--- name: flow-next-capture description: Synthesize the current conversation context into a flow-next spec at `.flow/specs/<spec-id>.md` via `flowctl spec create + spec set-plan` — agent-native, source-tagged, with mandatory read-back before write. Triggers on /flow-next:capture, "capture spec", "lock down what we discussed", "make a spec from this conversation", "convert conversation to spec". Optional `mode:autofix` token runs without questions and requires `--yes` to commit. Optional `--rewrite <spec-id>` overwrites an existing spec; `--from-compacted-ok` overrides the compaction-detection refusal; `--override-strategy` proceeds despite a contradiction with an active STRATEGY.md track (and prompts to record the override as a decision). user-invocable: false allowed-tools: AskUserQuestion, Read, Bash, Grep, Glob, Write, Edit, Task ---

# /flow-next:capture — agent-native conversation → spec

A free-form discussion (or a `/flow-next:prospect` survivor) frequently produces enough material for a complete spec, but stops short of the formal `flowctl spec create` + `spec set-plan` heredoc documented in `CLAUDE.md`. Without an explicit synthesis step, that context decays — the next session loses the conversation, the spec never lands, and the user re-explains the same idea to `/flow-next:plan`.

This skill IS the synthesis. The host agent (Claude Code / Codex / Droid) extracts the recent user turns, drafts a CLAUDE.md-shaped spec with **per-line source tags** (`[user]` / `[paraphrase]` / `[inferred]`), shows the full draft back via `AskUserQuestion`, and only then writes the spec via existing flowctl plumbing. There is no Python synthesizer, no codex / copilot subprocess, no fast-model classifier. The host agent is already an LLM and does the work directly.

flowctl provides only thin spec plumbing (`spec create`, `spec set-plan`, optional `spec set-branch`, `memory search` for duplicate detection). No new flowctl subcommands.

**Read [workflow.md](workflow.md) for the full phase-by-phase execution. Read [phases.md](phases.md) for the must-ask cases lookup, source-tag taxonomy, confidence tiers, and forbidden-behaviors list.**

## Preamble

**CRITICAL: flowctl is BUNDLED — NOT installed globally.** `which flowctl` will fail (expected). Define once; subsequent blocks (here and in `workflow.md` / `phases.md`) use `$FLOWCTL`:

```bash FLOWCTL="${DROID_PLUGIN_ROOT:-${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}}/scripts/flowctl" [ -x "$FLOWCTL" ] || FLOWCTL=".flow/bin/flowctl" ```

**Inline skill (no `context: fork`)** — `AskUserQuestion` must stay reachable across phases. Subagents can't call blocking question tools (Claude Code issues #12890, #34592). Phase 0 (duplicate detection) and Phase 4 (read-back loop) both require user choice in interactive mode. (sync-codex.sh rewrites this to a plain-text numbered prompt in the Codex mirror.)

## Mode Detection

Parse `$ARGUMENTS` for the literal token `mode:autofix` and the flags `--rewrite <spec-id>`, `--from-compacted-ok`, `--yes`, `--override-strategy`. Strip recognized tokens; whatever remains is treated as freeform context (ignored — the conversation is the input, not `$ARGUMENTS`).

```bash RAW_ARGS="$ARGUMENTS" MODE="interactive" REWRITE_TARGET="" FROM_COMPACTED_OK=0 COMMIT_YES=0 OVERRIDE_STRATEGY=0

# Mode token if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" == *"mode:autofix"* ]]; then MODE="autofix" RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//mode:autofix/}" fi

# --rewrite <id> if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" =~ --rewrite[[:space:]]+([^[:space:]]+) ]]; then REWRITE_TARGET="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}" RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//--rewrite ${REWRITE_TARGET}/}" fi

# --from-compacted-ok if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" == *"--from-compacted-ok"* ]]; then FROM_COMPACTED_OK=1 RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//--from-compacted-ok/}" fi

# --yes (autofix commit gate) if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" == *"--yes"* ]]; then COMMIT_YES=1 RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//--yes/}" fi

# --override-strategy (Phase 5.0 strategy-contradiction override) if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" == *"--override-strategy"* ]]; then OVERRIDE_STRATEGY=1 RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//--override-strategy/}" fi ```

| Mode | When | Behavior | |------|------|----------| | **Interactive** (default) | User is at the terminal | Phase 0 asks on duplicate detection; Phase 3 asks on must-ask ambiguities; Phase 4 read-back via blocking-question tool — write only on `approve` | | **Autofix** (`mode:autofix`) | Batch usage from another skill / scripted invocation | No user questions. Phase 0 hard-errors on duplicates / compaction without explicit overrides. Phase 3 must-ask cases hard-error (autofix can't ask). Phase 4 Writes the full draft once (the Write render is the emission) + prints the summary tally to stdout. **Writes to `.flow/` ONLY when `--yes` is also passed**; without `--yes`, exit 0 with "draft written; rerun with --yes to commit" |

### Autofix mode rules

- **No user questions.** Never call the blocking-question tool. - **Phase 0 hard-errors:** duplicate detected → list overlapping spec IDs to stderr, exit 2 unless `--rewrite <id>` was passed; compaction detected → exit 2 unless `--from-compacted-ok` was passed. - **Phase 3 must-ask hard-errors:** ambiguous title / untestable acceptance / scope-conflict-with-existing-spec → exit 2 with which case fired and why. Autofix cannot resolve must-ask cases. - **Phase 4 single emission, no `.flow/` write.** Full draft Written once to the §4.1 draft file (the Write render is the full emission — all sections + R-IDs); summary payload (`[inferred]` tally + 8+ acceptance suggestion if applicable) printed to stdout. Without `--yes`, exit 0 with the "rerun with --yes" hint. With `--yes`, proceed to Phase 5 write. - **Phase 5 commits identically to interactive once it runs.** - **Readiness never written.** The mark-ready write (workflow.md §5.9) is interactive-consent-only; autofix prints a footer suggestion at most (and only when readiness is adopted, no `tracker.readyState`, and the spec was written). The `--rewrite` readiness reset (§5.3) still runs — it is idempotent plumbing, not a consent question.

