feat: add /setup skill and enforce ticket creation during elaboration

- Create /setup skill that auto-detects VCS, hosting, CI/CD, and MCP
  providers, then writes .ai-dlc/settings.yml via guided wizard
- Add Phase 6.75 hard validation gate in elaborate to block handoff
  when epic/ticket fields are empty (with loop-back to Phase 6.5)
- Add Step 0c soft warning in construct when ticket fields are missing
- Prompt users to run /setup when settings.yml doesn't exist yet

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: jwaldrip

plugin/hooks/inject-context.sh

@@ -213,6 +213,10 @@ if [ -z "$ITERATION_JSON" ]; then
 
     echo "**To resume:** \`/resume <slug>\` or \`/resume\` if only one"
     echo ""
+    if [ ! -f ".ai-dlc/settings.yml" ]; then
+      echo "> **Tip:** Run \`/setup\` to configure providers and VCS settings. This enables automatic ticket sync during elaboration."
+      echo ""
+    fi
     # Inject provider context for pre-elaboration awareness
     CONFIG_LIB="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/lib/config.sh"
     if [ -f "$CONFIG_LIB" ]; then
@@ -231,6 +235,10 @@ if [ -z "$ITERATION_JSON" ]; then
       echo ""
       echo "No active AI-DLC task. Run \`/elaborate\` to start a new task."
       echo ""
+      if [ ! -f ".ai-dlc/settings.yml" ]; then
+        echo "> **First time?** Run \`/setup\` to configure AI-DLC for this project (auto-detects providers, VCS settings, etc.)"
+        echo ""
+      fi
       # Inject provider context
       CONFIG_LIB="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/lib/config.sh"
       if [ -f "$CONFIG_LIB" ]; then

plugin/skills/construct/SKILL.md

@@ -147,6 +147,47 @@ if git remote get-url origin &>/dev/null; then
 fi
 ```
 
+### Step 0c: Provider Sync Check
+
+Check if a ticketing provider is configured and warn if ticket fields are unpopulated. This is a **warning only** — construction proceeds regardless. The elaboration gate (Phase 6.75) is the hard enforcement point; this catches cases where elaboration predated provider configuration.
+
+```bash
+source "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/lib/config.sh"
+PROVIDERS=$(load_providers)
+TICKETING_TYPE=$(echo "$PROVIDERS" | jq -r '.ticketing.type // empty')
+
+if [ -n "$TICKETING_TYPE" ]; then
+  INTENT_DIR=".ai-dlc/${INTENT_SLUG}"
+  MISSING=""
+
+  # Check epic field in intent.md
+  if [ -f "$INTENT_DIR/intent.md" ]; then
+    EPIC=$(han parse yaml epic -r --default "" < "$INTENT_DIR/intent.md" 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+    if [ -z "$EPIC" ]; then
+      MISSING="${MISSING}\n- intent.md: epic field is empty"
+    fi
+  fi
+
+  # Check ticket field in each unit file
+  for unit_file in "$INTENT_DIR"/unit-*.md; do
+    [ -f "$unit_file" ] || continue
+    TICKET=$(han parse yaml ticket -r --default "" < "$unit_file" 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+    if [ -z "$TICKET" ]; then
+      MISSING="${MISSING}\n- $(basename "$unit_file"): ticket field is empty"
+    fi
+  done
+
+  if [ -n "$MISSING" ]; then
+    echo ""
+    echo "> **WARNING: Ticketing provider '${TICKETING_TYPE}' is configured but some ticket fields are empty:**"
+    echo -e "$MISSING"
+    echo ">"
+    echo "> Consider running \`/elaborate\` to sync tickets, or populate fields manually."
+    echo ""
+  fi
+fi
+```
+
 ### Step 1: Load State
 
 ```bash

plugin/skills/elaborate/SKILL.md

@@ -764,7 +764,7 @@ This ensures builders can pull the intent branch when working remotely. Note in
 
 ## Phase 6.5: Sync to Ticketing Provider
 
-If a ticketing provider is configured and MCP tools are available:
+If a ticketing provider is configured and MCP tools are available, you **MUST** complete all steps below. Phase 6.75 will validate that all tickets were created — you cannot proceed to handoff with missing tickets.
 
 1. **Epic handling**:
    - If `epic` field in intent.md frontmatter is already populated (provided by product), use that existing epic — do not create a new one
@@ -795,6 +795,60 @@ If a ticketing provider is configured and MCP tools are available:
 
 ---
 
+## Phase 6.75: Ticket Sync Validation
+
+This phase validates that Phase 6.5 was completed correctly. It runs automatically after Phase 6.5.
+
+### Step 1: Check if ticketing is configured
+
+```bash
+source "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/lib/config.sh"
+PROVIDERS=$(load_providers)
+TICKETING_TYPE=$(echo "$PROVIDERS" | jq -r '.ticketing.type // empty')
+```
+
+- If `TICKETING_TYPE` is empty → **skip this phase**, proceed to Phase 7.
+
+### Step 2: Verify MCP tools are available
+
+Use `ToolSearch` to check for ticketing MCP tools (search for the provider type, e.g., `"jira"`, `"linear"`, `"github issues"`).
+
+- If no MCP tools found → log warning: `"Ticketing provider '${TICKETING_TYPE}' configured but MCP tools not available — skipping ticket validation"` → proceed to Phase 7.
+
+### Step 3: Hard validation (provider + MCP tools available)
+
+Read the intent and unit files and check for populated ticket fields:
+
+1. **Epic check**: Read `intent.md` frontmatter. Check the `epic:` field.
+   - If `epic:` is empty or missing → **FAIL**
+
+2. **Ticket check**: Scan all `unit-*.md` files in the intent directory. Check each file's `ticket:` frontmatter field.
+   - If ANY unit has an empty or missing `ticket:` field → **FAIL**
+
+### On FAIL:
+
+**DO NOT proceed to Phase 7.** Instead:
+
+1. Report exactly what is missing:
+   ```
+   Ticket sync validation failed:
+   - intent.md: epic field is empty
+   - unit-02-auth-middleware.md: ticket field is empty
+   - unit-04-api-routes.md: ticket field is empty
+   ```
+
+2. Loop back to **Phase 6.5** to create the missing tickets/epic.
+
+3. After Phase 6.5 completes, re-run this validation (Phase 6.75).
+
+4. Only proceed to Phase 7 when all `epic:` and `ticket:` fields are populated.
+
+### On PASS:
+
+Log: `"Ticket sync validation passed — all epic and ticket fields populated."` → proceed to Phase 7.
+
+---
+
 ## Phase 7: Handoff to Construction
 
 Tell the user: