Pack scaffold

Loaded from SKILL.md when the invocation names a pack to add, create, or scaffold. Ask with the blocking question tool named in SKILL.md.

Outcome: a Compound Pack the resolver publishes on the next planning or review run: a directory holding a README.md that says what the pack governs, one first rule at the top level, and a packs: entry in .compound-engineering/config.yaml that points at it. The next consumer is the bundled health check, which lists the pack as pack <id>.

Done: the health check reports pack <id> with no Pack config error or publishes no packs line about it, and the author has heard the layout rule and where the guide states it.

Safe failure direction: write nothing rather than write into a directory or a config file the user has not seen. A target directory that exists and is not empty, a source the config already declares, or a run that cannot ask the user each stop the scaffold with a report of what it would have written.

Facts the scaffold needs

• The pack id is kebab-case ASCII (a-z, 0-9, -): the resolver names a pack after its directory, and the id appears in citations as (pack: <id>, <file>). Take it from the pack:<id> token, otherwise from the words of the request; ask when neither yields one.
• The default target is compound-packs/<id>/ relative to the repository root (git rev-parse --show-toplevel). When the user names another repo-relative directory, the config entry points there instead.
• A rule is discovered only when it is a top-level .md with title and applies_when frontmatter; the pack's README.md is its description and never a rule; subdirectories and non-.md files are storage. The scaffold exists so a first pack starts in this shape.
• A live pack entry in config.yaml is - source: compound-packs/<id> under a top-level, uncommented packs: key. The bundled template ships that key as a comment, which is not a live key.

Procedure

1. Resolve the target. Compute the id and the directory. Stop, saying why, when the directory exists and is not empty or when config.yaml already declares this source. An empty existing directory is fine.

1. Draft the two files. README.md at the pack's top level: no frontmatter, one line saying what the pack governs, drawn from what the user said, or asked for when they said nothing. The first rule comes from assets/pack-rule-template.md in this skill's directory, saved as <kebab-case of the title>.md beside the README. When the user described the first rule, fill title, applies_when, tags, and the body from that description; otherwise keep the template's placeholders, which still publish the pack and show the author what to replace. Keep the template's layout-reminder paragraph; it tells the author to delete it.

1. Draft the config change. When .compound-engineering/config.yaml is missing, create it from references/config-template.yaml under the same approval. Append - source: compound-packs/<id> (or the directory the user chose) as the last item of the live packs: list, matching its indentation; when there is no live key, append this block at the end of the file:

```yaml packs:

• source: compound-packs/<id> ```

Leave the template's commented # packs: example and every other line exactly as they are. config.local.yaml is not the target; a pack the team shares belongs in the tracked file.

1. Ask once, showing everything. Preview the directory, both files in full, and the exact config lines with their placement, then ask:

text Create the Compound Pack <id>`?

1. Yes, write these files and the config entry
2. No thanks ```

Write only on approval. When the caller declared the run non-interactive, or no question can reach the user, print the same preview, say the scaffold wrote nothing, and stop.

1. Verify with the health check. Run the bundled scripts/check-health exactly as SKILL.md Step 2 does, with the same SKILL_DIR anchor, and report its pack <id> line. A Pack config error or publishes no packs line about this pack means the scaffold is not done: fix the cause and run the check again.

1. Tell the author. In one sentence: a rule is discovered only when it is a top-level .md with title and applies_when; everything else in the pack folder is storage, and README.md is the description. Point at https://everyinc.github.io/compound-engineering-plugin/guides/packs/, "Pack layout", for the annotated tree. Report the pack under Fixed, or under Skipped when the user declined, in the Phase 3 summary.