## Ralph-block (R13) — runs first, before everything else

`/flow-next:capture` requires conversation context + user confirmation. Autonomous loops have neither. Hard-error with exit 2 when running under Ralph.

```bash if [[ -n "${REVIEW_RECEIPT_PATH:-}" || "${FLOW_RALPH:-}" == "1" ]]; then echo "Error: /flow-next:capture requires conversation context + a user at the terminal; not compatible with Ralph mode (REVIEW_RECEIPT_PATH or FLOW_RALPH detected)." >&2 exit 2 fi ```

No env-var opt-in. Ralph never decides direction.

## Interaction Principles (interactive mode only)

In autofix mode, skip user questions entirely and apply the rules above.

In interactive mode:

- Ask **one question at a time** via `AskUserQuestion` (call `ToolSearch` with `select:AskUserQuestion` first if its schema isn't loaded). Fall back to numbered options in plain text only if the tool is unreachable or errors. Never silently skip the question. - **Lead with the recommended option** and a one-sentence rationale, followed by a confidence marker — `[high]` / `[judgment-call]` / `[your-call]`. The body carries the recommendation; option labels stay neutral so the user isn't anchored on the option text itself. (See [phases.md](phases.md) §Confidence tiers.) - Prefer **multiple choice** when natural options exist (Phase 0 duplicate decision; Phase 4 approve/edit/abort). - **Do not ask the user for facts** they already gave you in conversation — Phase 1 extracts evidence first; Phase 3 asks only on the three hard-error must-ask cases plus genuinely missing context that can't be inferred.

The goal is automated synthesis with human oversight on judgment calls — not a question for every section.

## Forbidden behaviors (R10)

- **Tech-stack mentions the user did not state.** "Needs persistence" is fine; "uses PostgreSQL" needs the user to have said PostgreSQL. Defer technology choices to `/flow-next:plan` (spec-kit convention — capture writes intent, plan writes implementation). - **Inventing acceptance criteria not in conversation.** Every acceptance criterion must be source-tagged; pure `[inferred]` criteria must surface at Phase 4 read-back so the user can reject them. - **Code snippets or specific file paths in the spec body.** Those belong in `/flow-next:plan` task specs after research lands. Capture's output is a high-level spec, not an implementation guide. - **Silent overwrite of an existing spec.** Idempotency requires `--rewrite <spec-id>` (R8). Without it, Phase 0 conflict-detection branches into extend / supersede / proceed-anyway. - **Auto-splitting a spec that has 8+ acceptance criteria.** Phase 4 surfaces the option to split; the user decides. Never auto-action a split. - **Setting `context: fork`** — blocking-question tools must stay reachable. - **Calling `flowctl spec create` before Phase 4 approval.** Phase 5 is the only write phase. - **Writing glossary terms without consent, or in autofix mode.** Term-adds require the Phase 4.2 `Glossary?` approval; autofix prints suggestions only (`--yes` consents to the spec write, not to vocabulary changes). The gate is husk-aware (`glossary list --json` `total_terms > 0`) — seeding an empty glossary is `/flow-next:prime`'s job, never capture's. - **Using `git add -A` from this skill.** When committing the new spec, stage only the JSON sidecar (`.flow/specs/<id>.json` post-1.0; `.flow/epics/<id>.json` on alias-mode 0.x repos that haven't migrated yet) + `.flow/specs/<id>.md` (and `.flow/meta.json` if the next-id counter mutated). Other working-tree changes are not capture's concern.

## Pre-check: local setup version

Same pattern as `/flow-next:audit` and `/flow-next:prospect` — non-blocking notice when `.flow/meta.json` `setup_version` lags the plugin version:

```bash if [[ -f .flow/meta.json ]]; then SETUP_VER=$(jq -r '.setup_version // empty' .flow/meta.json 2>/dev/null) PLUGIN_JSON="${DROID_PLUGIN_ROOT:-${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}}/.claude-plugin/plugin.json" PLUGIN_VER=$(jq -r '.version' "$PLUGIN_JSON" 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown") if [[ -n "$SETUP_VER" && "$PLUGIN_VER" != "unknown" && "$SETUP_VER" != "$PLUGIN_VER" ]]; then echo "Plugin updated to v${PLUGIN_VER}. Run /flow-next:setup to refresh local scripts (current: v${SETUP_VER})." >&2 fi fi ```

## Workflow

Execute the phases in [workflow.md](workflow.md) in order:

0. **Pre-flight** — duplicate detection (scan `.flow/specs/` + `.flow/epics/` for legacy alias-mode repos + `flowctl memory search` on extracted keywords); compaction detection (scan transcript for truncation markers); idempotency (refuse silent overwrite without `--rewrite`). 1. **Extract conversation evidence** — build a verbatim `## Conversation Evidence` block FIRST (raw quotes from recent user turns, capped ~30 lines). Spec sections refer to it by line, not from agent memory. 2. **Source-tagged synthesis** — draft each section with per-line tags (`[user]` / `[paraphrase]` / `[inferred]`). Apply the canonical template at [`plugins/flow-next/templates/spec.md`](../../templates/spec.md) (per R17 — cross-link, never re-embed the section list inline). At runtime the template is resolved via the 4-tier discovery cascade — first match wins: `<repo_root>/SPEC.md` → `<repo_root>/spec.md` → `.flow/templates/spec.md` → bundled `${PLUGIN_ROOT}/templates/spec.md`. The bundled file is the canonical source of truth; earlier tiers are user-customized overrides. Route explicit biz-context signals (nine SIGNAL CATEGORIES per fn-44 R24, only `[user]` / `[paraphrase]` tags) to their destinations; sections without conversation signal stay absent. Compute `BIZ_SIGNAL_CATEGORIES` (0..9) for Phase 6's R25 dispatch. 3. **Must-ask cases (R9)** — interactive only; autofix exits 2 if any fire. Hard-error conditions: ambiguous title / untestable acceptance / scope-conflict. Optional ambiguities use lead-with-recommendation + confidence tier. 4. **Read-back loop (mandatory, even in autofix)** — Write the full draft ONCE to a liter

