software-lifecycle plugin
Work in a Software Lifecycle project: proposals -> decisions -> specs -> postmortems, plus guides.
How to install the software-lifecycle plugin
Run both commands inside Claude Code. The first adds the marketplace once; the second installs the plugin.
/plugin marketplace add inkeep/open-knowledge-skills
/plugin install software-lifecycle@open-knowledge-skillsWhat's inside software-lifecycle
6 parts read from the plugin's own files.
Skills 6
Claude loads it when the task matches- frame-a-proposal
Frame a new design proposal (RFC-shape) under proposals/ — problem before solution, named beneficiary and observable change, real alternatives, honest drawbacks, and a live open-questions backlog. Read when asked to frame a proposal, write an RFC, propose a design, pitch a change, draft a PRD-style design doc, or open a design proposal for review. Do NOT read to record a decision after it is accepted (use record-a-decision), to write an implementation spec (use write-a-spec), to write a postmortem (use write-a-postmortem), or to review or critique an existing design (use review-a-design).
- record-a-decision
Records an architecture decision as a Nygard/MADR-shaped ADR under decisions/ — capturing the context that forced the choice, the options weighed, the decision itself, and its consequences in both directions, plus the supersedes chain that keeps a decision log honest. Read when asked to record an architecture decision, write an ADR, log the decision we made, document why we chose X over Y, capture this decision for the record, or supersede an old decision with a new one. Do NOT read to frame a proposal or explore an idea not yet decided (frame-a-proposal), to write a spec or implementation plan (write-a-spec), to write an incident postmortem (write-a-postmortem), or to judge whether a design is sound (review-a-design). This skill records a decision already made; it does not make one.
- review-a-design
Reviews whether a design is SOUND — solving the right problem, derived from its stated goals and constraints — and emits ranked, evidence-backed findings, not edits. Read when asked to 'review this design', 'is this design sound', 'pressure-test this proposal', 'do a design review', 'does this solve the right problem', 'poke holes in this spec', 'should we build this', or to critique a proposal / spec / ADR / architecture or product decision. Do NOT read when the user wants to AUTHOR one of these — routing a new proposal is frame-a-proposal, a spec is write-a-spec, a decision record is record-a-decision, a postmortem is write-a-postmortem. Do NOT read for code review of a diff, or to fact-check individual claims (that is a correctness pass, a different job).
- software-lifecycle
How to work in a Software Lifecycle project (the `software-lifecycle` starter pack): proposals → decisions → specs → postmortems, plus guides. Read when the project has these folders, or when asked how this project is organized. Carries the doc lifecycle, status flows, and per-folder agent behaviors so that guidance does not live inside template bodies or folder descriptions. The five workflows — frame a proposal, write a spec, record a decision, write a postmortem, review a design — each ship as their own sibling skill in this pack. Complements the platform `open-knowledge` skill; does not replace it.
- write-a-postmortem
Write a blameless incident postmortem under postmortems/ following the Google SRE shape — evidence-based timeline, trigger vs root cause vs symptom, contributing factors, what went well, and owned+dated+verifiable action items. Read when asked to write a postmortem, do an incident review, run a root cause analysis, write up the outage, retro on the outage, or when the user says we had an incident and wants it documented. Do NOT read to frame a proposal (use frame-a-proposal), write a spec (use write-a-spec), record a decision (use record-a-decision), or review a design (use review-a-design) — a postmortem documents an incident that already happened, it does not propose, specify, decide, or critique future work.
- write-a-spec
Scope a feature end to end and write an implementation spec under specs/ from an accepted proposal — current-system mapping, goals/non-goals, a Decision Log for one-way-door choices, a live Open Questions backlog, and a real migration + test plan. Read when asked to write a spec, scope this feature, turn this proposal into a spec, plan the implementation, or break this into tasks. Do NOT fire on frame a proposal or write the PRD (sibling frame-a-proposal — a PRD frames a change before it is accepted; this skill starts once one is), record a decision or write the ADR (record-a-decision), write a postmortem (write-a-postmortem), or review this design (review-a-design) — those are separate skills. Complements the platform open-knowledge skill; does not replace it.
Using software-lifecycle in Claude Code
Skills need no command. Claude reads them when your request matches what they describe.
