| name | documenting-chores |
| description | Creates lightweight documentation for chore tasks and maintenance work. Use when the user needs to document a chore, maintenance task, dependency update, refactoring, or minor fix that doesn't require full feature requirements. |
Documenting Chores
Create lightweight chore task documents that capture maintenance work, dependency updates, refactoring, and minor fixes without the overhead of full feature requirements.
When to Use This Skill
- Documenting dependency updates or version bumps
- Recording planned refactoring work
- Tracking documentation fixes or README updates
- Capturing configuration changes
- Cleaning up dead code or unused files
- Any maintenance task that doesn't warrant full feature requirements
Quick Start
- Check for existing chores in
requirements/chores/to determine the next Chore ID - Ask for GitHub issue URL if not provided (optional but recommended for traceability)
- Identify the chore category (see reference/categories.md)
- Create chore document using the template
- Save to
requirements/chores/CHORE-XXX-description.md
File Location
All chore documents go in: requirements/chores/
Naming format: CHORE-XXX-{2-4-word-description}.md
Examples:
CHORE-001-update-dependencies.mdCHORE-002-fix-readme-typos.mdCHORE-003-cleanup-unused-imports.md
Chore ID Assignment
To assign the next Chore ID:
- Check existing files in
requirements/chores/ - Find the highest
CHORE-XXXnumber - Increment by 1 for the new chore
- If no chores exist, start with
CHORE-001
Template
See templates/chore-document.md for the full template.
Structure Overview
# Chore: [Brief Title]
- Chore ID, GitHub Issue (optional), Category
- Description (1-2 sentences)
- Affected Files
- Acceptance Criteria
- Notes (optional)
Categories
Five supported categories with specific guidance:
| Category | Use For |
|---|---|
dependencies |
Package updates, version bumps, security patches |
documentation |
README updates, comment fixes, doc corrections |
refactoring |
Code cleanup, restructuring, naming improvements |
configuration |
Config file updates, tooling changes, CI/CD modifications |
cleanup |
Removing dead code, unused files, deprecated features |
See reference/categories.md for detailed guidance on each category.
Verification Checklist
Before finalizing, verify:
- Chore ID is unique (not already used)
- Category matches the type of work
- Description clearly explains the work
- Affected files list is complete
- Acceptance criteria are testable
- GitHub issue is linked (if one exists)
Relationship to Other Skills
| Task Type | Recommended Approach |
|---|---|
| New feature with requirements | Use documenting-features skill |
| Chore/maintenance task | Use this skill (documenting-chores) |
| Quick fix (no tracking needed) | Direct implementation |
After documenting a chore, use the executing-chores skill to implement it with proper branch management and PR creation.