Arness Assess

Run a comprehensive technical assessment of the codebase against stored patterns, let the user prioritize findings, then orchestrate the full Arness pipeline (spec → plan → execute → test → ship) for multiple improvements in a single session.

This skill is a sequencer and decision-gate handler, like arn-planning. It MUST NOT duplicate sub-skill or agent logic. All pipeline work is done by the invoked skills and agents. This skill handles: scope selection, assessment orchestration, finding prioritization, multi-spec pipeline management, and progress display.

Prerequisites

Check for a ## Arness section in the project's CLAUDE.md. If missing, inform the user: "Arness is not configured for this project yet. Run /arn-assessing to get started — it will set everything up automatically." Do not proceed without it.

Additionally, verify that pattern files exist at the configured code-patterns path. At minimum, these must exist:

• code-patterns.md
• testing-patterns.md
• architecture.md

If any required pattern file is missing, inform the user: "Pattern documentation is incomplete. Run /arn-assessing which will generate pattern docs on first use."

Decision Gates

The skill pauses at exactly 7 gates. Steps marked (auto) flow without stopping.

Pipeline Overview

Arness Assess: scope → assess → prioritize → spec(s) → plan all → save all → [taskify+execute]×N → test → ship

Workflow

Step 0: Initialize

1. Read the project's CLAUDE.md and extract the ## Arness section.
2. Extract configuration fields:
   • Plans directory — where plans and project folders live
   • Specs directory — where specs and assessment reports are stored
   • Code patterns — path to pattern documentation directory
   • Docs directory — for documentation generation
   • Git — whether git is configured
   • GitHub/Platform — for shipping
3. Load pattern files from the configured code-patterns path:
   • code-patterns.md (required)
   • testing-patterns.md (required)
   • architecture.md (required)
   • ui-patterns.md (optional — sets has_ui_patterns = true)
   • security-patterns.md (optional — sets has_security_patterns = true)

Step 1: Detect Assessment State (Resumability)

Check for existing assessment artifacts:

If artifacts detected, ask: "It looks like you have an in-progress assessment. Resume from [stage], or start fresh?"

Step 2: Gate G1 — Scope Selection

Show progress:

Arness Assess: SCOPE → assess → prioritize → spec(s) → plan → save → execute → test → ship             ^^^^^

Even if the user triggered the skill with arguments (e.g., "assess the auth module"), confirm scope with AskUserQuestion:

"What would you like to assess?"

Options:

1. Assess entire codebase — Full review against all stored patterns
2. Assess specific area — Review a particular module, directory, or concern

If specific area: ask the user to describe the area (module name, directory path, or concern like "authentication" or "API layer").

Store the scope for agent invocations. Derive a scope name for the assessment file:

• Entire codebase → full-codebase
• Specific area → kebab-case of the area (e.g., auth-module, api-layer)

Step 3: Assessment

Show progress:

Arness Assess: scope → ASSESS → prioritize → spec(s) → plan → save → execute → test → ship                      ^^^^^^

Inform: "Running assessment agents against stored patterns..."

Read the assessment protocol:

Read ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/arn-code-assess/references/assessment-protocol.md

Agent invocations — launch all applicable agents in parallel:

Always invoke arn-code-architect with:

• The architect assessment prompt template from the protocol
• Codebase context: full content of code-patterns.md, testing-patterns.md, architecture.md
• Scope: the scope from G1

If has_ui_patterns is true, also invoke arn-code-ux-specialist with:

• The UX specialist assessment prompt template from the protocol
• Context: ui-patterns.md, architecture.md, code-patterns.md
• Scope from G1

If has_security_patterns is true, also invoke arn-code-security-specialist with:

• The security specialist assessment prompt template from the protocol
• Context: security-patterns.md, architecture.md, code-patterns.md
• Scope from G1

All applicable agents are invoked in parallel (single message, multiple Agent tool calls).

