name: vc-review-situation
description: "Use when you need a read-only situation review and handoff summary of current branch state, local/remote refs, worktrees, active project plans, selected-plan hints, and suggested next checks."
license: MIT
argument-hint: "[--json] [--fetch] [--selected-plan ] [--cwd ]"
trigger_keywords: what's in flight, handoff, worktree status, active plans, next steps
layer: helper
metadata:
author: vibecode-pro-max-kit
version: "1.0.0"
Review Situation
Output style: lead with the bottom line, bullets over prose, one-line TL;DR —
process/development-protocols/communication-standards.md.
Summarize the current repo state for handoff and resume work.
This is a helper skill only.
- Do use it for read-only branch, worktree, and active-plan summaries.
- Do use it to surface likely selected-plan context when it can be proven or safely hinted.
- Do not use it to choose a plan authoritatively.
- Do not use it to approve execution, resume execution, or mutate repo/process state.
Mode Selection
vc-review-situation operates in two modes. Choose based on the trigger signals below.
Simple Mode (default)
Run review-situation-scan.cjs, return the scan summary.
Use when:
- User asks "what's in flight", "what's next", "give me a handoff summary"
- Quick orientation needed at the start of a session
- Orchestrator needs a branch/plan status check before routing
Output: Current State, Recent Work, In-Flight Plans, Next Steps, Warnings (standard scan sections).
Deep Mode
Run the scan plus read umbrella plan, latest phase report, and all active-plan handoff sections. Synthesize into a full handoff briefing sufficient for an agent to resume without follow-up questions.
Trigger conditions (any one):
- User asks for a full program review: "what are we building", "summarize all active plans", "where are we in the program"
- Session is resuming after a long break or context compaction occurred
- Orchestrator needs a thorough handoff before routing to a phase agent
- Caller explicitly requests deep mode
- Program Review Mode is active — Program Review Mode is Deep Mode
Deep mode steps:
- Run
review-situation-scan.cjsas normal (get branch state + active plan list) - If a phase program is active: read the umbrella plan in full — especially
## Current Execution Stateand## Phase Ordering - Read the most recent phase report in full (if it exists)
- If 3+ phases are completed: read the Forward Preview sections from earlier phase reports
- For each active plan: read the
## Resume and Execution Handoffsection - Synthesize: "You are at Phase N of M. Phase N-1 completed with these outputs. The next phase needs to know: X. These are the open gaps from prior phases: Y."
Output: Full handoff briefing — program position, prior-phase outputs, open gaps, next-phase inputs, and any hard-stop conditions.
Core Contract
vc-review-situation is advisory.
- Evidence comes from git, worktree metadata, and
process/*plan inventory. - Selected-plan awareness is a hint, not a command.
- Next-step recommendations are suggestions, not workflow gates.
If a user needs execution, the repo still requires explicit plan selection and ENTER EXECUTE MODE.
Invocation
Run the local scanner:
node .claude/skills/vc-review-situation/scripts/review-situation-scan.cjs --json
Useful flags:
node .claude/skills/vc-review-situation/scripts/review-situation-scan.cjs
node .claude/skills/vc-review-situation/scripts/review-situation-scan.cjs --json --max-branches 8 --plan-limit 6
node .claude/skills/vc-review-situation/scripts/review-situation-scan.cjs --selected-plan process/general-plans/active/example_27-05-26/example_PLAN_27-05-26.md
node .claude/skills/vc-review-situation/scripts/review-situation-scan.cjs --since "14 days ago"
node .claude/skills/vc-review-situation/scripts/review-situation-scan.cjs --fetch
Input Sources
The scanner reads from:
git status --short --branchgit worktree list --porcelain- local and remote branch refs plus sampled recent commits
process/general-plans/active/(plans inside{slug}_{date}/task subfolders — scan one level deep)process/features/*/active/(same depth)- optional session-state hints if a local session id is present
It does not scan upstream plans/**, and it never treats a selected-plan hint as execute authority.
