
scan-new-specs
β 119by warpdotdev Β· part of warpdotdev/common-skills
Scan warpdotdev/warp and warp-server for recently merged PRODUCT.md specs that don't yet have a corresponding docs PR in warpdotdev/docs. When a complete spec is found, auto-generates a full docs draft PR and tags the engineer. When a spec is too thin to draft from, pings the engineer directly. Designed to run as a scheduled Oz ambient agent (e.g., every 2-3 days). Use when setting up the automated docs trigger or running a manual docs coverage sweep.
This is the playbook your agent receives when the skill activates β you don't need to read it to use the skill, but it's here to audit before installing.
scan-new-specs
Scan warpdotdev/warp and warp-server for recently merged product or tech specs that lack a corresponding docs draft. For each gap:
- If the spec is complete β automatically run
write-feature-docsin ambient mode to generate a full draft PR inwarpdotdev/docs, then ping the engineer to review it - If the spec is thin β ping the engineer directly to either flesh out the spec or kick off the docs workflow manually
In both cases, post a summary to #growth-docs.
TODO for reviewers:
#growth-docsis a temporary channel for engineer pings. Identify a more appropriate eng-facing channel (e.g. a shared eng/docs channel,#dev, or a dedicated#docs-requestschannel) once this workflow is established.
Step 1: Find recently merged specs
List merged PRs from both repos since the lookback date, then filter by changed files. Do not use --search "in:files" (GitHub does not support file-path filtering in PR search) and use a portable date command that works on both Linux and macOS:
# Portable date calculation (GNU/Linux and BSD/macOS compatible)
SINCE=$(date -d "-${LOOKBACK_DAYS} days" +%Y-%m-%d 2>/dev/null \
|| date -v-${LOOKBACK_DAYS}d +%Y-%m-%d)
# List all recently merged PRs (no file-path filter -- we check files next)
gh pr list \
--repo warpdotdev/warp \
--state merged \
--search "merged:>${SINCE}" \
--json number,title,author,mergedAt,url \
--limit 100
# Repeat for warp-server
gh pr list \
--repo warpdotdev/warp-server \
--state merged \
--search "merged:>${SINCE}" \
--json number,title,author,mergedAt,url \
--limit 100For each PR returned, check whether it actually contains a new specs/*/PRODUCT.md by inspecting the changed files (this is the correct filter step):
gh pr view <number> --repo warpdotdev/<repo> --json files -q '.files[].path' \
| grep -E '^specs/.+/PRODUCT\.md$'Collect the list of: spec ID (the directory name under specs/), spec PR number and URL, PR author GitHub username, repo (warp or warp-server), and merge date.
For each PR author's GitHub username, resolve their Slack identity:
# Get the engineer's name and email from GitHub
ENG_NAME=$(gh api users/<github-username> -q '.name // .login')
ENG_EMAIL=$(gh api users/<github-username> -q '.email // empty')
# Look up their Slack user ID by email (real ping, not just a name mention)
if [ -n "$ENG_EMAIL" ]; then
SLACK_USER_ID=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
"https://slack.com/api/users.lookupByEmail?email=${ENG_EMAIL}" \
| python3 -c "import sys,json; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(d['user']['id'] if d.get('ok') else '')")
fi
# Use <@USER_ID> for a real ping if lookup succeeded; fall back to @name if not
if [ -n "$SLACK_USER_ID" ]; then
ENG_MENTION="<@${SLACK_USER_ID}>"
else
ENG_MENTION="@${ENG_NAME} _(Slack ID not found β verify this is the right person)_"
fiStore ENG_MENTION, ENG_NAME, and ENG_GITHUB for use in Slack messages.
Step 2: Check for existing docs coverage
For each spec found, check warpdotdev/docs for an open/draft or merged PR that mentions the spec ID. Run two separate queries to avoid counting closed-unmerged PRs as coverage:
# Check for open or draft PRs
gh pr list \
--repo warpdotdev/docs \
--state open \
--search "<spec-id>" \
--json number,title,state,url \
--limit 5
# Check for merged PRs
gh pr list \
--repo warpdotdev/docs \
--state merged \
--search "<spec-id>" \
--json number,title,state,url \
--limit 5A spec is considered covered if either query returns results (open, draft, or merged PR exists). Skip covered specs.
A spec is uncovered if neither query returns results. Closed-unmerged PRs do not count as coverage β a closed PR signals abandoned work that needs re-triggering.
Step 3: Assess spec completeness
For each uncovered spec, read specs/<id>/PRODUCT.md and assess whether it has enough content to auto-draft from:
Complete (proceed to auto-draft) if ALL of the following are true:
- File is at least 40 lines long
- Contains a
## Behaviorsection (or equivalent) with numbered invariants or user-facing steps - Describes at least one concrete user action (not just a summary paragraph)
Thin (ping engineer instead) if the spec is a stub β only a Summary section, fewer than 40 lines, or no behavior detail.