After all agents return:

Follow the merge, deduplication, ID assignment, and report generation procedures defined in the assessment protocol. Write the assessment report to <specs-dir>/ASSESSMENT_<scope-name>.md.

Present the findings to the user grouped by category with severity indicators.

If no findings: "Assessment found no significant deviations from stored patterns. Your codebase is in good shape!" — exit gracefully.

Step 4: Gate G2 — Prioritize

Show progress:

Arness Assess: scope → assess → PRIORITIZE → spec(s) → plan → save → execute → test → ship                                ^^^^^^^^^^

Ask: "These are the assessment findings. Ready to prioritize, or would you like to investigate any finding further?"

If the user wants to investigate: discuss the specific finding, read relevant files, provide more context. Return to this gate when done.

Present findings as a numbered list (grouped by severity: high first). Ask:

"Select which improvements to implement (comma-separated numbers, 'all', or 'all high'):"

After selection, proceed to G3.

Step 5: Gate G3 — Spec Strategy

Ask with AskUserQuestion:

"How should these improvements be organized into specifications?"

Options:

1. Bundle all into one spec — Single feature spec covering all selected improvements
2. Create separate specs — One spec per improvement
3. Let Arness suggest groupings — Group by affected module or theme

If "Let Arness suggest groupings":

• Group findings that share affected files or are in the same architectural area
• Present the suggested groups: "Group 1: [finding IDs] — [theme]. Group 2: [finding IDs] — [theme]."
• Ask the user to confirm or adjust the groupings

Store the final bundles as spec_bundles — a list where each entry has a name and a list of finding IDs.

Step 6: Create Specs

Show progress:

Arness Assess: scope → assess → prioritize → SPEC(s) → plan → save → execute → test → ship                                            ^^^^^^^

For each bundle in spec_bundles:

Compose a feature description from the bundled findings:

• Title: "Improve [primary category]: [brief summary of findings]"
• Body: List each finding's description and suggested approach
• Context: Reference the assessment report for full details

Invoke Skill: arn-code:arn-code-feature-spec with the composed description as context.

After each spec is created, track the spec filename in spec_list.

If arn-code-feature-spec fails for a bundle, offer to split into individual findings and retry.

Step 7: Plan All

Show progress:

Arness Assess: scope → assess → prioritize → spec(s) → PLAN → save → execute → test → ship                                                       ^^^^

Inform: "Generating plans for all specs..."

For each spec in spec_list:

• Invoke Skill: arn-code:arn-code-plan <spec-name>
• Track the plan preview path

Step 8: Gate G4 — Review Plans

Present all generated plans with a brief summary of each (phase count, task count, estimated scope).

Ask with AskUserQuestion:

"Plans are ready. How would you like to proceed?"

Options:

1. Approve all plans — Proceed to save and execute
2. Revise a plan — Re-invoke arn-code-plan with feedback for a specific spec
3. Remove a spec — Drop a spec from the pipeline

If Revise: ask which plan and what feedback, re-invoke arn-code:arn-code-plan, return to this gate. If Remove: mark the spec as skipped in state tracking, return to this gate with remaining plans. Continue until the user approves.

Step 9: Save All (auto)

Show progress:

Arness Assess: scope → assess → prioritize → spec(s) → plan → SAVE → execute → test → ship                                                               ^^^^

Inform: "Converting plans to structured projects..."

For each approved plan:

• Invoke Skill: arn-code:arn-code-save-plan

Step 10: Sequential Taskify + Execute

Show progress:

Arness Assess: scope → assess → prioritize → spec(s) → plan → save → EXECUTE → test → ship                                                                     ^^^^^^^

Read the orchestration flow:

Read ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/arn-code-assess/references/orchestration-flow.md

Determine execution order using the ordering heuristic from the orchestration flow. Present the suggested order and allow the user to override.

