Skills Reference
Skills Reference
Section titled “Skills Reference”PopKit provides 50 reusable skills across 4 plugins. Skills provide specialized automation for common development tasks.
Invocation Modes
Section titled “Invocation Modes”PopKit intentionally exposes skills in both direct and orchestrated forms:
| Mode | Typical syntax | Use case |
|---|---|---|
| Workflow command | /popkit-<plugin>:<command> | Daily/default usage |
| Direct skill invocation | /pop-... or /skill invoke pop-... | Advanced/targeted usage |
Examples:
/popkit-dev:nextwrapspop-next-actionwith command-level parsing and formatted output./popkit-ops:assess securityroutes into thepop-assessment-securityskill.
Note: depending on client/version, you may see direct-skill entries as bare /pop-* aliases.
popkit-core (15 skills)
Section titled “popkit-core (15 skills)”Foundation skills for project management, embedding, and plugin operations.
pop-analyze-project
Section titled “pop-analyze-project”Description: Comprehensive codebase analysis discovering architecture, patterns, dependencies, testing coverage, and improvement opportunities.
Use when: Starting work on an unfamiliar project or needing to understand a codebase.
/popkit-core:pop-analyze-projectpop-auto-docs
Section titled “pop-auto-docs”Description: Generate comprehensive documentation from codebase analysis - creates README sections, API docs, migration guides, and examples.
/popkit-core:pop-auto-docspop-bug-reporter
Section titled “pop-bug-reporter”Description: Capture bug context, generate reports, and optionally create GitHub issues or share patterns.
/popkit-core:pop-bug-reporterpop-cloud-signup
Section titled “pop-cloud-signup”Description: Create PopKit Cloud account, generate API key, and configure local connection.
/popkit-core:pop-cloud-signuppop-dashboard
Section titled “pop-dashboard”Description: Multi-project dashboard showing health scores, recent activity, and quick actions across all registered projects.
Use when: Switching between projects, checking overall status, or managing project registry.
/popkit-core:pop-dashboardpop-doc-sync
Section titled “pop-doc-sync”Description: Synchronize documentation with codebase - updates AUTO-GEN sections in CLAUDE.md, validates cross-references, and reports stale documentation.
/popkit-core:pop-doc-syncpop-embed-content
Section titled “pop-embed-content”Description: Manage project embeddings - embed skills, agents, commands, and MCP tools for semantic discovery. Handles rate limiting, incremental updates, and status reporting.
/popkit-core:pop-embed-contentpop-embed-project
Section titled “pop-embed-project”Description: Embed project-local skills, agents, and commands for semantic search. Use after creating items manually or to update embeddings.
/popkit-core:pop-embed-projectpop-mcp-generator
Section titled “pop-mcp-generator”Description: Generate custom MCP server with semantic search, project-aware tools, and health monitoring capabilities.
Use when: Setting up project-specific development tools or after analyzing a codebase.
/popkit-core:pop-mcp-generatorpop-plugin-test
Section titled “pop-plugin-test”Description: Run comprehensive tests on plugin components. Validates hooks, agents, skills, and plugin structure across all PopKit packages.
/popkit-core:pop-plugin-testpop-power-mode
Section titled “pop-power-mode”Description: Multi-agent orchestration system using Claude Code’s native background agents for true parallel collaboration. Enables shared context, sync barriers between phases, and coordinator oversight.
Use when: Complex tasks benefiting from parallel execution (epics, large refactors, multi-phase features).
/popkit-core:pop-power-modepop-project-init
Section titled “pop-project-init”Description: Initialize .claude/ structure and add PopKit section to CLAUDE.md without overwriting. Detects conflicts, creates config, prompts for Power Mode.
/popkit-core:pop-project-initpop-project-reference
Section titled “pop-project-reference”Description: Load cross-project context in monorepos. Lists available workspace projects or loads specific project context. Supports pnpm, npm/yarn, Lerna workspaces.
/popkit-core:pop-project-referencepop-project-templates
Section titled “pop-project-templates”Description: Curated project templates that guide feature-dev Phase 3 questions with research-backed technology choices. Provides standardized options for common project types (SaaS API, ML Service, CLI Tool, Full-Stack).
/popkit-core:pop-project-templatespop-skill-generator
Section titled “pop-skill-generator”Description: Generate custom skills based on codebase patterns, common workflows, and team conventions discovered during analysis.
Use when: You want to capture project-specific patterns as reusable skills.
/popkit-core:pop-skill-generatorpop-validation-engine
Section titled “pop-validation-engine”Description: Validate plugin integrity and offer safe auto-fixes for common issues - checks agents, skills, hooks, routing config, and plugin structure.
