--- name: prioritise description: Name the next move live from workflow conformance, the session-prime envelope, and recent memories. One verb, one sentence on why now, a deferred count. Read-only — the author runs the verb. when_to_use: When the author explicitly runs /orb:prioritise at session start (or mid-session) to compress substrate state into one recommended next move. user-invocable: true allowed-tools: Bash Read created_by: claude created_at: 2026-05-21 --- # /orb:prioritise Name the next move live from substrate signals. Returns one imperative verb, one sentence on why-now, and a count of what's deferred. The author runs the verb. The skill never auto-executes. ## Usage ``` /orb:prioritise ``` No arguments. Invocable at session start or any time mid-session — the output reflects substrate state at the moment of invocation, not a frozen handover. ## Why this exists Session handovers freeze priorities at the moment they're written. By the next session, memos accumulate, cards age, conformance findings change. The author wants one thing: *what should I do first?* This skill compresses substrate to a single recommended move, surfaced with the pattern that makes it the move (not just one of five). Pillar 1 (author-level interaction). Distinct from `orbit session prime`, which produces the raw envelope (handover, open specs, memories) for the agent to bootstrap context. `prioritise` consumes that envelope and names the move. ## Substrate inputs Read these three sources live — do not extrapolate from git log or filesystem scans. 1. **`orbit audit conformance --json`** — findings carry `severity` (HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW), `subsystem`, `subject`, `evidence`, and `remediation.verb`. 2. **`orbit session prime`** — open specs, recent memories, prior handover distillate. 3. **Recent memories** (from the session-prime envelope or `orbit memory list --recent`) — keep only those signalling deferred decisions, calendar deadlines, or unresolved questions. ## Ranking algorithm Pick *one* deterministically — two consecutive invocations on identical substrate must produce the same move: 1. Conformance severity: `HIGH` > `MEDIUM` > `LOW` 2. Within severity: memo staleness in days, descending (older = higher) 3. Within staleness: open-spec age, descending (older = higher) 4. Ties broken by id ascending The first-ranked item is the move. Everything else becomes the deferred count. ## Next-action verb For a conformance finding, surface its `remediation.verb` verbatim — no translation, no paraphrase. The author runs the verb directly. When a finding lacks `remediation.verb` (forward-compatible severity-only or info-only findings), surface the finding's `evidence` field verbatim and tag the move `manual action`. For a move drawn from a non-conformance source (memo, open spec, planned-empty card), the next-action is the verb the author would type — e.g. `/orb:distill .orbit/memos/.md`, `/orb:drive `, `/orb:tabletop `. ## Output shape Three lines, blank lines between: ``` + N other items deferred — ask if you want them. ``` The deferred tail is omitted when `N == 0`. Total: ≤5 lines. The why-now is not a restatement of the item's purpose — it's the pattern that promotes this to *now* (e.g. "older of two MEDIUM conformance findings sat across three sessions", "only open spec, deferred twice", "this memo's 4-line fix unblocks the follow-up cluster"). ## On request: the full list If the author asks "what are the others?", "show me the full list", or anything matching that intent, render up to top 5 on the follow-up turn: ``` N. why: effort: next: ``` Effort bands: `S` ≤15 min, `M` one session, `L` multi-session. Never enumerate beyond 5 in one response. Cite memory keys, conformance subjects, and file paths — do not inline substrate content. ## Empty-substrate fallback When `orbit audit conformance --json` returns zero findings and recent memos / open specs are exhausted: 1. Pick the oldest planned-empty card — `maturity: planned` AND `specs: []`, lowest id. Use `orbit overview` to list. Recommend `/orb:tabletop `. 2. If no runner-ups exist either, output exactly: `no priorities — substrate is clean and the backlog is exhausted`. Never return an empty brief without an explanation. ## Algorithm 1. Run `orbit audit conformance --json`. Collect findings. 2. Run `orbit session prime`. Collect open specs and recent memories. 3. Filter memories for actionable signals (deferred deadlines, blocked decisions, unresolved questions). Drop status-recap and session-close summaries. 4. Apply the ranking algorithm above. 5. Compose the move — verb, why-now sentence, deferred count. 6. If nothing surfaced, apply the empty-substrate fallback. 7. Return. Do **not** execute the verb. ## What this is NOT - **Not `orbit session prime`.** Prime is the agent-facing raw envelope (handover, open specs, memories) — it bootstraps context. `prioritise` consumes that envelope and names the move. - **Not `orbit overview`.** Overview produces a status snapshot (cards-by-maturity, orphans, most-connected card). `prioritise` produces an action recommendation. - **Not auto-executing.** Enforcement is via this SKILL.md's prose contract — there is no hook or tool-permission gate. If the author wants the move run, they type the verb themselves. - **Not session-start frozen.** Invoke any time. The output is live re-derivation. - **Not a menu.** One move. The full list is on request. ## Discipline - **Read-only.** No `orbit task open`, no `orbit memory remember`, no `orbit spec note`. The skill never writes. - **Pick the move.** STYLE.md is the spine: one imperative action, in plain voice. A top-5 list as the default output is a menu — it violates the contract. - **Why-now over why-this.** The sentence justifies the *timing* of the pick, not the item's intrinsic value. "Older of three card gaps that have sat for three sessions" beats "card 0013 is planned with scenarios but no tabletop pass" — the latter is restatement, the former is selection logic. - **Cite, don't paraphrase.** Name memory keys, conformance subjects (`/`), spec ids, and card slugs verbatim. The author drills down by opening the cited substrate, not by re-reading prose. - **No fanfare.** No header. The verb IS the brief.