claude-mods/skills/skill-creator/references/workflows.md

Workflow Patterns for Skills

Effective patterns for designing multi-step processes and conditional logic in skills.

Sequential Workflows

For tasks that follow a clear sequence, use numbered steps with verification checkpoints:

## Workflow

1. **Validate inputs**
   - Check required parameters exist
   - Verify file formats are correct
   - Exit early if validation fails

2. **Prepare environment**
   - Create working directory
   - Load required dependencies
   - Set configuration values

3. **Execute main task**
   - [Primary operation here]
   - Log progress at key milestones

4. **Verify results**
   - Check output exists and is valid
   - Compare against expected format
   - Run validation tests

5. **Clean up**
   - Remove temporary files
   - Close connections
   - Report completion status

When to use: Tasks with clear dependencies where each step must complete before the next can begin.

Conditional Logic

For workflows that branch based on context, use decision trees:

## Decision Flow

1. Analyze the request
2. Choose approach based on criteria:

   **If [condition A]:**
   - Follow path A
   - Use tool X
   - Apply settings Y

   **If [condition B]:**
   - Follow path B
   - Use tool Z
   - Apply settings W

   **Otherwise:**
   - Use default approach

When to use: When different scenarios require different handling strategies.

Iterative Refinement

For tasks that improve through iteration:

## Iterative Process

1. Generate initial draft
2. Review against criteria
3. While quality threshold not met:
   - Identify specific weaknesses
   - Apply targeted improvements
   - Re-evaluate
4. Finalize when acceptable

When to use: Creative tasks, optimization problems, or quality-sensitive outputs.

Parallel Execution

For independent tasks that can run concurrently:

## Parallel Tasks

Execute these steps simultaneously:

- **Task A:** [Description]
- **Task B:** [Description]
- **Task C:** [Description]

Then combine results:
- [Integration logic]

When to use: When tasks have no dependencies and can benefit from concurrent execution.

Error Handling

Build resilience into workflows:

## Error Recovery

For each critical step:

1. Attempt operation
2. If failure occurs:
   - Log specific error
   - Try fallback approach if available
   - Otherwise, exit gracefully with clear error message
3. Continue to next step only on success

Best practice: Always provide actionable error messages that explain what went wrong and how to fix it.

Subagent Delegation Patterns

Use subagents for:

1. Heavy computation - Append "use subagents" to requests needing more compute
2. Context isolation - Offload individual tasks to keep main agent's context clean
3. Parallel exploration - Split research across multiple agents
4. Specialized expertise - Route domain-specific subtasks to expert agents

## Subagent Workflow

1. Identify subtasks that can be delegated
2. For each subtask:
   - Spawn subagent with clear objective
   - Provide minimal necessary context
   - Collect results
3. Synthesize findings in main context

Benefits:

• Keeps main agent focused on coordination
• Allows throwing more compute at complex problems
• Prevents context pollution from exploratory work

ASCII Diagrams for Understanding

When working with new protocols or codebases, request ASCII diagrams:

## Request Format

"Draw an ASCII diagram showing:
- [System component relationships]
- [Data flow between modules]
- [Protocol message sequence]"

Example output:

┌─────────────┐      ┌──────────────┐
│   Client    │─────>│   API Server │
└─────────────┘      └──────────────┘
       │                     │
       │  HTTP Request       │
       │                     │
       │  JSON Response      │
       │<────────────────────│

When to use: Onboarding to new systems, documenting architecture, clarifying complex interactions.

Checklist Pattern

For comprehensive coverage:

## Pre-flight Checklist

Before proceeding, verify:
- [ ] Dependencies installed
- [ ] Configuration valid
- [ ] Test data available
- [ ] Permissions granted
- [ ] Output directory writable

When to use: Setup procedures, validation steps, quality gates.

State Machine Pattern

For workflows with multiple modes:

## State Transitions

Current state determines available actions:

**State: INITIALIZED**
→ Can transition to: PROCESSING, ERROR
→ Actions: validate, start

**State: PROCESSING**
→ Can transition to: COMPLETED, ERROR
→ Actions: process_batch, check_progress

**State: COMPLETED**
→ Can transition to: INITIALIZED (reset)
→ Actions: export_results, cleanup

When to use: Complex workflows with distinct phases and clear transition conditions.