Utility Pm Workflow Builder

<!-- PM-Skills | https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills | Apache 2.0 -->

PM Workflow Builder

This skill creates new multi-skill workflows for the pm-skills library. It

produces a Workflow Implementation Packet - a draft _workflows/<name>.md

file, a draft commands/workflow-<name>.md command, and the cross-cutting

update checklist - in a staging area for review before promotion to

canonical locations. The builder authors; it never executes a chain and it

never promotes its own output.

When to Use

• You have an idea for a new multi-skill workflow ("I need a workflow for

quarterly business reviews")

• You know the skills you want to chain and want them captured durably

("chain competitive-analysis, experiment-results, pivot-decision")

• A /chain run (orchestrator Mode B) proved reusable and its completion

output suggested promoting the chain to a durable workflow; hand this

skill the exact chain expression from that suggestion

When NOT to Use

• To run a sequence once without authoring anything -> use the /chain

command or utility-pm-workflow-orchestrator directly

• To build or modify a single skill -> use utility-pm-skill-builder,

utility-pm-skill-validate, or utility-pm-skill-iterate

• To customize an existing workflow -> edit its _workflows/<name>.md

directly; the overlap analysis below will point you there when coverage

is high

Instructions

Step 1: Understand the Idea

Accept the idea in any of three entry forms, all converging on the same

downstream flow:

• Problem-first: "I need a workflow for X." Identify the recurring PM

process, who runs it, and the artifact trail it should leave.

• Skills-first: a list of skills the user already wants to chain.
• Chain-promotion: a literal chain expression (for example

measure-experiment-results -> discover-stakeholder-summary), usually

pasted from the orchestrator's completion suggestion, plus the context

the run used.

If the idea is vague, ask ONE clarifying question (the recurring trigger

and the final artifact), then proceed. Do not interrogate.

Step 2: Overlap Analysis + Why Gate

Scan the _workflows/ directory at run time for the current inventory

(list every *.md except README.md). Never rely on a remembered count

or a hardcoded list. Compare the idea against ALL existing workflows:

• Name each overlapping workflow and what it covers.
• Estimate coverage overlap honestly.

Kill gate (>70% coverage overlap): recommend, in order, (a)

customizing the existing workflow, (b) adding a step to it, or (c) just

using /chain for the occasional run. Do not proceed.

Why Gate (any meaningful overlap): ask for 2-3 specific scenarios

where the existing workflows fail to produce what is needed. Do not pass

the gate without that evidence or an explicit user override (record the

override in the packet's Decision section).

Step 3: Sequence Design

Select and order the steps with the user. Apply the chain-expression

contract's validation rules at authoring time

(skills/utility-pm-workflow-orchestrator/references/PARSE-CONTRACT.md,

Mode B Chain Expression Contract):

• Every step must resolve to an installed skill at skills/<name>/SKILL.md

by EXACT name. Never approximate or auto-correct; on a miss, refuse the

step and OFFER the closest real names (an offer, never a substitution).

• Category 1 content skills only. Refuse as steps, each with a one-line

explanation: Tier-3 maintenance skills (utility-pm-skill-*,

utility-pm-release-conductor, utility-pm-changelog-curator,

utility-update-pm-skills, foundation-prioritized-action-plan),

dispatch skills that fan out to sub-agents (utility-pm-critic,

utility-pm-workflow-orchestrator, and peers), and existing workflows

(a workflow never nests a workflow). Self-reference is impossible by

construction: this builder is itself Tier-3.

• For EACH step, author the handoff: what the step consumes from the prior

step's output, and what it must produce for the next. This authored

handoff guidance is exactly what distinguishes a durable workflow from

an ad-hoc chain; a packet without real handoffs is not ready.

Step 4: Generate the Packet

Write the complete Workflow Implementation Packet to

_staging/workflows/<name>/ (gitignored; the same review model as the

skill builder). Never write to canonical locations.

_staging/workflows/<name>/
├── workflow.md      <- draft _workflows/<name>.md
├── command.md       <- draft commands/workflow-<name>.md
└── PACKET.md        <- decision, overlap analysis, checklist, promotion steps

Use references/TEMPLATE.md as the packet format. The workflow draft must

carry the full section inventory the current _workflows/*.md files share

(see the TEMPLATE's embedded skeleton); the command draft mirrors the

existing commands/workflow-*.md shape, including one literal

skills/<name>/SKILL.md path per step and the $ARGUMENTS footer. Derive

a linear mermaid context-flow diagram from the final sequence (step names

as nodes, execution order as edges).

Step 5: Review + Promotion Guidance

Present the packet and stop. The builder itself never promotes. On

approval, the user (or a follow-up session) moves the drafts to their

canonical paths and works the packet's Cross-Cutting Checklist, which

names every count and documentation surface that adding a workflow trips,

including the validator-blind .github/workflows/release.yml release-note

template. The builder never edits those cross-cutting files itself.

Output Format

The packet follows references/TEMPLATE.md:

• Decision - recommendation plus Why Gate evidence (or the recorded override)
• Overlap Analysis - every overlapping workflow, what it covers, the gap
• Workflow Draft - complete _workflows/<name>.md content
• Command Draft - complete commands/workflow-<name>.md content
• Cross-Cutting Checklist - every surface to update at promotion, with its enforcing validator (or "validator-blind" where none exists)
• Promotion Steps - the move-verify-validate sequence

See references/EXAMPLE.md for one complete worked packet.

Quality Checklist

Before presenting the packet, verify:

• [ ] Overlap analysis scanned the live _workflows/ directory (no remembered list, no hardcoded count)
• [ ] Why Gate evidence is specific (named scenarios) or an explicit override is recorded
• [ ] Every step resolves to an installed skill by exact name
• [ ] No Tier-3 maintenance skill, dispatch skill, or workflow appears as a step
• [ ] Every step has an authored handoff (consumes / produces), not just a skill name
• [ ] The workflow draft carries every section in the TEMPLATE's skeleton (metadata table, When to Use with Do NOT use, per-step blocks, context-flow diagram, tips, quality checklist, see also)
• [ ] The command draft names each step's skills/<name>/SKILL.md path and ends with the $ARGUMENTS footer
• [ ] The mermaid diagram matches the final sequence exactly
• [ ] Everything written under _staging/workflows/<name>/; no canonical path touched
• [ ] The Cross-Cutting Checklist is reproduced in full, including the .github/workflows/release.yml release-note row

Reference Files

• Packet template: references/TEMPLATE.md
• Worked example (quarterly business review): references/EXAMPLE.md
• Chain-expression contract applied at authoring time: skills/utility-pm-workflow-orchestrator/references/PARSE-CONTRACT.md
• Workflow exemplars: _workflows/sprint-planning.md, _workflows/customer-discovery.md
• Command exemplar: commands/workflow-sprint-planning.md
• Sibling builder for single skills: skills/utility-pm-skill-builder/SKILL.md