Next Item Recommendation Mode

Next Item Recommendation Mode

You are now in Next Item Recommendation Mode. Your role is to analyze the project backlog and recommend the highest-priority work item that is ready to be implemented.

Your Focus

• Issue retrieval: Use gh-api-scripts to get all project issues with field values
• Item filtering: Filter items with Ready status (or equivalent)
• Priority sorting: Sort by Priority field (P0 > P1 > P2 > P3)
• Codebase signals: Use lightweight git heuristics as secondary tiebreaker
• Presentation: Display top 2-3 options in tabular format with rationale

Required Skills

IMPORTANT: Before performing any GitHub Project operations, you MUST invoke the compass-rose:gh-api-scripts skill using the Skill tool:

Skill(compass-rose:gh-api-scripts)

This skill provides the list-issues operation needed for this skill. Do NOT use raw gh project commands.

Workflow

1. Query All Issues

Use the list-issues operation from the gh-api-scripts skill (which you invoked above). The skill documentation shows the exact command syntax using ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}.

Output Format (JSON):

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "issues": [
      {
        "number": 42,
        "title": "Fix login timeout",
        "body": "Users experiencing timeouts...",
        "url": "https://github.com/.../issues/42",
        "state": "OPEN",
        "labels": ["bug"],
        "status": "Ready",
        "priority": "P0",
        "size": "S"
      }
    ],
    "count": 8
  }
}

2. Filter Ready Items

Filter for items with "Ready" status (case-insensitive):

# Filter items with "Ready" status
ready_items=$(echo "$ALL_ISSUES" | jq -r '[
  .[] |
  select(.state == "OPEN") |
  select(.status | test("ready"; "i"))
]')

Graceful Degradation: If Priority field values are all null:

Warning: Priority field not found or not set on items. All items will be treated as equal priority.

To enable priority-based sorting, add a "Priority" field to your project with values like P0, P1, P2, P3.

Continue with available data even if some fields are missing.

If no ready items found:

No items found with "Ready" status.

Available statuses in project: To Do, In progress, Done

Would you like me to show items from a different status instead?

3. Analyze Codebase Signals and Sort

This step uses lightweight git heuristics to add codebase relevance as a secondary tiebreaker (after priority, before creation date). Budget: 2-5 seconds total.

Step 3a: Initial Priority Sort

Sort items by priority to identify top 5 candidates:

# Initial sort by priority only
top_candidates=$(echo "$ready_items" | jq -r '
  sort_by(.priority | sub("P"; "") | tonumber? // 999) |
  .[0:5]
')

Step 3b: Codebase Signal Analysis

Check Git Availability:

# Verify we're in a git repository
if git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  CODEBASE_ENABLED=true

  # Cache recently modified files (last 7 days)
  RECENT_FILES=$(timeout 1s git log --since="7 days ago" --name-only --pretty=format: 2>/dev/null | sort -u | grep -v '^$' || echo "")
else
  CODEBASE_ENABLED=false
fi

Calculate Signal Score (for each top 5 candidate):

calculate_signal_score() {
  local title="$1"
  local body="$2"
  local score=0

  # Extract keywords from title and body (3+ char words, no stop words)
  keywords=$(echo "$title $body" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | \
    grep -oE '\b[a-z]{3,}\b' | \
    grep -vE '^(the|and|for|are|but|not|you|all|can|had|was|one|has|this|that|with|from|they|have|been|will|what|when|your|which|would|there|their|about|could|other|these|than|into|some|them|only|over|such|after|also|most|made|just|very|where|while|should|since|because|using|without)$' | \
    sort -u | head -10)

  # Heuristic A: Keywords match recently modified files (+30 points)
  for kw in $keywords; do
    if echo "$RECENT_FILES" | grep -qi "$kw"; then
      score=$((score + 30))
      break  # Only count once
    fi
  done

  # Heuristic B: File paths mentioned in issue exist (+20 points)
  file_refs=$(echo "$body" | grep -oE '[a-zA-Z0-9_/-]+\.(ts|js|py|json|md|yaml|yml)' | head -3)
  for ref in $file_refs; do
    if git ls-files --cached 2>/dev/null | grep -q "$ref"; then
      score=$((score + 20))
      break  # Only count once
    fi
  done

  # Heuristic C: Related directory has recent commits (+5 per commit, max 50)
  dirs=$(echo "$body" | grep -oE '\b(src|lib|test|tests|config|utils)/[a-zA-Z0-9_/-]+' | head -2)
  for dir in $dirs; do
    commits=$(timeout 0.5s git log --since="30 days ago" --oneline -- "$dir" 2>/dev/null | wc -l || echo 0)
    score=$((score + commits * 5))
  done

  # Cap at 100
  [ $score -gt 100 ] && score=100
  echo $score
}

Signal Scoring Summary:

• +30 points: Issue keywords match recently modified files (7 days)
• +20 points: File paths mentioned in issue exist in codebase
• +5 per commit: Related directories have recent activity (30 days, max 50 points)
• Maximum: 100 points

Step 3c: Final Sort with Codebase Signals

Sort Order (most significant to least):

1. Priority (P0=0, P1=1, P2=2, P3=3, missing=999)
2. Codebase Signal Score (0-100, higher is better)
3. Creation Date (oldest first)

# Re-sort candidates with codebase signals
echo "$candidates_with_scores" | jq -r '
  sort_by(
    (.priority | sub("P"; "") | tonumber? // 999),  # Primary: Priority
    (100 - (.codebase_score // 0)),                  # Secondary: Codebase signal (inverted)
    .createdAt                                       # Tertiary: Creation date
  ) |
  .[0:3]
'

Codebase Relevance Labels:

• High (60-100): Active development area, concrete file references
• Medium (30-59): Some related activity or file references
• Low (0-29): No recent activity or file references
• N/A: Codebase analysis unavailable (not a git repo)

Graceful Degradation

If git is unavailable or heuristics fail:

Note: Codebase analysis unavailable (not a git repository).
Recommendations based on priority and creation date only.

If git operations time out:

• Use partial results if available
• Fall back to priority + creation date sort
• Do not block the skill

4. Present Recommendations

Display top 2-3 options in tabular format following TD-8 specification:

| # | Title                      | Priority | Size | Status | Codebase |
|---|----------------------------|----------|------|--------|----------|
| 1 | Fix login timeout bug      | P0       | S    | Ready  | High     |
| 2 | Add user preferences page  | P1       | M    | Ready  | Medium   |
| 3 | Improve error messages     | P1       | S    | Ready  | Low      |

**Recommendation**: Item #1 (P0 priority, small scope, high codebase relevance)

**Rationale**: This is the highest priority item in the backlog. The P0 designation
indicates critical urgency, and the small size (S) makes it achievable in a single
focused session. The issue has clear acceptance criteria and is ready for immediate
implementation.

**Codebase Relevance**: High - The `auth/` directory mentioned in this issue has
8 commits in the last 30 days. The file `src/auth/session.ts` referenced in the
issue exists in the codebase.

**Alternative Options**:
- Item #2: Same priority (P1) as item #3 but ranked higher due to active development
  in the `preferences/` module (3 recent commits).
- Item #3: Also P1 priority but lower codebase relevance. Good backup if item #1 is blocked.

Rationale Elements to Include:

• Priority justification: Why this item ranks highest (P0 designation, urgency)
• Size assessment: Small items are more achievable in single session
• Codebase relevance: Explain why item scored High/Medium/Low
• Definition quality: Mention if acceptance criteria are clear
• Context: Any relevant technical considerations or dependencies

If codebase signals caused reordering (same priority items):

**Note**: Item #2 ranks ahead of item #3 (same priority P1) due to higher codebase
relevance - the feature area has recent commits suggesting active development context.

If all items have equal priority (missing Priority field):

**Recommendation**: Item #1 (highest codebase relevance, small scope, ready for work)

**Rationale**: No priority field found in project, so recommending based on codebase
relevance and age. This item relates to actively developed code and is small enough
to complete in one session.

If codebase analysis unavailable:

**Codebase Relevance**: N/A - Not a git repository.

5. Handle Edge Cases

No Ready Items:

No items found with "Ready" status.

Available statuses: To Do (15 items), In progress (3 items), Done (42 items)

Would you like me to analyze the "To Do" backlog instead?

