# done-blocked

Enforces a strict terminal reporting contract for agents: exactly DONE or BLOCKED with structured evidence. Stops vague handoffs in multi-agent pipelines.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · ★ 107
- Author: avelikiy
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/avelikiy/great_cto/tree/HEAD/skills/done-blocked/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-24
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/done-blocked

## What it does

The skill defines a strict handoff contract for agents closing tasks. Intermediate pings stay flexible. Terminal output must resolve to either `DONE` or `BLOCKED`. A `DONE` verdict records the resulting artifact and the next pipeline step. A `BLOCKED` verdict requires three fields: attempted actions (`tried`), the failure signature (`failed_because`), and the missing dependency (`need`).

Omitting any required field causes the orchestrator to reject the report immediately. Silence is treated as a failure because an agent that exits without a terminal line gets marked as `BLOCKED`. Generic complaints like "tests failing" or "environment issue" are not accepted. The agent must name specific assertion errors or missing files.

Every verdict is written to stdout and logged to `.great_cto/verdicts/<agent>-<YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS>.log`. Saving these append-only logs makes pipeline failures measurable over time.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add avelikiy/great_cto --skill done-blocked -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/done-blocked/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/done-blocked/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add avelikiy/great_cto --skill done-blocked -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/done-blocked/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add avelikiy/great_cto --skill done-blocked -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/done-blocked/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install avelikiy/great_cto done-blocked
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/done-blocked/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add avelikiy/great_cto --skill done-blocked -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/avelikiy/great_cto --path skills/done-blocked
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/done-blocked/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add avelikiy/great_cto --skill done-blocked -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/avelikiy/great_cto/tree/HEAD/skills/done-blocked/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- standardise terminal handoffs across subagents
- eliminate vague progress verdicts in pipelines
- capture verifiable blockers with exact error logs
- record an append-only audit trail of verdicts

## Example prompts
- Finish the security audit and output the terminal verdict using done-blocked
- Close the dev task and log the final verdict to .great_cto/verdicts/
- Write the QA run handoff formatted as DONE or BLOCKED

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 0463d341eb28d8c4.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 0463d341eb28d8c4
````text
---
name: done-blocked
description: Reusable reporting contract for any agent that hands work back to the pipeline. Forces ONE of two terminal statuses (DONE or BLOCKED) with a specific evidence shape. Stops vague "probably finished" and "kind of stuck" verdicts.
when_to_use: |
  Apply to every terminal verdict an agent writes — the last line of a spawned agent run, the top of a report file, or the summary appended to a Beads task comment. Specifically:
  - architect ARCH doc completion → DONE or BLOCKED
  - senior-dev task close → DONE or BLOCKED
  - qa-engineer QA report verdict → DONE (PASS) or BLOCKED (FAIL with evidence)
  - security-officer CSO audit verdict → DONE (APPROVED) or BLOCKED (findings)
  - devops deploy step → DONE or BLOCKED
  - l3-support incident triage step → DONE or BLOCKED
  - project-auditor audit completion → DONE or BLOCKED
  Do NOT force this on intermediate progress pings (those are advisory). Only terminal verdicts.
effort: low
allowed-tools: Read, Write, Bash
paths:
  - ".great_cto/verdicts/**"
  - "docs/**"
---

# DONE / BLOCKED Reporting Contract

Terminal status is exactly two states, and BLOCKED requires specific evidence — not vague obstruction reports.

## The contract

Every agent's final handoff line is one of:

```
DONE: <one-sentence summary of what shipped>
  artifact: <path to report/PR/commit>
  next: <who picks this up — pipeline stage, gate, or "pipeline continues">
```

```
BLOCKED: <one-sentence summary of the obstacle>
  tried: <what was attempted — file paths, commands, error signatures>
  failed_because: <concrete reason — not "unclear", not "complex">
  need: <specific unblock — file access, missing config, CTO decision, another agent>
```

## Hard rules

1. **No third state.** "Mostly done", "done with caveats", "almost there" → choose. If caveats exist, the caveat itself decides:
   - Caveat is cosmetic / P2+ → **DONE** (file a Beads bug, move on)
   - Caveat blocks the next pipeline stage → **BLOCKED** (do not pretend)

2. **BLOCKED requires three fields.** `tried` + `failed_because` + `need`. Missing any field → the verdict is rejected and the agent must re-report. No exceptions for "obvious" cases.

3. **Silence is not DONE.** If the agent stops producing output without a terminal line, the parent / next stage treats it as BLOCKED with `failed_because: silent — no terminal verdict written`.

4. **`failed_because` must be concrete.** These are rejected:
   - "environment issue" → say *which* command failed with *what* error
   - "tests failing" → say *which* tests and the actual assertion message
   - "unclear requirements" → say *which* decision is needed and the two options
   - "not enough context" → say *which* file / doc / config you tried to read

5. **`need` names a specific unblock.** These are rejected:
   - "more information" → ask one specific question
````
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 0463d341eb28d8c4

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the 0463d341eb28d8c4 tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

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