Add v0.81 session handoff brief

State-of-the-repo handoff for the next working session: what v0.81
shipped, the load-bearing conventions (Input anatomy, invitation-not-
gate framing, the $ARGUMENTS stance), the enforcement map, the open
work queue in priority order, and the gotchas learned during the
release (hand-maintained marketplace.json, orphaned commits, bulk-edit
mechanics, multi-location skill counts).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

04JUL26.md

@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+# HANDOFF: State of the Repo After v0.81 (July 4, 2026)
+
+You are working in the `Product-Manager-Skills` repository. This document is the session handoff from the v0.81 release. Read it alongside `CLAUDE.md` (governance + distillation protocol) before touching files.
+
+---
+
+## Where Things Stand
+
+**v0.81 shipped July 4, 2026** — committed, pushed, tagged, release assets published, CI green. The library is at **55 skills** (23 component, 25 interactive, 7 workflow) plus 6 commands.
+
+What v0.81 was (full story: `docs/announcements/2026-07-04-v0-81-input-sections.md`):
+
+1. **Required `## Input` section in every skill**, between Purpose and Key Concepts. Convention: `**Works best with:**` (subject) → `**Also useful:**` (optional context) → the inline-input rule → `**Arriving empty-handed? That works too.**` (guided-flow fallback) → example invocation.
+2. **The inline-input rule**, verbatim in every skill: anything supplied with the invocation — text after the skill name, a pasted context dump, or an appended `ARGUMENTS:` line — counts as answers already given; use it and skip what it covers, don't re-ask.
+3. **The `$ARGUMENTS` stance**: this library deliberately does not use runtime template syntax. Rationale (portability, pedagogy, unnecessary) lives in `CONTRIBUTING.md` → "Why We Don't Use `$ARGUMENTS`". `argument-hint` frontmatter is the one sanctioned exception (Claude Code autocomplete; 53 skills have it).
+4. **Recovered `agent-orchestration-advisor`** — Phase 6 skill #34 existed only on orphaned commit `a41415c` for months while docs claimed it shipped. Restored and upgraded to current standards.
+5. **Synced `.claude-plugin/marketplace.json`** (47 → 55 entries) and bumped plugin manifests to 0.81.
+6. **Streamlit**: every skill detail page renders the skill's own Input section in a "What to bring (all optional)" expander.
+7. **Post-release**: added `scripts/check-library-drift.py` (commit `93921da`) so failures #4 and #5 can never be silent again.
+
+---
+
+## Conventions the Next Session Must Honor
+
+These are load-bearing decisions, not preferences:
+
+- **Skill anatomy is now 7 sections, in order:** Purpose, Input, Key Concepts, Application, Examples, Common Pitfalls, References. Validator-enforced.
+- **Input sections are invitations, not gates.** Never label anything "Required." Users must finish the section knowing they can arrive with nothing and be walked through it. Dean flagged this explicitly — the first draft used "Provide:" and he pushed back.
+- **No `$ARGUMENTS` in skill bodies.** Hard validation failure (backticked mentions naming the anti-pattern are allowed). PRs "modernizing" skills with template syntax get converted, not merged.
+- **Pedagogic-first still governs everything** (v0.75). Stripping learning scaffolding is a defect. The Input convention is an *extension* of this, not a separate rule.
+
+## Enforcement Map (What Catches What)
+
+| Check | Where | Catches |
+|---|---|---|
+| Required sections incl. Input, `$ARGUMENTS` ban | `scripts/check-skill-metadata.py` | structural drift, template syntax |
+| Input has example invocation + empty-handed language | `scripts/test-a-skill.sh --smoke` (warns) | hollow Input sections |
+| Marketplace entries ↔ `skills/*/` dirs; README/CLAUDE.md skill links resolve | `scripts/check-library-drift.py` | docs claiming more than the repo contains |
+| All of the above on every PR and tag | `scripts/validate-skills.sh` via `.github/workflows/build-release.yml` | regressions reaching main |
+
+Run locally: `./scripts/test-library.sh --smoke`. Three pre-existing smoke warnings (interactive-flow option counts) are known and unrelated.
+
+---
+
+## Open Work Queue (Rough Priority)
+
+1. **Theme metadata backfill** — only 19 of 55 skills have `theme`/`best_for`/`scenarios`/`estimated_time` frontmatter. The other 36 land in the Streamlit "All other skills" expander. Mechanical pass; follow the tagged skills' format.
+2. **Phase 6 remainder (AI PM Orchestrator):** `ai-product-evals` (Component), `ai-observability-framework` (Component), `ai-maintenance-planning` (Component), `ai-product-orchestrator` (Workflow). Source material listed in CLAUDE.md.
+3. **The v0.80 AI Product Builder Track brief was never executed.** `15MAY26.md` and `research/v080-ai-product-builder-execution-brief.md` planned v0.80 as an AI Product Builder Track; the actual v0.80 shipped the stakeholder suite instead. The brief's content (hard exclusions, source material, skill plans) is still valid raw material for a future release — decide with Dean whether to execute, renumber, or retire it.
+4. **"Invoking skills with arguments" subsection** in `docs/Using PM Skills with Claude.md` — the Input sections teach the pattern per-skill; the guide could teach it once, generally, with the `/skill-name your context` example. Small, deferred from v0.81.
+5. **Streamlit follow-ons:** streaming responses, related-skills panel, export conversation, search.
+6. **Potential Phase 8:** Pricing & Monetization Suite (7 skills, listed in CLAUDE.md).
+
+## Gotchas Learned This Session
+
+- **Marketplace.json is hand-maintained.** New skills need an entry added manually (name, source, description *without* the "Use when..." clause, category from the existing seven, tags). The drift check will remind you.
+- **Orphaned commits happen here.** Before trusting "docs say it shipped," verify the path exists on main. `git log --all` finds work that never merged.
+- **Bulk skill edits:** use a Python script via Bash, not the Edit tool — files drift between reads. Quote YAML description values containing colons.
+- **README has three places that state the skill count** (badge, ASCII banner, tagline) plus `.claude-plugin/marketplace.json` metadata.description. All must move together; the banner box is width-sensitive.
+- **Release mechanics:** tag `v*` → `.github/workflows/build-release.yml` validates, builds all ZIP packs, and publishes release assets automatically. Nothing manual after the tag push.