For each spec in execution order:

1. Conflict check (skip for the first spec):

   • Compare files modified by previously executed specs against files referenced in this spec's phase plans
   • Follow the conflict detection algorithm from the orchestration flow
   • If conflicts detected → Gate G5: Present conflicts using the format from the orchestration flow. Ask with AskUserQuestion:
     • Re-plan — Re-invoke arn-code:arn-code-plan and arn-code:arn-code-save-plan for this spec
     • Proceed anyway — Execute the existing plan
     • Skip this spec — Mark as skipped, move to next

2. Taskify: Invoke Skill: arn-code:arn-code-taskify

3. Execute: Invoke Skill: arn-code:arn-code-execute-plan

4. Track results: Collect execution reports, extract list of files modified, update spec state

If execution fails mid-spec:

• Present the failure
• Ask: Retry / Skip remaining tasks in this spec / Abort pipeline

Step 11: Test

Show progress:

Arness Assess: scope → assess → prioritize → spec(s) → plan → save → execute → TEST → ship                                                                                ^^^^

Invoke the arn-code-test-specialist agent via the Agent tool with:

• Scope: "full suite"
• Code patterns directory: the configured code-patterns path

Gate G6 — based on verdict:

If ALL PASSING: "All tests pass. Ready to ship."

If FAILURES DETECTED or ERRORS DETECTED:

• Present the failures from the test report

• Ask with AskUserQuestion:

  "Tests have failures. How would you like to proceed?"

  Options:

  1. Fix and re-test — User fixes the issues, then re-invoke arn-code-test-specialist
  2. Proceed despite failures — Continue to ship (warn: not recommended)
  3. Abort — Stop the pipeline, show what was completed

Loop on option 1 until tests pass or user chooses another option.

Step 12: Gate G7 — Ship

Show progress:

Arness Assess: scope → assess → prioritize → spec(s) → plan → save → execute → test → SHIP                                                                                      ^^^^

Ask with AskUserQuestion:

"Ready to ship?"

Options:

1. Commit, push & create PR — Full ship workflow
2. Just commit — Commit locally without pushing
3. Not yet — Exit without shipping (can run /arn-code-ship later)

If Commit, push & create PR or Just commit: → Skill: arn-code:arn-code-ship

If Not yet: show what was completed and inform the user they can ship later.

Step 13: Complete

Show final progress:

Arness Assess: scope → assess → prioritize → spec(s) → plan → save → execute → test → ship
               ✓       ✓          ✓           ✓         ✓      ✓       ✓        ✓      ✓

Present completion summary:

• Assessment: N findings across N categories (H high, M medium, L low)
• Selected: N improvements (of N total findings)
• Specs created: [list of spec names]
• Specs executed: [count] executed, [count] skipped
• Tests: [verdict]
• Ship: [PR URL / commit hash / deferred]

"Assessment pipeline complete. Run /arn-code-assess again anytime to review your codebase."

Error Handling

• Sub-skill fails: Present the error. Ask: retry / skip / abort. If retry, re-invoke. If skip, continue to next gate. If abort, show what was completed and exit.
• Agent returns empty findings: Report that the agent found no issues in its domain. Continue with findings from other agents.
• No findings at all: Exit gracefully with positive message (see Step 3).
• User says "stop" or "pause": Show what has been completed. Inform user they can resume by running /arn-code-assess again (artifact detection will pick up).
• Conflict detection finds massive overlap (5+ files across 3+ specs): Warn and suggest re-bundling remaining specs into a single combined spec.
• Arness not configured: Block and suggest running /arn-assessing to get started.
• Multiple assessment files detected during resume: List them and ask which to resume.

Constraints

• This skill MUST NOT duplicate sub-skill or agent logic. It only handles sequencing, decision gates, and multi-spec orchestration.
• All pipeline work is done by invoked skills (via Skill tool) and agents (via Agent tool).
• Progress display uses the compact format shown above — one line with the current stage highlighted.
• The skill runs in normal conversation (not plan mode).
• Assessment agents are invoked in parallel (single message, multiple Agent tool calls).
• Spec execution is always sequential with conflict detection between specs.