--- name: flow-next-capture description: Synthesize the current conversation context into a flow-next spec at `.flow/specs/<spec-id>.md` via `flowctl spec create + spec set-plan` — agent-native, source-tagged, with mandatory read-back before write. Triggers on /flow-next:capture, "capture spec", "lock down what we discussed", "make a spec from this conversation", "convert conversation to spec". Optional `mode:autofix` token runs without questions and requires `--yes` to commit. Optional `--rewrite <spec-id>` overwrites an existing spec; `--from-compacted-ok` overrides the compaction-detection refusal; `--override-strategy` proceeds despite a contradiction with an active STRATEGY.md track (and prompts to record the override as a decision). user-invocable: false allowed-tools: AskUserQuestion, Read, Bash, Grep, Glob, Write, Edit, Task ---

# /flow-next:capture — agent-native conversation → spec

A free-form discussion (or a `/flow-next:prospect` survivor) frequently produces enough material for a complete spec, but stops short of the formal `flowctl spec create` + `spec set-plan` heredoc documented in `CLAUDE.md`. Without an explicit synthesis step, that context decays — the next session loses the conversation, the spec never lands, and the user re-explains the same idea to `/flow-next:plan`.

This skill IS the synthesis. The host agent (Claude Code / Codex / Droid) extracts the recent user turns, drafts a CLAUDE.md-shaped spec with **per-line source tags** (`[user]` / `[paraphrase]` / `[inferred]`), shows the full draft back via `AskUserQuestion`, and only then writes the spec via existing flowctl plumbing. There is no Python synthesizer, no codex / copilot subprocess, no fast-model classifier. The host agent is already an LLM and does the work directly.

flowctl provides only thin spec plumbing (`spec create`, `spec set-plan`, optional `spec set-branch`, `memory search` for duplicate detection). No new flowctl subcommands.

**Read [workflow.md](workflow.md) for the full phase-by-phase execution. Read [phases.md](phases.md) for the must-ask cases lookup, source-tag taxonomy, confidence tiers, and forbidden-behaviors list.**

## Preamble

**CRITICAL: flowctl is BUNDLED — NOT installed globally.** `which flowctl` will fail (expected). Define once; subsequent blocks (here and in `workflow.md` / `phases.md`) use `$FLOWCTL`:

```bash FLOWCTL="${DROID_PLUGIN_ROOT:-${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}}/scripts/flowctl" [ -x "$FLOWCTL" ] || FLOWCTL=".flow/bin/flowctl" ```

**Inline skill (no `context: fork`)** — `AskUserQuestion` must stay reachable across phases. Subagents can't call blocking question tools (Claude Code issues #12890, #34592). Phase 0 (duplicate detection) and Phase 4 (read-back loop) both require user choice in interactive mode. (sync-codex.sh rewrites this to a plain-text numbered prompt in the Codex mirror.)

## Mode Detection

Parse `$ARGUMENTS` for the literal token `mode:autofix` and the flags `--rewrite <spec-id>`, `--from-compacted-ok`, `--yes`, `--override-strategy`. Strip recognized tokens; whatever remains is treated as freeform context (ignored — the conversation is the input, not `$ARGUMENTS`).

```bash RAW_ARGS="$ARGUMENTS" MODE="interactive" REWRITE_TARGET="" FROM_COMPACTED_OK=0 COMMIT_YES=0 OVERRIDE_STRATEGY=0

# Mode token if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" == *"mode:autofix"* ]]; then MODE="autofix" RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//mode:autofix/}" fi

# --rewrite <id> if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" =~ --rewrite[[:space:]]+([^[:space:]]+) ]]; then REWRITE_TARGET="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}" RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//--rewrite ${REWRITE_TARGET}/}" fi

# --from-compacted-ok if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" == *"--from-compacted-ok"* ]]; then FROM_COMPACTED_OK=1 RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//--from-compacted-ok/}" fi

# --yes (autofix commit gate) if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" == *"--yes"* ]]; then COMMIT_YES=1 RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//--yes/}" fi

# --override-strategy (Phase 5.0 strategy-contradiction override) if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" == *"--override-strategy"* ]]; then OVERRIDE_STRATEGY=1 RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//--override-strategy/}" fi ```

| Mode | When | Behavior | |------|------|----------| | **Interactive** (default) | User is at the terminal | Phase 0 asks on duplicate detection; Phase 3 asks on must-ask ambiguities; Phase 4 read-back via blocking-question tool — write only on `approve` | | **Autofix** (`mode:autofix`) | Batch usage from another skill / scripted invocation | No user questions. Phase 0 hard-errors on duplicates / compaction without explicit overrides. Phase 3 must-ask cases hard-error (autofix can't ask). Phase 4 Writes the full draft once (the Write render is the emission) + prints the summary tally to stdout. **Writes to `.flow/` ONLY when `--yes` is also passed**; without `--yes`, exit 0 with "draft written; rerun with --yes to commit" |

### Autofix mode rules

- **No user questions.** Never call the blocking-question tool. - **Phase 0 hard-errors:** duplicate detected → list overlapping spec IDs to stderr, exit 2 unless `--rewrite <id>` was passed; compaction detected → exit 2 unless `--from-compacted-ok` was passed. - **Phase 3 must-ask hard-errors:** ambiguous title / untestable acceptance / scope-conflict-with-existing-spec → exit 2 with which case fired and why. Autofix cannot resolve must-ask cases. - **Phase 4 single emission, no `.flow/` write.** Full draft Written once to the §4.1 draft file (the Write render is the full emission — all sections + R-IDs); summary payload (`[inferred]` tally + 8+ acceptance suggestion if applicable) printed to stdout. Without `--yes`, exit 0 with the "rerun with --yes" hint. With `--yes`, proceed to Phase 5 write. - **Phase 5 commits identically to interactive once it runs.** - **Readiness never written.** The mark-ready write (workflow.md §5.9) is interactive-consent-only; autofix prints a footer suggestion at most (and only when readiness is adopted, no `tracker.readyState`, and the spec was written). The `--rewrite` readiness reset (§5.3) still runs — it is idempotent plumbing, not a consent question.

