/prototype — Create a Throwaway Prototype Ticket

Creates a structured GitHub Issue for a prototype — a disposable UX/demo artifact (clickable mockup, demo flow, interactive proof-of-concept UI) built to answer "what should this look and feel like?". The output is the learning / chosen direction, not shippable code: a prototype is thrown away once the direction is decided.

The taxonomy — three skills, two axes (throwaway vs kept, technical vs UX).

Skill	Question it answers	Lifecycle
/spike	"Will this technically work?"	THROWAWAY — discarded after the technical answer is in (/spike-close).
/prototype	"What should this look and feel like?"	THROWAWAY — discarded after the UX/demo direction is chosen (/prototype-close).
/walking-skeleton	"Is the whole architecture wired end-to-end?"	KEPT — the production spine you flesh out. Full SDLC.

/prototype and /spike are both throwaway — the difference is the question. A spike answers a technical feasibility question ("will library X scale?", "can we replace Auth0?"). A prototype answers a UX/demo direction question ("which onboarding flow feels right?", "what should the dashboard look like for the investor demo?"). If your question is "will it work?", file a /spike instead. If you need a minimal-but-kept end-to-end slice, you want /walking-skeleton. See workflows/sdlc.md § Phase 1.

Path resolution

Read the registry path via portfolio_registry, the per-project docs dir via portfolio_projects_dir, and the ideas backlog via portfolio_ideas_backlog — all from .claude/hooks/_lib-portfolio-paths.sh. Source the helper at the top of any bash block that touches those paths:

source "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.claude/hooks/_lib-read-config.sh"
source "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.claude/hooks/_lib-portfolio-paths.sh"
registry=$(portfolio_registry)

Defaults match today's single-fork layout (./apexyard.projects.yaml, ./projects, ./projects/ideas-backlog.md). Adopters in split-portfolio mode override the portfolio.{registry, projects_dir, ideas_backlog} keys in .claude/project-config.json. Don't hardcode literal apexyard.projects.yaml or projects/ paths in bash blocks — the helper resolves whichever mode the adopter is in. See docs/multi-project.md.

Usage

/prototype Which onboarding flow feels right
/prototype Dashboard look-and-feel for the investor demo
/prototype Clickable checkout mockup to test the 2-step vs 1-step

Process

0. Write the active-issue-skill marker (REQUIRED — me2resh/apexyard#268)

Before any gh issue create (or other tracker CLI), write this skill's name to the active-issue-skill marker so require-skill-for-issue-create.sh lets the command through. At skill entry:

# Resolve the ops-fork root the SAME way the hooks do (_lib-ops-root.sh):
# anchor on the .apexyard-fork marker (split-portfolio v2 — onboarding.yaml
# lives in the sibling portfolio repo, NOT the ops fork), falling back to the
# onboarding.yaml + apexyard.projects.yaml pair (single-fork v1).
ops_root="$PWD"; r="$PWD"
while [ "$r" != / ]; do
  if [ -f "$r/.apexyard-fork" ] || { [ -f "$r/onboarding.yaml" ] && [ -f "$r/apexyard.projects.yaml" ]; }; then
    ops_root="$r"; break
  fi
  r=${r%/*}
done
mkdir -p "$ops_root/.claude/session"
echo "prototype" > "$ops_root/.claude/session/active-issue-skill"

Remove the marker on every exit path (success, early-exit, user cancel, error):

rm -f "$ops_root/.claude/session/active-issue-skill"

The clear-issue-skill-marker.sh SessionStart hook sweeps stale markers from killed sessions, but a clean exit should never leave one behind. See AgDR-0030.

1. Resolve the target repo

Read .claude/session/current-ticket to determine which repo we're working in. If no active ticket, check apexyard.projects.yaml for managed projects. If only one project, use it. If multiple, ask:

Which project is this prototype for?

If no projects are registered, ask for the repo in owner/repo format.

