Pull Request Preparation Workflow
Usage
Use this skill to stage changes and generate a PR summary. Run Skill(sanctum:git-workspace-review) first to capture the repository state and diffs.
Required Progress Tracking
Create TodoWrite items for these steps before starting:
pr-prep:workspace-reviewedpr-prep:quality-gatespr-prep:self-reviewedpr-prep:changes-summarizedpr-prep:testing-documentedpr-prep:pr-draftedpr-prep:content-verified
Mark each item as complete as the section is finished.
Step 1: Review Workspace (workspace-reviewed)
Confirm that Skill(sanctum:git-workspace-review) is complete. If changes were staged after the initial review, re-execute the skill to refresh the context.
Step 2: Run Quality Gates (quality-gates)
Execute formatting, linting, and tests using project-specific commands (e.g., make fmt, make lint, make test). Resolve all failures before proceeding. If a task cannot be executed locally, document the reason and the alternative validation performed. Language-specific commands and failure handling are detailed in modules/quality-gates.md.
Capabilities Reference Sync
If any plugin files changed (plugin.json, skills, commands, agents, or hooks), run make docs-sync-check to verify book/src/reference/capabilities-reference.md is current. If it reports discrepancies, run /sync-capabilities --fix or update the reference manually before proceeding.
Step 2.5: Self-Review Pass (self-reviewed)
Read the diff as if you are a reviewer seeing it for the first time. This catches scope creep, stale debug code, and unclear changes before anyone else spends time on them.
Automated checks:
# Check for debug statements left in
git diff --cached --name-only | xargs grep -nE \
'(console\.log|print\(|debugger|TODO|FIXME|HACK|XXX)' \
2>/dev/null || true
# Check for commented-out code blocks (3+ consecutive lines)
git diff --cached | grep -c '^+.*//.*[a-zA-Z]' || true
# Check for formatting-only commits mixed with feature work
git log --oneline $(git merge-base HEAD origin/master)..HEAD | \
grep -iE '(fmt|format|lint|style|whitespace)' || trueAdditive bias audit:
Run Skill(imbue:justify) to compute the additive bias score and check Iron Law compliance. If the score is YELLOW or above, justify each flagged signal before proceeding. If RED or STOP, rethink the approach.
Manual verification:
- Read the full diff -- does every change serve the stated goal?
- No debug statements or
TODOmarkers left in - No commented-out code blocks
- No formatting changes mixed with logic changes
- No fixup commits that should be squashed
- Additive bias score is GREEN or justified YELLOW
- Iron Law compliance: PASS (no test tampering)
If issues are found, fix them before proceeding.
Step 3: Summarize Changes (changes-summarized)
Use the notes from the workspace review and the output of git diff --stat origin/main...HEAD to understand the scope. Identify key points in the diffs and group them into 2-4 paragraphs highlighting the technical changes and their rationale. Note breaking changes, migrations, or documentation updates.
Step 4: Document Testing (testing-documented)
List each test command executed and its result. Include manual verification steps where relevant. If tests were skipped, document the reason and the mitigation plan.
Step 5: Draft the PR (pr-drafted)
Populate the standard template with Summary, Changes, Testing, and Checklist sections. Include issue references, screenshots, or follow-up TODO items. Template structure and examples are available in modules/pr-template.md.
Step 6: Verify Content Quality (content-verified)
Apply Skill(scribe:slop-detector) principles to the draft. Verify that the PR description avoids tier-1 slop words (delve, comprehensive, leverage, utilize, robust, seamless) and formulaic phrases like "I'd be happy to" or "It should be noted." Ensure there is no AI attribution in the text and that all claims are grounded with evidence such as commands, numbers, or filenames. Use active voice and maintain a balanced structure with prose for context.
Vocabulary Substitutions
- Replace leverage or utilize with use.
- Replace comprehensive with thorough or complete.
- Replace robust with solid or reliable.
- Replace facilitate with help or enable.
- Replace streamline with simplify.
Remediation
If the description contains slop, apply Skill(scribe:doc-generator) principles to ground claims with specifics, remove marketing language, and use direct statements.
Output Instructions
Write the final PR description to the specified path, then display the file path and its contents for confirmation.
Notes
Do not include tool or AI attribution in the PR text. If changes are required mid-process, re-run quality gates. This skill covers preparation; pushing changes and opening the PR occurs outside this workflow.
Supporting Modules
- TodoWrite patterns - naming conventions for sanctum TodoWrite items
Troubleshooting
If project-specific commands like make or npm are unavailable, verify the environment setup against the README. For permission errors, check write access to build directories. If a step fails without clear output, retry the command with verbose flags to inspect the logs.