constitution:amend

Constitution Amendment Skill

You are amending a project's CONSTITUTION.md with version tracking.

Goal

Update constitutional principles with semantic versioning, maintain changelog (newest first), and automatically regenerate the implementation checklist.

Workflow

1. Find Constitution & Parse Version

Search for CONSTITUTION.md:

1. Current directory
2. Parent directories
3. Git root

Parse version from footer:

*Version: X.Y.Z*

If not found: Assume 1.0.0

2. Gather Amendment Details

Interactive prompts:

Prompt 1: Amendment Type

What type of amendment?

1. MAJOR - Breaking change (removes/fundamentally changes core principles)
2. MINOR - Additive change (adds new principles)
3. PATCH - Clarification (typo fixes, wording improvements)

Choice [1-3]:

Prompt 2: Change Description

Describe the changes (2-5 sentences):

Prompt 3: Migration Notes (skip for PATCH)

Migration guidance for existing code (what needs to change?):

Prompt 4: Rationale

Why is this amendment necessary?

3. Increment Version

Rules:

• MAJOR: X+1.0.0 (e.g., 2.3.1 → 3.0.0)

  • Removes principles
  • Fundamentally changes core requirements
  • Example: "Remove TDD requirement"

• MINOR: X.Y+1.0 (e.g., 2.3.1 → 2.4.0)

  • Adds new principles
  • Expands requirements
  • Example: "Add security audit requirement"

• PATCH: X.Y.Z+1 (e.g., 2.3.1 → 2.3.2)

  • Clarifies existing principles
  • Fixes typos
  • Example: "Clarify test coverage metric"

4. Render Amendment Entry

Load template from:

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/plugins/constitution/skills/amend/templates/amendment.template.md

Replace placeholders:

• {{new_version}} → Calculated version (e.g., "2.4.0")
• {{amendment_date}} → Today's date (YYYY-MM-DD format)
• {{amendment_type}} → MAJOR/MINOR/PATCH
• {{change_description}} → User input
• {{migration_notes}} → User input (or "N/A" for PATCH)
• {{rationale}} → User input

Rendering: Simple string replacement (no external dependencies)

5. Update Changelog

Find or create changelog section:

Look for:

## Changelog

If not found, insert after preamble (before first ## principle):

## Changelog

### Version {{new_version}} - {{amendment_date}}

**Type**: {{amendment_type}}

**Changes**:
{{change_description}}

**Migration Notes**:
{{migration_notes}}

**Rationale**:
{{rationale}}

---

If found: Insert rendered entry immediately after ## Changelog header (newest first):

## Changelog

### Version 2.4.0 - 2026-01-25
...

### Version 2.3.0 - 2026-01-20
...

6. Update Footer

Find footer (last 3 lines typically):

---

*Last amended: YYYY-MM-DD*
*Version: X.Y.Z*

Update:

• Last amended: → Today's date
• Version: → New version

If no footer exists, append:

---

*Last amended: 2026-01-25*
*Version: 2.4.0*

7. Regenerate Checklist

Automatically invoke checklist generator:

Output instruction:

Amendment complete. Now regenerating checklist to reflect updated principles...

Then instruct Claude:

Please run the constitution:checklist-generator skill to update the implementation checklist based on the amended constitution.

(Skills cannot directly invoke other skills, so this is an instruction for Claude to execute next)

8. Report Summary

Output:

✓ Constitution amended successfully

Version: 1.2.3 → 2.0.0
Type: MAJOR
Date: 2026-01-25

Changelog entry added (3 total entries)
Footer updated
Checklist regeneration requested

⚠️  MAJOR version change detected!
Review existing code for compliance with updated principles.

Migration notes:
[User's migration guidance]

Edge Cases

No constitution found: Error with "Run constitution:writer first"

Invalid version format: Assume 1.0.0 and add warning

Changelog placement: If unclear structure, add section at end (before footer)

Empty migration notes: Use "N/A" for PATCH, require for MAJOR/MINOR

Version Decision Tree

Amendment removes principles? → MAJOR
Amendment changes core requirements fundamentally? → MAJOR
Amendment adds new principles? → MINOR
Amendment expands scope? → MINOR
Amendment clarifies existing wording? → PATCH
Amendment fixes typos? → PATCH

When uncertain: Ask user to confirm type before proceeding

Anti-Patterns

❌ Don't:

• Manually edit checklist (let generator handle it)
• Put oldest changelog entry first (newest on top)
• Skip migration notes for breaking changes
• Use PATCH for additive changes
• Forget to update footer

✅ Do:

• Always regenerate checklist after amendment
• Maintain newest-first changelog order
• Provide clear migration guidance
• Use semantic versioning correctly
• Commit constitution and checklist together