2. Verify the prefix is on the whitelist

Read .ticket.prefix_whitelist from .claude/project-config.*.json. If Prototype (case-insensitive) is not in the list, warn and stop:

This fork's ticket schema doesn't include 'Prototype' as a valid prefix.
Either add it to .claude/project-config.json → .ticket.prefix_whitelist, or
file the ticket using whichever prefix the fork uses for exploration work.

(The shipped default in .claude/project-config.defaults.json includes Prototype. This check exists for forks that have customised the whitelist.)

3. Parse or ask for the title

Take the title from $ARGUMENTS. If empty, ask:

What's the prototype? Give me a short title.

4. Gather details (one question at a time)

Ask conversationally — do NOT batch all questions. Wait for each answer before asking the next. Fields a–d are required; e is optional.

a) Direction Question (required)

What's the single "what should this look and feel like?" question this
prototype answers? Format: "We're exploring {direction}; the prototype
tells us {what we'll decide}."
(One sentence. A prototype answers a UX/demo-direction question, NOT a
technical-feasibility one. If your question is "will this work?", you want
/spike — push back and redirect.)

If the user gives a technical-feasibility question ("will X scale?", "can we integrate Y?"), stop and redirect to /spike — that's a different tool.

b) Fidelity (required)

What kind of disposable artifact is this, and how far does it go? Examples:
  - Clickable mockup (Figma / static HTML, no real backend)
  - Demo flow (wired screens, stubbed data, happy-path only)
  - Interactive proof-of-concept UI (real framework, fake everything else)

Whatever you pick, it's a throwaway for learning a direction — not the
start of production code. Which fidelity?

c) Budget (required)

What's the hard cap on time/effort? Examples:
  - 1 day of one engineer
  - 2 days, then we decide
  - Until the stakeholder demo on Friday

At the budget cap, the prototype ENDS regardless of polish. What's yours?

Reject vague answers ("a while", "until it's pretty") — push for an explicit time/effort cap.

d) Disposition (required — PROMOTE or DISCARD)

What happens when the prototype closes — PROMOTE or DISCARD?

  PROMOTE — if the direction is chosen, file a fresh [Feature] ticket for
            production-shaped delivery; the prototype artifact is NOT
            lifted into production, the feature re-implements the direction.
  DISCARD — if the direction is rejected (or "not now"), write a memo at
            docs/prototype-memos/<slug>.md with what we learned.

"Decide later" is NOT allowed — that's how a throwaway mockup gets
accidentally promoted into production. Pick one.

If the user says "decide later" or "depends", explain the rule and ask again. The author must commit to one path in advance. DISCARD-by-default is the prototype norm — a prototype exists to be thrown away once the direction is clear; PROMOTE just means the direction, not the artifact, survives.

e) Approach (optional)

Any sketch of what you'll mock up? (or press Enter to skip)
NOT a tech design, NOT a PRD — a few bullets: which screens / flows, what
tools (Figma, static HTML, v0, the real framework with stubs), what you're
deliberately faking.

5. Show the formatted ticket for confirmation

Resolve the prototype body template via the portfolio helper so adopter overrides win when present:

source "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.claude/hooks/_lib-read-config.sh"
source "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.claude/hooks/_lib-portfolio-paths.sh"
template=$(portfolio_resolve_template tickets/prototype.md)   # → custom-templates/tickets/prototype.md if present, else templates/tickets/prototype.md

Single-fork adopters (no portfolio block) and adopters with no override fall straight through to templates/tickets/prototype.md. Adopters who want a customised prototype-body shape drop their version at <private_repo>/custom-templates/tickets/prototype.md. See templates/README.md for the path-mirroring convention.

Backward-compat fallback: if portfolio_resolve_template returns empty (template file missing — partial adopter setup), fall back to the inline heredoc body below and print a one-line WARN on stderr (WARN: tickets/prototype.md template missing — using inline fallback).