## Ralph-block (R13) — runs first, before everything else

`/flow-next:capture` requires conversation context + user confirmation. Autonomous loops have neither. Hard-error with exit 2 when running under Ralph.

```bash if [[ -n "${REVIEW_RECEIPT_PATH:-}" || "${FLOW_RALPH:-}" == "1" ]]; then echo "Error: /flow-next:capture requires conversation context + a user at the terminal; not compatible with Ralph mode (REVIEW_RECEIPT_PATH or FLOW_RALPH detected)." >&2 exit 2 fi ```

No env-var opt-in. Ralph never decides direction.

## Interaction Principles (interactive mode only)

In autofix mode, skip user questions entirely and apply the rules above.

In interactive mode:

- Ask **one question at a time** via `AskUserQuestion` (call `ToolSearch` with `select:AskUserQuestion` first if its schema isn't loaded). Fall back to numbered options in plain text only if the tool is unreachable or errors. Never silently skip the question. - **Lead with the recommended option** and a one-sentence rationale, followed by a confidence marker — `[high]` / `[judgment-call]` / `[your-call]`. The body carries the recommendation; option labels stay neutral so the user isn't anchored on the option text itself. (See [phases.md](phases.md) §Confidence tiers.) - Prefer **multiple choice** when natural options exist (Phase 0 duplicate decision; Phase 4 approve/edit/abort). - **Do not ask the user for facts** they already gave you in conversation — Phase 1 extracts evidence first; Phase 3 asks only on the three hard-error must-ask cases plus genuinely missing context that can't be inferred.

The goal is automated synthesis with human oversight on judgment calls — not a question for every section.

## Forbidden behaviors (R10)

- **Tech-stack mentions the user did not state.** "Needs persistence" is fine; "uses PostgreSQL" needs the user to have said PostgreSQL. Defer technology choices to `/flow-next:plan` (spec-kit convention — capture writes intent, plan writes implementation). - **Inventing acceptance criteria not in conversation.** Every acceptance criterion must be source-tagged; pure `[inferred]` criteria must surface at Phase 4 read-back so the user can reject them. - **Code snippets or specific file paths in the spec body.** Those belong in `/flow-next:plan` task specs after research lands. Capture's output is a high-level spec, not an implementation guide. - **Silent overwrite of an existing spec.** Idempotency requires `--rewrite <spec-id>` (R8). Without it, Phase 0 conflict-detection branches into extend / supersede / proceed-anyway. - **Auto-splitting a spec that has 8+ acceptance criteria.** Phase 4 surfaces the option to split; the user decides. Never auto-action a split. - **Setting `context: fork`** — blocking-question tools must stay reachable. - **Calling `flowctl spec create` before Phase 4 approval.** Phase 5 is the only write phase. - **Writing glossary terms without consent, or in autofix mode.** Term-adds require the Phase 4.2 `Glossary?` approval; autofix prints suggestions only (`--yes` consents to the spec write, not to vocabulary changes). The gate is husk-aware (`glossary list --json` `total_terms > 0`) — seeding an empty glossary is `/flow-next:prime`'s job, never capture's. - **Using `git add -A` from this skill.** When committing the new spec, stage only the JSON sidecar (`.flow/specs/<id>.json` post-1.0; `.flow/epics/<id>.json` on alias-mode 0.x repos that haven't migrated yet) + `.flow/specs/<id>.md` (and `.flow/meta.json` if the next-id counter mutated). Other working-tree changes are not capture's concern.

## Pre-check: local setup version

Same pattern as `/flow-next:audit` and `/flow-next:prospect` — non-blocking notice when `.flow/meta.json` `setup_version` lags the plugin version:

```bash if [[ -f .flow/meta.json ]]; then SETUP_VER=$(jq -r '.setup_version // empty' .flow/meta.json 2>/dev/null) PLUGIN_JSON="${DROID_PLUGIN_ROOT:-${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}}/.claude-plugin/plugin.json" PLUGIN_VER=$(jq -r '.version' "$PLUGIN_JSON" 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown") if [[ -n "$SETUP_VER" && "$PLUGIN_VER" != "unknown" && "$SETUP_VER" != "$PLUGIN_VER" ]]; then echo "Plugin updated to v${PLUGIN_VER}. Run /flow-next:setup to refresh local scripts (current: v${SETUP_VER})." >&2 fi fi ```

## Workflow

Execute the phases in [workflow.md](workflow.md) in order:

0. **Pre-flight** — duplicate detection (scan `.flow/specs/` + `.flow/epics/` for legacy alias-mode repos + `flowctl memory search` on extracted keywords); compaction detection (scan transcript for truncation markers); idempotency (refuse silent overwrite without `--rewrite`). 1. **Extract conversation evidence** — build a verbatim `## Conversation Evidence` block FIRST (raw quotes from recent user turns, capped ~30 lines). Spec sections refer to it by line, not from agent memory. 2. **Source-tagged synthesis** — draft each section with per-line tags (`[user]` / `[paraphrase]` / `[inferred]`). Apply the canonical template at [`plugins/flow-next/templates/spec.md`](../../templates/spec.md) (per R17 — cross-link, never re-embed the section list inline). At runtime the template is resolved via the 4-tier discovery cascade — first match wins: `<repo_root>/SPEC.md` → `<repo_root>/spec.md` → `.flow/templates/spec.md` → bundled `${PLUGIN_ROOT}/templates/spec.md`. The bundled file is the canonical source of truth; earlier tiers are user-customized overrides. Route explicit biz-context signals (nine SIGNAL CATEGORIES per fn-44 R24, only `[user]` / `[paraphrase]` tags) to their destinations; sections without conversation signal stay absent. Compute `BIZ_SIGNAL_CATEGORIES` (0..9) for Phase 6's R25 dispatch. 3. **Must-ask cases (R9)** — interactive only; autofix exits 2 if any fire. Hard-error conditions: ambiguous title / untestable acceptance / scope-conflict. Optional ambiguities use lead-with-recommendation + confidence tier. 4. **Read-back loop (mandatory, even in autofix)** — Write the full draft ONCE to a liter

