Swain Do

This is task tracking for the Swain project management system. It translates high-level intent from other skills into concrete CLI commands using the tk backend. You'd invoke it when you need an implementation plan for a SPEC, want to see what to work on next, or need to claim tasks and manage dependencies. The skill enforces strict TDD with RED-GREEN-REFACTOR cycles and includes safeguards against rationalizing your way out of writing tests first. It treats tickets as ephemeral execution scaffolding rather than permanent records, with the session log serving as the actual archive. The handoff protocol is particularly well thought out, distinguishing between implementation-tier artifacts that get tracked and coordination-tier ones that get decomposed first.

skills.sh installs: 128
GitHub stars: 2
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add cristoslc/swain --skill swain-do --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Execution Tracking

Before proceeding with any state-changing operation, check for an active session:

REPO_ROOT="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd)"
bash "$REPO_ROOT/.agents/bin/swain-session-check.sh" 2>/dev/null

If the JSON output has "status" other than "active", inform the operator: "No active session — start one with /swain-init?" Proceed if they dismiss.

Abstraction layer for agent execution tracking. Other skills (e.g., swain-design) express intent using abstract terms; this skill translates that intent into concrete CLI commands.

Before first use: Read references/tk-cheatsheet.md for complete command syntax, flags, ID formats, and anti-patterns.