version: "1.0.1" name: ca-decompose description: Develop greenfield context from a resumable interview recorded as decomposition and knowledge records. argument-hint: (none)

decompose

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Compatibility route. Prefer /ca-init --greenfield for new usage. This installed route remains

functional under the command-route compatibility policy at <plugin-root>/includes/command-compatibility.md;

continue with the greenfield workflow below.

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Develop the project specification before implementation. Keep actual user decisions, planned architecture and observed repository facts distinct. Load <plugin-root>/includes/knowledge.md for the record vocabulary and the knowledge.py verbs used below.

1. Inspect and resume

Read .codearbiter/CONTEXT.md frontmatter. An initialized project returns to normal operation; context changes use /ca-context-check. Meaningful implementation source routes to /ca-create-context. If the scaffold is absent, run /ca-init first. If knowledge.py format reports markdown, this is an older scaffold: offer knowledge.py convert; read every returned Markdown section, record its meaning, map each section ID to its saved record or note references ([] only for content=false), then run knowledge.py convert --finish <token> --coverage @checklist.json (the transaction retains the original bytes). If the user keeps the Markdown format, load <plugin-root>/routines/decompose/references/markdown-format.md and follow that unchanged procedure instead of this one; never convert silently.

Run knowledge.py create-missing, then knowledge.py read decomposition. Existing question records with status: answered are settled: do not ask them again or require another approval of unchanged answers. Resume with the open question that matters most for what the user wants to do next, not a fixed first-unfinished step. An explicit restart retires earlier records with a reason; it never deletes them.

2. Capture the interview

Explain briefly that you will establish scope, architecture and a build sequence. Ask focused questions only where existing answers do not establish the needed facts or choices. Cover these areas, in whatever order the conversation makes natural; record an inapplicable area with its reason:

Record each question as a decomposition question record when you ask it (status: open) and update it with the user's actual answer (status: answered, basis: user-reported) as soon as it is given, so a closed session loses nothing. A deferral is status: deferred, not an answer. Exclude secret values.

Record a user-decided architectural choice through decision-lifecycle at <plugin-root>/routines/decision-lifecycle/SKILL.md; it owns ADR numbering, attribution and status. Link the ADR from a decomposition decision record. Keep draft choices as proposed until the user actually decides; do not create an ADR merely to fill a quota.

Release intent is elicited here: capture the tag prefix preference and changelog kept yes/no under technical shape. No .codearbiter/release-targets.md row is ever written by this skill. Greenfield runs before any manifest or tag exists. /ca-release or a subsequent context refresh derives a target from the actual manifest and delivery structure.

An unresolved consequential choice blocks only the output that depends on it. Continue with independent areas.

3. Synthesize and confirm

From the answered questions and linked ADRs, add decomposition records: capability (what the product does), component (intended parts, responsibilities and connections), phase (MVP and later phases with measurable completion) and work_item (bounded tasks with roles, dependencies and time-boxed spikes). Link each to the questions it rests on in related_refs. These describe intended architecture; they never claim code exists.

Show the user the synthesized records. Apply corrections with update; a wording or method refinement does not need a fresh confirmation. Record the user's actual confirmation as an answered question. Proceed when the records match the user's choices and every remaining gap is an open question.

4. Populate context

Add knowledge records for what is known now:

Leave unknowns as unknown records rather than inventing facts. Preserve CONTEXT.md frontmatter exactly; the scaffold owns activation and stage.

Promote each approved work_item with knowledge.py promote <WORK-ID>. It adds the task through the task board's own writer and is safe to repeat. Never write task rows directly or mark planned work done. Record unresolved questions that need the user's later decision on open-questions.md as well, keeping its history. Preserve overrides.log, last-checkpoint and all ADR history.

5. Initialize and return to work

Run knowledge.py initialize. It checks that the knowledge documents exist and parse and that the task board is well formed, then adds the standalone <!--INITIALIZED--> marker to CONTEXT.md. Open questions do not prevent it. A refusal names the document to repair; never append the marker manually.

Report the populated context, open questions and any actual checks, then continue authorized work. Initialization records population; it does not certify host enforcement, semantic review or passing tests.

When source and manifests arrive, /ca-context-check adds what the code actually contains to the code map and reconciles intended and implemented facts, keeping the interview records.