/popkit-core:pop-validation-enginepopkit-dev (17 skills)
Section titled “popkit-dev (17 skills)”Development workflow skills for git operations, routines, and feature development.
pop-brainstorming
Section titled “pop-brainstorming”Description: Collaborative design refinement that transforms rough ideas into fully-formed specifications through Socratic questioning. Explores alternatives, validates incrementally, and presents designs in digestible chunks.
Use when: Before writing code when requirements are unclear or multiple approaches exist.
/popkit-dev:pop-brainstormingpop-changelog-automation
Section titled “pop-changelog-automation”Description: Enhanced changelog generation with semantic versioning, auto-categorization, and release notes. Parses conventional commits, determines version bump, categorizes changes by type.
Use when: Before releases or on PR merge to automate version management.
/popkit-dev:pop-changelog-automationpop-complexity-analyzer
Section titled “pop-complexity-analyzer”Description: Analyzes task/feature complexity (1-10) and recommends subtask breakdown for planning and prioritization. Provides actionable recommendations for agent selection and risk assessment.
/popkit-dev:pop-complexity-analyzerpop-context-restore
Section titled “pop-context-restore”Description: Fully restore working context from a previous session - loads STATUS.json, reads key files, rebuilds mental model of current work state.
/popkit-dev:pop-context-restorepop-executing-plans
Section titled “pop-executing-plans”Description: Controlled batch execution of implementation plans with review checkpoints between phases. Loads plan, critically reviews for issues, executes tasks in batches, then pauses for feedback.
Use when: You have a complete implementation plan and want structured execution with quality gates.
/popkit-dev:pop-executing-planspop-finish-branch
Section titled “pop-finish-branch”Description: Guide completion of development work by presenting structured options: merge locally, create PR, keep as-is, or discard.
Use when: Implementation is complete, all tests pass, and you need to decide how to integrate the work.
/popkit-dev:pop-finish-branchpop-morning
Section titled “pop-morning”Description: Start-of-day setup routine. Calculates Ready to Code Score (0-100) based on session restoration, service health, dependency updates, branch sync, PR reviews, and issue triage.
/popkit-dev:pop-morningpop-next-action
Section titled “pop-next-action”Description: Context-aware recommendation engine that analyzes git status, TypeScript errors, GitHub issues, and technical debt to suggest prioritized next actions.
Use when: Unsure what to work on next, starting a session, or feeling stuck.
/popkit-dev:pop-next-actionpop-nightly
Section titled “pop-nightly”Description: End-of-day cleanup routine. Calculates Sleep Score (0-100) based on uncommitted work, branch cleanup, issue updates, CI status, and service shutdown.
/popkit-dev:pop-nightlypop-routine-measure
Section titled “pop-routine-measure”Description: Display routine measurement dashboard with metrics, costs, trends, and visualization.
/popkit-dev:pop-routine-measurepop-routine-optimized
Section titled “pop-routine-optimized”Description: Token-optimized morning/nightly routine using caching and selective execution.
/popkit-dev:pop-routine-optimizedpop-session-capture
Section titled “pop-session-capture”Description: Save complete session state to STATUS.json for seamless continuation across conversations. Captures git context, in-progress tasks, service status, focus area, and next actions.
Use when: End of work sessions, before context limits, or when switching tasks.
/popkit-dev:pop-session-capturepop-session-resume
Section titled “pop-session-resume”Description: Restore context from STATUS.json at session start. Loads previous state, displays session type, shows what to continue working on.
/popkit-dev:pop-session-resumepop-worktree-manager
Section titled “pop-worktree-manager”Description: Python-based git worktree manager with 8 operations: list, create, remove, switch, update-all, prune, init, analyze. Handles cross-platform paths and STATUS.json integration.
/popkit-dev:pop-worktree-managerpop-worktrees
Section titled “pop-worktrees”Description: Create isolated git worktrees with smart directory selection and safety verification. Verifies .gitignore, runs project setup, confirms clean test baseline.
Use when: Starting feature work that needs isolation from current workspace.
/popkit-dev:pop-worktreespop-writing-plans
Section titled “pop-writing-plans”Description: Create comprehensive implementation plans with exact file paths, complete code examples, and verification steps for engineers with zero codebase context.
Use when: After brainstorming/design is complete when handing off to another developer or planning complex multi-step work.
/popkit-dev:pop-writing-planspop-session-branch
Section titled “pop-session-branch”Description: Create, switch, and merge session branches for side investigations. Branch off to explore bugs, research APIs, or debug issues without polluting main context. DAG-based session architecture inspired by Pi.
Use when: You need to temporarily investigate something unrelated to your main task.