Missing Priority Field:

Warning: Priority field not found. Sorting by creation date instead.

All items shown below are treated as equal priority.

Authentication Issues:

Error: GitHub CLI is not authenticated.

Run the following command to authenticate:
  gh auth login

After authentication, you may need to add the 'project' scope:
  gh auth refresh -s project

Project Not Found:

Error: Project not found.

Verify that:
1. Project owner is correct: <owner>
2. Project number is correct: <number>
3. You have access to the project
4. You are authenticated: gh auth status

Requirements Mapping

This skill implements the following specification requirements:

• REQ-F-4: Retrieve project items filtered by status
• REQ-F-5: Sort items by priority field (P0 > P1 > P2 > P3)
• REQ-F-6: Display item summary, priority, size, and iteration
• REQ-F-11: Recommend based on priority, size, and definition quality
• REQ-NF-3: Handle missing custom fields gracefully (warn, don't fail)
• REQ-NF-4: Explain reasoning when making recommendations

Implementation Notes

Performance Targets:

• Issue retrieval: <2s (gh-api-scripts handles pagination)
• Codebase analysis: 2-5s (top 5 items, git heuristics)
• Total operation: <8s end-to-end

Codebase Analysis Budget:

• Recent file detection: ~50ms (single git log, cached)
• Per-item keyword check: ~10ms
• Per-item file existence: ~50ms
• Per-item related activity: ~100ms
• Total for 5 items: ~800ms typical, <3s worst case

Data Freshness:

• Always fetch fresh data (no caching between sessions per spec constraint)
• Ensures recommendations reflect current project state

CLI Dependencies:

• gh CLI installed and authenticated
• project scope authorized (gh auth refresh -s project)
• jq for JSON parsing (check availability, provide clear error if missing)

Example Output

Retrieving project issues...
Found 8 items with "Ready" status

Analyzing codebase signals...
Git repository detected, running heuristics on top 5 candidates

Sorting by priority and codebase relevance...

| # | Title                           | Priority | Size | Status | Codebase |
|---|---------------------------------|----------|------|--------|----------|
| 1 | Fix authentication timeout      | P0       | S    | Ready  | High     |
| 2 | Implement user preferences API  | P1       | M    | Ready  | Medium   |
| 3 | Add error logging to webhook    | P1       | S    | Ready  | Low      |

**Recommendation**: Item #1 - "Fix authentication timeout"

**Rationale**: This is the highest priority item (P0 = critical) and has the
smallest scope (S). The issue describes a production bug affecting user login
sessions, with clear reproduction steps and acceptance criteria. This can be
completed in a single focused session.

**Codebase Relevance**: High - The `src/auth/` directory has 12 commits in the
last 30 days, indicating active development. The file `auth/session.ts` mentioned
in the issue exists in the codebase.

**Alternative Options**:
- Item #2 (P1/M): Ranked above item #3 due to recent activity in the `preferences/`
  module (5 commits). Higher effort but aligns with current development focus.
- Item #3 (P1/S): Small scope but low codebase relevance (no recent webhook changes).
  Consider as backup if authentication issue proves more complex than estimated.

Would you like to start work on item #1? (/compass-rose:start-work skill)

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

• Don't use raw gh commands: Always use gh-api-scripts skill for GitHub Project operations
• Don't fail silently: If fields are missing, warn the user and explain impact
• Don't show too many options: Limit to top 2-3 items to avoid decision paralysis
• Don't forget rationale: Always explain WHY you're recommending an item
• Don't let codebase analysis block: If git fails or times out, continue with priority sort
• Don't over-weight codebase signals: They are tiebreakers, not primary sort criteria

Related Skills

• /compass-rose:backlog - Review entire backlog with quality analysis
• /compass-rose:start-work - Begin implementation of selected item
• /compass-rose:add-item - Create new issue and add to project
• /compass-rose:reprioritize - Codebase-aware priority updates

References

• Spec: REQ-F-4, REQ-F-5, REQ-F-6, REQ-F-11, REQ-NF-3, REQ-NF-4
• Plan: TD-6 (Priority Sorting), TD-8 (Item Presentation Format)
• Skill: compass-rose/skills/gh-api-scripts/SKILL.md (GitHub Project API operations)