Output Shape
The default output is a human-readable report with these sections:
- Current State
- Recent Work
- In-Flight Plans
- Next Steps
- Warnings
--json returns the same information as structured data.
If the scanner fails, say that explicitly and fall back to the minimal read-only commands:
git status --short --branch
git worktree list --porcelain
git for-each-ref --format='%(refname:short) %(committerdate:iso8601) %(objectname:short) %(subject)' refs/heads refs/remotes
find process/general-plans/active process/features -path '*/active/*' -type f | sort
Safety Rules
- Read-only only. No branch switching, plan edits, or fetch unless
--fetchis explicit. - Treat selected-plan inference as tentative unless it came from an explicit
--selected-planargument. - Remote branch data is stale-by-default unless
--fetchis explicit. - Use this for session handoff and quick repo orientation, not for workflow control.
- If the scan cannot prove something, emit a warning instead of guessing.
Good trigger phrases:
what's in flightgive me a handoff summarywhat active plans do we haveshow branch and worktree statuswhat should I look at next
Load references/review-situation-workflow.md when you need the project's decision tree or hint-priority rules.
Program Review Mode
Program Review Mode = Deep Mode. All trigger conditions and synthesis steps from the Mode Selection — Deep Mode section apply here. The output format below is the required presentation layer for Deep Mode when the orchestrator or user needs a full visual summary before execution.
Trigger: User asks for plan review, program summary, "what are we building", "summarize all active plans"
Goal: Read ALL active plans for a program and produce a comprehensive visual summary for user feedback before execution.
Required output elements
- Macro goal + specific phase goals
- All important decisions made (DECISION / WHY / REJECTED format)
- Expected behaviors being hardened (before/after tables)
- Phase sequence with dependencies (ASCII box diagram using ─ │ ┌ ┐ └ ┘ ├ ┤ ┬ ┴ ┼ ► → characters — NEVER mermaid)
- Per-phase summary: purpose, key items, exit gate, dependencies, risks
- Validate contract status
- Gaps / out-of-scope items
- End with: "Anything to modify before execution?"
Output format rules
- Use ASCII box diagrams (─ │ ┌ ┐ └ ┘ ├ ┤ ┬ ┴ ┼ ► → characters) for phase sequence diagrams and dependency flows — NEVER mermaid (mermaid does not render in terminal)
- Use ASCII/markdown tables for before/after behavior comparisons
- Use numbered decision logs (DECISION / WHY / REJECTED)
- Never omit important details — output is for user feedback before execution
- End with: "Anything to modify before execution?"
Process steps
- Run standard vc-review-situation check (branch, worktree, active plans list)
- Identify target program (user-specified feature folder or all active plans)
- Read ALL plan files in program fully (umbrella + all phase plans)
- Extract: macro goal, per-phase goals, decisions, behavior changes, validate contract status
- Produce visual summary using ASCII diagrams + markdown tables
- Prompt for feedback
Artifact Review Mode
Read and compare process artifacts (plan file + validate-contract, or plan vs git diff) and produce a concise inline summary.
- Plan + validate-contract comparison: Read the plan file and its embedded validate-contract section; render a side-by-side summary of what was planned vs what the contract locked in, flagging gaps or conflicts.
- Plan vs diff view: Read the specified plan file and run
git diff [ref]to show what changed; map changed files against the plan's blast-radius, highlighting covered vs uncovered areas. - File viewer: Read any process artifact (plan, report, validate-contract) and emit a clean inline summary with key decisions, open items, and exit gates — useful before passing context to an execute subagent.
- Output format: ASCII tables and prose only — no Mermaid, no HTML, no server. Output is terminal-friendly and safe to paste into a subagent prompt.
- Trigger phrases:
review the plan,show plan vs contract,what did we plan vs what changed,summarize this plan file,diff plan against code