escalate
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npx mdskill add doodledood/manifest-dev/escalateEscalates blockers with structured analysis and resolution options
- Surfaces unrecoverable blockers with evidence and attempted solutions
- Works with /do and verification systems to identify and report failures
- Evaluates failure causes and proposes actionable resolution paths
- Delivers clear options to the user for unblocking progress
SKILL.md
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---
name: escalate
description: 'Structured escalation when /do hits an unrecoverable blocker. Surfaces what was tried, why it failed, and what the user can decide. Called by /do when work is blocked, cannot proceed, hits an unrecoverable failure, needs a user decision, or gets stuck.'
user-invocable: false
---
Surface a blocker with evidence: the criterion (INV-G or AC ID) that can't be met, what was tried and why each attempt failed, the resolutions you see (fix path, amend the criterion, drop it, descope), and what you need from the user to unblock. Lazy escalations ("I can't", "this is hard") are rejected — show the attempts.
A BLOCKED verifier verdict (e.g., "deploy hasn't happened yet", "awaiting human approval") routes here too, with the BLOCKED note quoted from the verifier and the suggested user action carried through. Pure questions about the manifest or process are answered inline by /do, not escalated.
**If the user responds with a scope change rather than addressing the blocker** ("change AC-X", "drop that criterion", "add a check for Y", "actually we also need Z"), invoke `/manifest-dev:define <manifest-path>` to amend the manifest, then resume /do. Otherwise (user clears the blocker or supplies missing context), resume /do directly.
More from doodledood/manifest-dev
- autoEnd-to-end autonomous execution: figure-out → define → do, chained without manual approval gates. Use when you want to define and execute without intervention during planning, when the user asks for autonomous or end-to-end work, says just build it, or asks to tend or babysit a PR.
- auto-optimize-promptIteratively auto-optimize a prompt until no issues remain. Uses prompt-reviewer in a loop, asks user for ambiguities, applies fixes via prompt-engineering skill. Runs until converged.
- compress-promptCompresses prompts/skills into minimal goal-focused instructions. Trusts the model, drops what it already knows, maximizes action space. Use when asked to compress, condense, or minimize a prompt.
- defineManifest builder. Turns shared understanding into a verifiable Manifest with Deliverables, Acceptance Criteria, Global Invariants, and Approach. Use when planning features, scoping refactors, debugging complex issues, or when the user asks to define, scope, plan, spec out, make a manifest, or break down a task.
- doneCompletion marker for the /do workflow. Outputs a plain-prose summary of what was built. Called by /do after every Acceptance Criterion and Global Invariant verifies PASS, when the manifest is complete, all criteria pass, or the workflow needs to wrap up with a completion summary.
- exampleAnalyzes the current project structure and tech stack. Use when asked to explore, understand, or summarize a project. Trigger terms: project overview, analyze codebase, what is this project.
- figure-outFigure things out together — any topic, problem, or idea. Presses relentlessly until shared understanding is reached. Use when you need to understand before acting, when figuring it out is the goal, or when the user asks to think through a decision, dig deeper, press an assumption, investigate why something is happening, or work through a problem.
- figure-out-teamDrive a multi-party deliberation in a Slack channel or thread. The agent is an involved orchestrator — presses rigorously, brings evidence, names trade-offs, surfaces disagreements, advances when answers cohere; owner-by-Slack-handle overrules. Use when the people involved cannot all sit in one chat, when deliberation has to happen in Slack, or when the user asks to figure out with the team, press a group asynchronously, or get the team aligned.
- harden-task-fileHarden /define task guidance files for one-shot quality. Iterates: orthogonality gap analysis, user-approved additions, prompt review, fix, converge. Use when a task file needs comprehensive coverage or "harden task file".
- learn-from-sessionAnalyze Claude Code sessions to learn what went right/wrong and suggest high-confidence improvements to skills. Use when asked to analyze a session, learn from a session, or review workflow effectiveness.