Skills serve different roles in the product-delivery pipeline. Some orchestrate multi-phase processes that produce code; others guide the user through a discovery conversation; still others generate a single artifact or run a focused audit.
A flat list obscures these differences. A three-tier taxonomy makes it immediately clear what each skill does, when to use it, and what output to expect — for both the human user and the dispatch system.
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Workflow │
│ Multi-phase pipeline │
│ Orchestrates sub-processes │
│ Produces code, project structure, or deliverables │
│ Human time: hours–days │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Interactive │
│ Guided multi-turn conversation │
│ Asks questions → analyzes context → recommends │
│ Produces decisions, briefs, or structured plans │
│ Human time: minutes–hours │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Component │
│ Single discrete pass │
│ One artifact, template, or audit │
│ Usually deterministic or low-Latency │
│ Human time: seconds–minutes │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
| Dimension | Workflow | Interactive | Component |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phases | 2+ sequential phases with state | Variable turns, state light | 1 pass, stateless |
| Orchestrates | Sub-skills or sub-agents | Questions → analysis | Nothing (self-contained) |
| Output | Code, files, project structure | Document, decision, brief | Single artifact or report |
| User involvement | Low after kickoff (runs autonomously) | High (answers questions) | Minimal (one-shot request) |
| Side effects | File writes, DB changes, scaffolding | None (document-only) | None or single file |
| Example | dev-builder: 1→N build phases | product-spec-builder: Q&A → spec | feedback-writer: capture → file |
| Skill | Tier | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| dev-builder | workflow | Multi-phase code generation pipeline; orchestrates implementer/test-writer sub-agents; produces full project structure |
| change-manager | workflow | Propose → Apply → Verify → Archive four-phase pipeline; produces code changes under changes/ |
| release-builder | workflow | Build → Audit → Publish; produces deployable artifacts across channels |
| evolution-engine | workflow | Triages feedback → proposes → auto-generates Skills; Forge's self-evolution pipeline |
| reqforge-greenkeeper | workflow | Multi-step restore of ReqForge framework gates (discover → classify → fix → sync → verify) |
| product-spec-builder | interactive | Guided Socratic Q&A to elicit and refine requirements; produces Product-Spec.md as structured output |
| dev-planner | interactive | Transforms Spec → phased DEV-PLAN through analysis conversation; bridges requirements to execution |
| design-brief-builder | interactive | Interview on visual constraints and brand context to produce Design-Brief.md |
| domain-mapper | interactive | Guided multi-step research pipeline: scattershot domain info → structured Markdown database (domain-map.md); pauses at each step for user direction |
| bug-fixer | interactive | Systematic diagnostic conversation to identify root cause; then applies targeted fix |
| request-dispatcher | interactive | Analyzes ambiguous request + project state → recommends target Skill through conversational routing |
| skill-builder | interactive | Guided conversation to scaffold a new Skill; validates structure and fills compliance gaps |
| design-maker | component | Takes structured Design-Brief → generates mockups via external tool; single artifact pass |
| feedback-writer | component | Captures user correction → writes structured feedback entry; single deterministic write |
| code-review | component | Launches parallel specialized review agents; single audit pass producing a findings report |
When creating a new Skill, ask:
-
How many phases? If 2+ distinct stages with sequential state → workflow. If one pass → component. If variable turns determined by user answers → interactive.
-
What's the output? Code/scaffolding → workflow. Decision/document → interactive. Single artifact → component.
-
Who drives? System orchestrates autonomously → workflow. System asks, user answers → interactive. User makes one request, system responds → component.
-
Can it run unattended? Yes (after kickoff) → workflow. No (needs user answers) → interactive. N/A (instant completion) → component.
The tier field in skill.json is checked by scripts/validate-skill.mjs:
node scripts/validate-skill.mjs core/skills/<skill-name>
Valid values: "workflow", "interactive", "component".
Invalid or missing tier → ERROR in validation (exit code 1).
- skill-authoring-patterns.md — structural conventions for writing Skills
- harness-maturity-checklist.md — broader maturity levels across the entire Forge harness
- behavior-rules.md — Karpathy four principles that govern Skill execution