/popkit-dev:pop-session-branchpopkit-ops (13 skills)
Section titled “popkit-ops (13 skills)”Operations and quality skills for assessments, testing, debugging, and benchmarking.
pop-assessment-anthropic
Section titled “pop-assessment-anthropic”Description: Validates PopKit compliance with Claude Code patterns using concrete standards and automated checks.
/popkit-ops:pop-assessment-anthropicpop-assessment-architecture
Section titled “pop-assessment-architecture”Description: Validates code quality using concrete metrics for DRY, coupling, cohesion, and architectural patterns.
/popkit-ops:pop-assessment-architecturepop-assessment-performance
Section titled “pop-assessment-performance”Description: Evaluates efficiency using concrete metrics for context usage, token consumption, and lazy loading validation.
/popkit-ops:pop-assessment-performancepop-assessment-security
Section titled “pop-assessment-security”Description: Validates security posture using concrete vulnerability patterns, automated secret scanning, and OWASP-aligned checklists.
/popkit-ops:pop-assessment-securitypop-assessment-ux
Section titled “pop-assessment-ux”Description: Evaluates user experience using concrete heuristics for command naming, error messages, and interaction patterns.
/popkit-ops:pop-assessment-uxpop-benchmark-runner
Section titled “pop-benchmark-runner”Description: Orchestrates benchmark execution comparing PopKit vs baseline Claude Code.
/popkit-ops:pop-benchmark-runnerpop-code-review
Section titled “pop-code-review”Description: Confidence-based code review that filters issues to 80+ threshold, eliminating false positives. Reviews implementation against plan or requirements for bugs, quality issues, and project conventions.
Use when: After completing major features, before merging to main, or after each task in multi-step workflows.
/popkit-ops:pop-code-reviewpop-systematic-debugging
Section titled “pop-systematic-debugging”Description: Four-phase debugging: root cause, patterns, hypothesis, implement. For complex bugs, test failures, and multi-component issues.
/popkit-ops:pop-systematic-debuggingpop-deploy-init
Section titled “pop-deploy-init”Description: Initialize deployment configuration for a project. Detects project type, target platform, and generates deploy.json configuration.
/popkit-ops:pop-deploy-initpop-deploy-setup
Section titled “pop-deploy-setup”Description: Set up deployment infrastructure — generates Dockerfiles, docker-compose, Kubernetes manifests, and CI/CD pipeline configs based on deploy.json configuration.
/popkit-ops:pop-deploy-setuppop-deploy-validate
Section titled “pop-deploy-validate”Description: Pre-deployment validation with build checks, test suite, security scans, and dependency audits. Generates readiness score (0-100) with go/no-go recommendation.
/popkit-ops:pop-deploy-validatepop-deploy-execute
Section titled “pop-deploy-execute”Description: Execute deployments to target environments with dry-run support. Captures metrics, handles rollback on failure, records deployment history.
/popkit-ops:pop-deploy-executepop-deploy-rollback
Section titled “pop-deploy-rollback”Description: Emergency rollback to previous versions with automatic and manual triggers. Validates rollback success and generates incident reports.
/popkit-ops:pop-deploy-rollbackpopkit-research (3 skills)
Section titled “popkit-research (3 skills)”Knowledge management skills for research capture and retrieval.
pop-knowledge-lookup
Section titled “pop-knowledge-lookup”Description: Query cached external documentation and blog content for authoritative, up-to-date information. Sources include Claude Code docs, engineering blog, and configured knowledge bases with 24-hour TTL caching.
Use when: You need current information about Claude Code features, hooks, or best practices.
/popkit-research:pop-knowledge-lookuppop-research-capture
Section titled “pop-research-capture”Description: Capture research insights, decisions, and learnings during development. Prompts for context and rationale, stores with embeddings for later semantic retrieval.
Use when: After completing spikes, making architectural decisions, or discovering important patterns.
/popkit-research:pop-research-capturepop-research-merge
Section titled “pop-research-merge”Description: Process research branches from Claude Code Web sessions - merges content, moves docs to .claude/research/, and creates GitHub issues.
Use when: /popkit-dev:next detects research branches or when manually processing research from mobile sessions.
/popkit-research:pop-research-mergeSkill Conventions
Section titled “Skill Conventions”Context Modes
Section titled “Context Modes”Skills declare their execution context:
- Default context: Runs in the main conversation (most skills)
- Forked context (
context: fork): Runs in an isolated context to reduce token overhead. Used for expensive operations like embeddings and web research.
The PopKit Way
Section titled “The PopKit Way”All skills end with AskUserQuestion to maintain workflow control. This ensures:
- Context-aware next action options
- Continuous workflow engagement
- Intentional user decisions at every step
Next Steps
Section titled “Next Steps”- Learn about Agents Reference
- Explore Commands Reference
- Read the Getting Started Guide