Update, turn off or remove
- Update the plugin (shell)
- claude plugin update software-lifecycle@open-knowledge-skills
- Refresh the marketplace
- /plugin marketplace update open-knowledge-skills
- Turn it off for now
- /plugin disable software-lifecycle@open-knowledge-skills
- Remove it
- /plugin uninstall software-lifecycle@open-knowledge-skills
Skills in software-lifecycle
- software-lifecycleinkeep/open-knowledge-skills
How to work in a Software Lifecycle project (the `software-lifecycle` starter pack): proposals → decisions → specs → postmortems, plus guides. Read when the project has these folders, or when asked how this project is organized. Carries the doc lifecycle, status flows, and per-folder agent behaviors so that guidance does not live inside template bodies or folder descriptions. The five workflows — frame a proposal, write a spec, record a decision, write a postmortem, review a design — each ship as their own sibling skill in this pack. Complements the platform `open-knowledge` skill; does not replace it.
2 files17stars - frame-a-proposalinkeep/open-knowledge-skills
Frame a new design proposal (RFC-shape) under proposals/ — problem before solution, named beneficiary and observable change, real alternatives, honest drawbacks, and a live open-questions backlog. Read when asked to frame a proposal, write an RFC, propose a design, pitch a change, draft a PRD-style design doc, or open a design proposal for review. Do NOT read to record a decision after it is accepted (use record-a-decision), to write an implementation spec (use write-a-spec), to write a postmortem (use write-a-postmortem), or to review or critique an existing design (use review-a-design).
17stars - record-a-decisioninkeep/open-knowledge-skills
Records an architecture decision as a Nygard/MADR-shaped ADR under decisions/ — capturing the context that forced the choice, the options weighed, the decision itself, and its consequences in both directions, plus the supersedes chain that keeps a decision log honest. Read when asked to record an architecture decision, write an ADR, log the decision we made, document why we chose X over Y, capture this decision for the record, or supersede an old decision with a new one. Do NOT read to frame a proposal or explore an idea not yet decided (frame-a-proposal), to write a spec or implementation plan (write-a-spec), to write an incident postmortem (write-a-postmortem), or to judge whether a design is sound (review-a-design). This skill records a decision already made; it does not make one.
17stars - review-a-designinkeep/open-knowledge-skills
Reviews whether a design is SOUND — solving the right problem, derived from its stated goals and constraints — and emits ranked, evidence-backed findings, not edits. Read when asked to 'review this design', 'is this design sound', 'pressure-test this proposal', 'do a design review', 'does this solve the right problem', 'poke holes in this spec', 'should we build this', or to critique a proposal / spec / ADR / architecture or product decision. Do NOT read when the user wants to AUTHOR one of these — routing a new proposal is frame-a-proposal, a spec is write-a-spec, a decision record is record-a-decision, a postmortem is write-a-postmortem. Do NOT read for code review of a diff, or to fact-check individual claims (that is a correctness pass, a different job).
17stars - write-a-postmorteminkeep/open-knowledge-skills
Write a blameless incident postmortem under postmortems/ following the Google SRE shape — evidence-based timeline, trigger vs root cause vs symptom, contributing factors, what went well, and owned+dated+verifiable action items. Read when asked to write a postmortem, do an incident review, run a root cause analysis, write up the outage, retro on the outage, or when the user says we had an incident and wants it documented. Do NOT read to frame a proposal (use frame-a-proposal), write a spec (use write-a-spec), record a decision (use record-a-decision), or review a design (use review-a-design) — a postmortem documents an incident that already happened, it does not propose, specify, decide, or critique future work.
17stars - write-a-specinkeep/open-knowledge-skills
Scope a feature end to end and write an implementation spec under specs/ from an accepted proposal — current-system mapping, goals/non-goals, a Decision Log for one-way-door choices, a live Open Questions backlog, and a real migration + test plan. Read when asked to write a spec, scope this feature, turn this proposal into a spec, plan the implementation, or break this into tasks. Do NOT fire on frame a proposal or write the PRD (sibling frame-a-proposal — a PRD frames a change before it is accepted; this skill starts once one is), record a decision or write the ADR (record-a-decision), write a postmortem (write-a-postmortem), or review this design (review-a-design) — those are separate skills. Complements the platform open-knowledge skill; does not replace it.
17stars
software-lifecycle plugin questions
How do I install the software-lifecycle plugin?
In Claude Code run /plugin marketplace add inkeep/open-knowledge-skills, then /plugin install software-lifecycle@open-knowledge-skills.
What does the software-lifecycle plugin include?
software-lifecycle bundles 6 skills.
How do I update or remove the software-lifecycle plugin?
Update it with claude plugin update software-lifecycle@open-knowledge-skills in your shell, or from the Installed tab of /plugin. Remove it with /plugin uninstall software-lifecycle@open-knowledge-skills.