <templates>/spike.md
  3. Clarify the research question — it should be stated as a clear, answerable question
  4. Document findings:
    • If you performed the research: capture what was found, with evidence
    • If the user did the research: interview them and structure the findings
  5. Generate the spike report:
    • Question: Clear, specific, answerable
    • Findings: Organized by topic, each with evidence
    • Comparison: Table if comparing options
    • Recommendation: Clear and tied back to the question
  6. Save to <output>/[slug].md

Quality Checklist

  • Question is specific and answerable (not vague)
  • Time-box is stated (spikes are bounded)
  • Each finding has evidence (not just assertions)
  • Comparison table is included if evaluating options
  • Recommendation is clear and justified
  • Open questions are listed (what we still don't know)
  • Next steps are concrete

Tips

  • A spike should answer a question, not build a feature
  • Include links to everything consulted (docs, repos, articles)
  • If a prototype was built, link to it and describe its limitations
  • The recommendation should be actionable: "We should do X because Y"
  • If the spike is inconclusive, say so — that's a valid outcome