--- name: flow-next-capture description: Synthesize the current conversation context into a flow-next spec at `.flow/specs/<spec-id>.md` via `flowctl spec create + spec set-plan` — agent-native, source-tagged, with mandatory read-back before write. Triggers on /flow-next:capture, "capture spec", "lock down what we discussed", "make a spec from this conversation", "convert conversation to spec". Optional `mode:autofix` token runs without questions and requires `--yes` to commit. Optional `--rewrite <spec-id>` overwrites an existing spec; `--from-compacted-ok` overrides the compaction-detection refusal; `--override-strategy` proceeds despite a contradiction with an active STRATEGY.md track (and prompts to record the override as a decision). user-invocable: false allowed-tools: AskUserQuestion, Read, Bash, Grep, Glob, Write, Edit, Task ---

# /flow-next:capture — agent-native conversation → spec

A free-form discussion (or a `/flow-next:prospect` survivor) frequently produces enough material for a complete spec, but stops short of the formal `flowctl spec create` + `spec set-plan` heredoc documented in `CLAUDE.md`. Without an explicit synthesis step, that context decays — the next session loses the conversation, the spec never lands, and the user re-explains the same idea to `/flow-next:plan`.

This skill IS the synthesis. The host agent (Claude Code / Codex / Droid) extracts the recent user turns, drafts a CLAUDE.md-shaped spec with **per-line source tags** (`[user]` / `[paraphrase]` / `[inferred]`), shows the full draft back via `AskUserQuestion`, and only then writes the spec via existing flowctl plumbing. There is no Python synthesizer, no codex / copilot subprocess, no fast-model classifier. The host agent is already an LLM and does the work directly.

flowctl provides only thin spec plumbing (`spec create`, `spec set-plan`, optional `spec set-branch`, `memory search` for duplicate detection). No new flowctl subcommands.

**Read [workflow.md](workflow.md) for the full phase-by-phase execution. Read [phases.md](phases.md) for the must-ask cases lookup, source-tag taxonomy, confidence tiers, and forbidden-behaviors list.**

## Preamble

**CRITICAL: flowctl is BUNDLED — NOT installed globally.** `which flowctl` will fail (expected). Define once; subsequent blocks (here and in `workflow.md` / `phases.md`) use `$FLOWCTL`:

```bash FLOWCTL="${DROID_PLUGIN_ROOT:-${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}}/scripts/flowctl" [ -x "$FLOWCTL" ] || FLOWCTL=".flow/bin/flowctl" ```

**Inline skill (no `context: fork`)** — `AskUserQuestion` must stay reachable across phases. Subagents can't call blocking question tools (Claude Code issues #12890, #34592). Phase 0 (duplicate detection) and Phase 4 (read-back loop) both require user choice in interactive mode. (sync-codex.sh rewrites this to a plain-text numbered prompt in the Codex mirror.)

## Mode Detection

Parse `$ARGUMENTS` for the literal token `mode:autofix` and the flags `--rewrite <spec-id>`, `--from-compacted-ok`, `--yes`, `--override-strategy`. Strip recognized tokens; whatever remains is treated as freeform context (ignored — the conversation is the input, not `$ARGUMENTS`).

```bash RAW_ARGS="$ARGUMENTS" MODE="interactive" REWRITE_TARGET="" FROM_COMPACTED_OK=0 COMMIT_YES=0 OVERRIDE_STRATEGY=0

# Mode token if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" == *"mode:autofix"* ]]; then MODE="autofix" RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//mode:autofix/}" fi

# --rewrite <id> if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" =~ --rewrite[[:space:]]+([^[:space:]]+) ]]; then REWRITE_TARGET="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}" RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//--rewrite ${REWRITE_TARGET}/}" fi

# --from-compacted-ok if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" == *"--from-compacted-ok"* ]]; then FROM_COMPACTED_OK=1 RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//--from-compacted-ok/}" fi

# --yes (autofix commit gate) if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" == *"--yes"* ]]; then COMMIT_YES=1 RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//--yes/}" fi

# --override-strategy (Phase 5.0 strategy-contradiction override) if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" == *"--override-strategy"* ]]; then OVERRIDE_STRATEGY=1 RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//--override-strategy/}" fi ```

| Mode | When | Behavior | |------|------|----------| | **Interactive** (default) | User is at the terminal | Phase 0 asks on duplicate detection; Phase 3 asks on must-ask ambiguities; Phase 4 read-back via blocking-question tool — write only on `approve` | | **Autofix** (`mode:autofix`) | Batch usage from another skill / scripted invocation | No user questions. Phase 0 hard-errors on duplicates / compaction without explicit overrides. Phase 3 must-ask cases hard-error (autofix can't ask). Phase 4 Writes the full draft once (the Write render is the emission) + prints the summary tally to stdout. **Writes to `.flow/` ONLY when `--yes` is also passed**; without `--yes`, exit 0 with "draft written; rerun with --yes to commit" |

### Autofix mode rules

- **No user questions.** Never call the blocking-question tool. - **Phase 0 hard-errors:** duplicate detected → list overlapping spec IDs to stderr, exit 2 unless `--rewrite <id>` was passed; compaction detected → exit 2 unless `--from-compacted-ok` was passed. - **Phase 3 must-ask hard-errors:** ambiguous title / untestable acceptance / scope-conflict-with-existing-spec → exit 2 with which case fired and why. Autofix cannot resolve must-ask cases. - **Phase 4 single emission, no `.flow/` write.** Full draft Written once to the §4.1 draft file (the Write render is the full emission — all sections + R-IDs); summary payload (`[inferred]` tally + 8+ acceptance suggestion if applicable) printed to stdout. Without `--yes`, exit 0 with the "rerun with --yes" hint. With `--yes`, proceed to Phase 5 write. - **Phase 5 commits identically to interactive once it runs.** - **Readiness never written.** The mark-ready write (workflow.md §5.9) is interactive-consent-only; autofix prints a footer suggestion at most (and only when readiness is adopted, no `tracker.readyState`, and the spec was written). The `--rewrite` readiness reset (§5.3) still runs — it is idempotent plumbing, not a consent question.