Step 4: Act based on spec completeness
Path A: Complete spec β auto-draft
- Run
write-feature-docsin ambient mode (seewrite-feature-docsskill for details) β this skips the interactive outline confirmation and instead embeds the outline as a checklist in the PR description - The PR is opened in
warpdotdev/docswith the draft and a checklist of items needing engineer verification - Request review from the engineer (
@<github-username>) and from@rachaelrenk,@petradonka, and@hongyi-chen - Post this Slack message to
SLACK_CHANNEL:
π *Docs draft auto-generated*
Feature: *<spec-id>* (from `<repo>`)
Spec PR: <spec-pr-url>
<@USER_ID> (GitHub: <github-username>)
Iβve opened a draft docs PR for review: <docs-pr-url>
Please check the items marked *[UNVERIFIED]* and *[TODO]* in the PR β those are the only things that need your input.Path B: Thin spec β ping engineer
Post this Slack message to SLACK_CHANNEL:
π *New spec needs docs β not enough detail to auto-draft*
Feature: *<spec-id>* (from `<repo>`)
Spec PR: <spec-pr-url>
<@USER_ID> (GitHub: <github-username>)
The spec doesnβt have enough behavior detail for me to auto-generate docs yet. Please either:
β’ Add more detail to `specs/<spec-id>/PRODUCT.md` (a Behavior section with user-facing steps), OR
β’ Ping the docs team in this channel and weβll draft it manuallyIf there are no uncovered specs, post:
β
*Docs coverage scan complete* β all recently merged specs have docs coverage.Step 5: Post to Slack
Post each message using the Slack API. Build the JSON payload with jq to safely handle newlines, quotes, and backslashes in $MESSAGE:
jq -n \
--arg channel "$SLACK_CHANNEL" \
--arg text "$MESSAGE" \
'{channel: $channel, text: $text}' \
| curl -s -X POST https://slack.com/api/chat.postMessage \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
-H 'Content-type: application/json' \
-d @-If SLACK_BOT_TOKEN is not set, print the message to stdout instead.
Step 6: Print a summary
Always print a run summary to stdout:
scan-new-specs run summary
Repos scanned: warpdotdev/warp, warp-server
Lookback window: <N> days (since <date>)
Specs found: <N>
Already covered: <N>
Auto-drafted: <N> (complete spec β draft PR opened)
Pinged (thin spec): <N> (incomplete spec β engineer notified)
Slack channel: <channel>Scheduling
This skill is designed to run as a scheduled Oz ambient agent every 2β3 days. A suggested prompt for the Oz agent configuration:
"Run scan-new-specs to check warpdotdev/warp and warp-server for newly merged PRODUCT.md specs that don't have a corresponding docs PR in warpdotdev/docs. For complete specs, auto-generate a draft docs PR and tag the engineer. For thin specs, ping the engineer in Slack. Post a summary to #growth-docs. Use the last 3 days as the lookback window."
Suggested schedule: every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9am PT β frequent enough to catch specs quickly, but not noisy.
Deduplication note
This skill does not maintain persistent state between runs. Deduplication relies entirely on whether a docs PR exists in warpdotdev/docs β if a PR is open or merged for a spec, it won't be flagged again. This means a spec will continue to generate nudges until someone opens a docs PR for it (even a draft).
Edge case: if a docs draft PR was opened and then closed (not merged), the spec will be re-flagged on the next run since closed PRs are not counted as coverage. This is intentional β a closed PR means docs work was abandoned and needs re-triggering.
Slack mention note
This skill uses the Slack API (chat.postMessage) with the SLACK_BOT_TOKEN from the buzz Oz environment. This supports real <@USER_ID> mentions β engineers will receive a direct notification when their spec is detected.
The user ID is resolved by looking up the engineer's GitHub email against the Slack users.lookupByEmail API. If the engineer has a private GitHub email, the lookup will fail and the message will fall back to a plain-text name with a note to verify manually.
Related skills
write-feature-docsβ the skill engineers run to generate the docs draft after being nudged
npx skills add https://github.com/warpdotdev/common-skills --skill scan-new-specsRun this in your project β your agent picks the skill up automatically.
Configuration
Before running, confirm these values (or accept the defaults):
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
LOOKBACK_DAYS | 3 | How many days back to scan for merged spec PRs |
SLACK_CHANNEL | #growth-docs | Slack channel for engineer pings and summaries (temporary β see TODO above) |
SLACK_BOT_TOKEN | From buzz environment | Slack bot token for posting via API (already available in the buzz Oz environment) |
This skill uses the Slack API (chat.postMessage) rather than an incoming webhook, which enables real user pings. The buzz Oz environment already has the required SLACK_BOT_TOKEN. No new secrets setup is needed.
If SLACK_BOT_TOKEN is not set, print all messages to stdout instead.
No common issues documented yet. If you hit a problem, the repository's GitHub Issues page is the best place to look.
Licensed under MITβ you can use, modify, and redistribute it under that license's terms.
View the full license file on GitHub β