## Ralph-block (R13) — runs first, before everything else

`/flow-next:capture` requires conversation context + user confirmation. Autonomous loops have neither. Hard-error with exit 2 when running under Ralph.

```bash if [[ -n "${REVIEW_RECEIPT_PATH:-}" || "${FLOW_RALPH:-}" == "1" ]]; then echo "Error: /flow-next:capture requires conversation context + a user at the terminal; not compatible with Ralph mode (REVIEW_RECEIPT_PATH or FLOW_RALPH detected)." >&2 exit 2 fi ```

No env-var opt-in. Ralph never decides direction.

## Interaction Principles (interactive mode only)

In autofix mode, skip user questions entirely and apply the rules above.

In interactive mode:

- Ask **one question at a time** via `AskUserQuestion` (call `ToolSearch` with `select:AskUserQuestion` first if its schema isn't loaded). Fall back to numbered options in plain text only if the tool is unreachable or errors. Never silently skip the question. - **Lead with the recommended option** and a one-sentence rationale, followed by a confidence marker — `[high]` / `[judgment-call]` / `[your-call]`. The body carries the recommendation; option labels stay neutral so the user isn't anchored on the option text itself. (See [phases.md](phases.md) §Confidence tiers.) - Prefer **multiple choice** when natural options exist (Phase 0 duplicate decision; Phase 4 approve/edit/abort). - **Do not ask the user for facts** they already gave you in conversation — Phase 1 extracts evidence first; Phase 3 asks only on the three hard-error must-ask cases plus genuinely missing context that can't be inferred.

The goal is automated synthesis with human oversight on judgment calls — not a question for every section.

## Forbidden behaviors (R10)

- **Tech-stack mentions the user did not state.** "Needs persistence" is fine; "uses PostgreSQL" needs the user to have said PostgreSQL. Defer technology choices to `/flow-next:plan` (spec-kit convention — capture writes intent, plan writes implementation). - **Inventing acceptance criteria not in conversation.** Every acceptance criterion must be source-tagged; pure `[inferred]` criteria must surface at Phase 4 read-back so the user can reject them. - **Code snippets or specific file paths in the spec body.** Those belong in `/flow-next:plan` task specs after research lands. Capture's output is a high-level spec, not an implementation guide. - **Silent overwrite of an existing spec.** Idempotency requires `--rewrite <spec-id>` (R8). Without it, Phase 0 conflict-detection branches into extend / supersede / proceed-anyway. - **Auto-splitting a spec that has 8+ acceptance criteria.** Phase 4 surfaces the option to split; the user decides. Never auto-action a split. - **Setting `context: fork`** — blocking-question tools must stay reachable. - **Calling `flowctl spec create` before Phase 4 approval.** Phase 5 is the only write phase. - **Writing glossary terms without consent, or in autofix mode.** Term-adds require the Phase 4.2 `Glossary?` approval; autofix prints suggestions only (`--yes` consents to the spec write, not to vocabulary changes). The gate is husk-aware (`glossary list --json` `total_terms > 0`) — seeding an empty glossary is `/flow-next:prime`'s job, never capture's. - **Using `git add -A` from this skill.** When committing the new spec, stage only the JSON sidecar (`.flow/specs/<id>.json` post-1.0; `.flow/epics/<id>.json` on alias-mode 0.x repos that haven't migrated yet) + `.flow/specs/<id>.md` (and `.flow/meta.json` if the next-id counter mutated). Other working-tree changes are not capture's concern.

## Pre-check: local setup version

Same pattern as `/flow-next:audit` and `/flow-next:prospect` — non-blocking notice when `.flow/meta.json` `setup_version` lags the plugin version:

```bash if [[ -f .flow/meta.json ]]; then SETUP_VER=$(jq -r '.setup_version // empty' .flow/meta.json 2>/dev/null) PLUGIN_JSON="${DROID_PLUGIN_ROOT:-${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}}/.claude-plugin/plugin.json" PLUGIN_VER=$(jq -r '.version' "$PLUGIN_JSON" 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown") if [[ -n "$SETUP_VER" && "$PLUGIN_VER" != "unknown" && "$SETUP_VER" != "$PLUGIN_VER" ]]; then echo "Plugin updated to v${PLUGIN_VER}. Run /flow-next:setup to refresh local scripts (current: v${SETUP_VER})." >&2 fi fi ```

## Workflow

Execute the phases in [workflow.md](workflow.md) in order:

0. **Pre-flight** — duplicate detection (scan `.flow/specs/` + `.flow/epics/` for legacy alias-mode repos + `flowctl memory search` on extracted keywords); compaction detection (scan transcript for truncation markers); idempotency (refuse silent overwrite without `--rewrite`). 1. **Extract conversation evidence** — build a verbatim `## Conversation Evidence` block FIRST (raw quotes from recent user turns, capped ~30 lines). Spec sections refer to it by line, not from agent memory. 2. **Source-tagged synthesis** — draft each section with per-line tags (`[user]` / `[paraphrase]` / `[inferred]`). Apply the canonical template at [`plugins/flow-next/templates/spec.md`](../../templates/spec.md) (per R17 — cross-link, never re-embed the section list inline). At runtime the template is resolved via the 4-tier discovery cascade — first match wins: `<repo_root>/SPEC.md` → `<repo_root>/spec.md` → `.flow/templates/spec.md` → bundled `${PLUGIN_ROOT}/templates/spec.md`. The bundled file is the canonical source of truth; earlier tiers are user-customized overrides. Route explicit biz-context signals (nine SIGNAL CATEGORIES per fn-44 R24, only `[user]` / `[paraphrase]` tags) to their destinations; sections without conversation signal stay absent. Compute `BIZ_SIGNAL_CATEGORIES` (0..9) for Phase 6's R25 dispatch. 3. **Must-ask cases (R9)** — interactive only; autofix exits 2 if any fire. Hard-error conditions: ambiguous title / untestable acceptance / scope-conflict. Optional ambiguities use lead-with-recommendation + confidence tier. 4. **Read-back loop (mandatory, even in autofix)** — Write the full draft ONCE to a liter

--- name: flow-next-capture description: Synthesize the current conversation context into a flow-next spec at `.flow/specs/<spec-id>.md` via `flowctl spec create + spec set-plan` — agent-native, source-tagged, with mandatory read-back before write. Triggers on /flow-next:capture, "capture spec", "lock down what we discussed", "make a spec from this conversation", "convert conversation to spec". Optional `mode:autofix` token runs without questions and requires `--yes` to commit. Optional `--rewrite <spec-id>` overwrites an existing spec; `--from-compacted-ok` overrides the compaction-detection refusal; `--override-strategy` proceeds despite a contradiction with an active STRATEGY.md track (and prompts to record the override as a decision). user-invocable: false allowed-tools: AskUserQuestion, Read, Bash, Grep, Glob, Write, Edit, Task ---

# /flow-next:capture — agent-native conversation → spec

A free-form discussion (or a `/flow-next:prospect` survivor) frequently produces enough material for a complete spec, but stops short of the formal `flowctl spec create` + `spec set-plan` heredoc documented in `CLAUDE.md`. Without an explicit synthesis step, that context decays — the next session loses the conversation, the spec never lands, and the user re-explains the same idea to `/flow-next:plan`.

This skill IS the synthesis. The host agent (Claude Code / Codex / Droid) extracts the recent user turns, drafts a CLAUDE.md-shaped spec with **per-line source tags** (`[user]` / `[paraphrase]` / `[inferred]`), shows the full draft back via `AskUserQuestion`, and only then writes the spec via existing flowctl plumbing. There is no Python synthesizer, no codex / copilot subprocess, no fast-model classifier. The host agent is already an LLM and does the work directly.

flowctl provides only thin spec plumbing (`spec create`, `spec set-plan`, optional `spec set-branch`, `memory search` for duplicate detection). No new flowctl subcommands.

**Read [workflow.md](workflow.md) for the full phase-by-phase execution. Read [phases.md](phases.md) for the must-ask cases lookup, source-tag taxonomy, confidence tiers, and forbidden-behaviors list.**

## Preamble

**CRITICAL: flowctl is BUNDLED — NOT installed globally.** `which flowctl` will fail (expected). Define once; subsequent blocks (here and in `workflow.md` / `phases.md`) use `$FLOWCTL`:

```bash FLOWCTL="${DROID_PLUGIN_ROOT:-${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}}/scripts/flowctl" [ -x "$FLOWCTL" ] || FLOWCTL=".flow/bin/flowctl" ```

**Inline skill (no `context: fork`)** — `AskUserQuestion` must stay reachable across phases. Subagents can't call blocking question tools (Claude Code issues #12890, #34592). Phase 0 (duplicate detection) and Phase 4 (read-back loop) both require user choice in interactive mode. (sync-codex.sh rewrites this to a plain-text numbered prompt in the Codex mirror.)

## Mode Detection

Parse `$ARGUMENTS` for the literal token `mode:autofix` and the flags `--rewrite <spec-id>`, `--from-compacted-ok`, `--yes`, `--override-strategy`. Strip recognized tokens; whatever remains is treated as freeform context (ignored — the conversation is the input, not `$ARGUMENTS`).

```bash RAW_ARGS="$ARGUMENTS" MODE="interactive" REWRITE_TARGET="" FROM_COMPACTED_OK=0 COMMIT_YES=0 OVERRIDE_STRATEGY=0

# Mode token if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" == *"mode:autofix"* ]]; then MODE="autofix" RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//mode:autofix/}" fi

# --rewrite <id> if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" =~ --rewrite[[:space:]]+([^[:space:]]+) ]]; then REWRITE_TARGET="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}" RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//--rewrite ${REWRITE_TARGET}/}" fi

# --from-compacted-ok if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" == *"--from-compacted-ok"* ]]; then FROM_COMPACTED_OK=1 RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//--from-compacted-ok/}" fi

# --yes (autofix commit gate) if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" == *"--yes"* ]]; then COMMIT_YES=1 RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//--yes/}" fi

# --override-strategy (Phase 5.0 strategy-contradiction override) if [[ "$RAW_ARGS" == *"--override-strategy"* ]]; then OVERRIDE_STRATEGY=1 RAW_ARGS="${RAW_ARGS//--override-strategy/}" fi ```

| Mode | When | Behavior | |------|------|----------| | **Interactive** (default) | User is at the terminal | Phase 0 asks on duplicate detection; Phase 3 asks on must-ask ambiguities; Phase 4 read-back via blocking-question tool — write only on `approve` | | **Autofix** (`mode:autofix`) | Batch usage from another skill / scripted invocation | No user questions. Phase 0 hard-errors on duplicates / compaction without explicit overrides. Phase 3 must-ask cases hard-error (autofix can't ask). Phase 4 Writes the full draft once (the Write render is the emission) + prints the summary tally to stdout. **Writes to `.flow/` ONLY when `--yes` is also passed**; without `--yes`, exit 0 with "draft written; rerun with --yes to commit" |

### Autofix mode rules

- **No user questions.** Never call the blocking-question tool. - **Phase 0 hard-errors:** duplicate detected → list overlapping spec IDs to stderr, exit 2 unless `--rewrite <id>` was passed; compaction detected → exit 2 unless `--from-compacted-ok` was passed. - **Phase 3 must-ask hard-errors:** ambiguous title / untestable acceptance / scope-conflict-with-existing-spec → exit 2 with which case fired and why. Autofix cannot resolve must-ask cases. - **Phase 4 single emission, no `.flow/` write.** Full draft Written once to the §4.1 draft file (the Write render is the full emission — all sections + R-IDs); summary payload (`[inferred]` tally + 8+ acceptance suggestion if applicable) printed to stdout. Without `--yes`, exit 0 with the "rerun with --yes" hint. With `--yes`, proceed to Phase 5 write. - **Phase 5 commits identically to interactive once it runs.** - **Readiness never written.** The mark-ready write (workflow.md §5.9) is interactive-consent-only; autofix prints a footer suggestion at most (and only when readiness is adopted, no `tracker.readyState`, and the spec was written). The `--rewrite` readiness reset (§5.3) still runs — it is idempotent plumbing, not a consent question.

## Ralph-block (R13) — runs first, before everything else

`/flow-next:capture` requires conversation context + user confirmation. Autonomous loops have neither. Hard-error with exit 2 when running under Ralph.

```bash if [[ -n "${REVIEW_RECEIPT_PATH:-}" || "${FLOW_RALPH:-}" == "1" ]]; then echo "Error: /flow-next:capture requires conversation context + a user at the terminal; not compatible with Ralph mode (REVIEW_RECEIPT_PATH or FLOW_RALPH detected)." >&2 exit 2 fi ```

No env-var opt-in. Ralph never decides direction.

## Interaction Principles (interactive mode only)

In autofix mode, skip user questions entirely and apply the rules above.

In interactive mode:

- Ask **one question at a time** via `AskUserQuestion` (call `ToolSearch` with `select:AskUserQuestion` first if its schema isn't loaded). Fall back to numbered options in plain text only if the tool is unreachable or errors. Never silently skip the question. - **Lead with the recommended option** and a one-sentence rationale, followed by a confidence marker — `[high]` / `[judgment-call]` / `[your-call]`. The body carries the recommendation; option labels stay neutral so the user isn't anchored on the option text itself. (See [phases.md](phases.md) §Confidence tiers.) - Prefer **multiple choice** when natural options exist (Phase 0 duplicate decision; Phase 4 approve/edit/abort). - **Do not ask the user for facts** they already gave you in conversation — Phase 1 extracts evidence first; Phase 3 asks only on the three hard-error must-ask cases plus genuinely missing context that can't be inferred.

The goal is automated synthesis with human oversight on judgment calls — not a question for every section.

## Forbidden behaviors (R10)

- **Tech-stack mentions the user did not state.** "Needs persistence" is fine; "uses PostgreSQL" needs the user to have said PostgreSQL. Defer technology choices to `/flow-next:plan` (spec-kit convention — capture writes intent, plan writes implementation). - **Inventing acceptance criteria not in conversation.** Every acceptance criterion must be source-tagged; pure `[inferred]` criteria must surface at Phase 4 read-back so the user can reject them. - **Code snippets or specific file paths in the spec body.** Those belong in `/flow-next:plan` task specs after research lands. Capture's output is a high-level spec, not an implementation guide. - **Silent overwrite of an existing spec.** Idempotency requires `--rewrite <spec-id>` (R8). Without it, Phase 0 conflict-detection branches into extend / supersede / proceed-anyway. - **Auto-splitting a spec that has 8+ acceptance criteria.** Phase 4 surfaces the option to split; the user decides. Never auto-action a split. - **Setting `context: fork`** — blocking-question tools must stay reachable. - **Calling `flowctl spec create` before Phase 4 approval.** Phase 5 is the only write phase. - **Writing glossary terms without consent, or in autofix mode.** Term-adds require the Phase 4.2 `Glossary?` approval; autofix prints suggestions only (`--yes` consents to the spec write, not to vocabulary changes). The gate is husk-aware (`glossary list --json` `total_terms > 0`) — seeding an empty glossary is `/flow-next:prime`'s job, never capture's. - **Using `git add -A` from this skill.** When committing the new spec, stage only the JSON sidecar (`.flow/specs/<id>.json` post-1.0; `.flow/epics/<id>.json` on alias-mode 0.x repos that haven't migrated yet) + `.flow/specs/<id>.md` (and `.flow/meta.json` if the next-id counter mutated). Other working-tree changes are not capture's concern.

## Pre-check: local setup version

Same pattern as `/flow-next:audit` and `/flow-next:prospect` — non-blocking notice when `.flow/meta.json` `setup_version` lags the plugin version:

```bash if [[ -f .flow/meta.json ]]; then SETUP_VER=$(jq -r '.setup_version // empty' .flow/meta.json 2>/dev/null) PLUGIN_JSON="${DROID_PLUGIN_ROOT:-${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}}/.claude-plugin/plugin.json" PLUGIN_VER=$(jq -r '.version' "$PLUGIN_JSON" 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown") if [[ -n "$SETUP_VER" && "$PLUGIN_VER" != "unknown" && "$SETUP_VER" != "$PLUGIN_VER" ]]; then echo "Plugin updated to v${PLUGIN_VER}. Run /flow-next:setup to refresh local scripts (current: v${SETUP_VER})." >&2 fi fi ```

## Workflow

Execute the phases in [workflow.md](workflow.md) in order:

0. **Pre-flight** — duplicate detection (scan `.flow/specs/` + `.flow/epics/` for legacy alias-mode repos + `flowctl memory search` on extracted keywords); compaction detection (scan transcript for truncation markers); idempotency (refuse silent overwrite without `--rewrite`). 1. **Extract conversation evidence** — build a verbatim `## Conversation Evidence` block FIRST (raw quotes from recent user turns, capped ~30 lines). Spec sections refer to it by line, not from agent memory. 2. **Source-tagged synthesis** — draft each section with per-line tags (`[user]` / `[paraphrase]` / `[inferred]`). Apply the canonical template at [`plugins/flow-next/templates/spec.md`](../../templates/spec.md) (per R17 — cross-link, never re-embed the section list inline). At runtime the template is resolved via the 4-tier discovery cascade — first match wins: `<repo_root>/SPEC.md` → `<repo_root>/spec.md` → `.flow/templates/spec.md` → bundled `${PLUGIN_ROOT}/templates/spec.md`. The bundled file is the canonical source of truth; earlier tiers are user-customized overrides. Route explicit biz-context signals (nine SIGNAL CATEGORIES per fn-44 R24, only `[user]` / `[paraphrase]` tags) to their destinations; sections without conversation signal stay absent. Compute `BIZ_SIGNAL_CATEGORIES` (0..9) for Phase 6's R25 dispatch. 3. **Must-ask cases (R9)** — interactive only; autofix exits 2 if any fire. Hard-error conditions: ambiguous title / untestable acceptance / scope-conflict. Optional ambiguities use lead-with-recommendation + confidence tier. 4. **Read-back loop (mandatory, even in autofix)** — Write the full draft ONCE to a liter