Display the full ticket using the resolved template's section headings (the default templates/tickets/prototype.md shape is reproduced below):

Here's the ticket I'll create:

---
**[Prototype] {title}**

## Direction Question
{direction question}

## Fidelity
{fidelity}

## Budget
{budget}

## Disposition
{PROMOTE | DISCARD}
{one-sentence rationale}

## Approach
{approach or "—"}
---

Labels: prototype
Repo: {owner/repo}

Suggested branch when you start work:
  prototype/<TICKET-ID>-{slug}

Create this ticket? (yes / edit / cancel)

6. Handle response

• yes / looks good / go → create the issue
• edit / change X → ask what to change, update, re-show
• cancel / no → abort

7. Create the issue (via the tracker abstraction)

Dispatch creation through tracker_create (#670 / AgDR-0072, extended by the #709 creator sweep) so the prototype lands in this project's tracker — GitHub, GitLab, or a custom CLI — per its tracker: block in apexyard.projects.yaml. For a GitHub adopter this runs gh issue create exactly as before.

# Resolve the tracker lib (it lives in the ops fork's hooks dir) by walking up
# from the cwd; source it.
tracker_lib="$(r="$PWD"; while [ -n "$r" ] && [ "$r" != / ]; do \
  [ -f "$r/.claude/hooks/_lib-tracker.sh" ] && { echo "$r/.claude/hooks/_lib-tracker.sh"; break; }; \
  r="${r%/*}"; done)"
# shellcheck source=/dev/null
. "$tracker_lib"

# Ensure the `prototype` trigger label exists on the target tracker. Best-effort
# (tracker_label_ensure always exits 0). Same mechanism `/spike` uses with the
# `spike` label — downstream hooks read it to apply the workflow exemptions.
tracker_label_ensure "{owner/repo}" "prototype" "C5DEF5" "Throw-away UX/demo prototype; exempt from AgDR + coverage gates"

# Pass the body via a file (arbitrary markdown — never inline-interpolated).
body_file="$(mktemp)"
cat > "$body_file" <<'BODY'
{formatted body}
BODY

# tracker_create <owner/repo> <title> <body_file> [<labels_csv>] → {"ref","url"}.
result="$(tracker_create "{owner/repo}" "[Prototype] {title}" "$body_file" "prototype")"
rc=$?
rm -f "$body_file"
if [ "$rc" -eq 3 ]; then
  echo "Tracker is 'none' (shape-only) — nothing was created in a tracker." >&2
  echo "File this in your external system (e.g. Jira/Linear via MCP):" >&2
  printf '%s\n' "$result"
  exit 0
elif [ "$rc" -ne 0 ] || [ -z "$result" ]; then
  echo "Prototype creation failed — check the tracker CLI / auth. Nothing was created." >&2
  exit 1
fi

ref="$(printf '%s' "$result" | jq -r '.ref')"
url="$(printf '%s' "$result" | jq -r '.url')"

The prototype label is the trigger that downstream hooks (AgDR-required hooks, coverage gates) read to apply the workflow exemptions — the same mechanism /spike uses with the spike label.

8. Return the URL + branch suggestion

Use the ref / url parsed from tracker_create in step 7:

Created: {owner/repo}#${ref} — {title}
${url}

When you start work:
  /start-ticket {owner/repo}#${ref}
  git checkout -b prototype/GH-${ref}-{slug}

9. Remind the operator about the disposition gate

When the prototype closes, run /prototype-close to record the disposition:
  /prototype-close --promote   # direction chosen → file a [Feature]
  /prototype-close --discard   # direction rejected → write a memo

Closing the prototype without running this gate is allowed (closure is the
operator's call) but skips the memo / promotion artefact and leaves no
record of what was learned.

Rules

1. One question at a time. Never batch questions. Wait for each answer.
2. Always confirm before creating. Show the full ticket and get explicit "yes".
3. All four required fields are mandatory. Direction Question, Fidelity, Budget, Disposition — none can be skipped or deferred.
4. Disposition is PROMOTE or DISCARD only. "Decide later" is not allowed; reject it and re-ask. DISCARD-by-default is the norm.
5. UX/demo question, not a technical one. If the user's real question is feasibility ("will it work?"), redirect to /spike. If they want a kept end-to-end slice, redirect to /walking-skeleton.
6. Labels. prototype always — it's the exemption trigger. Priority labels (P0/P1/etc.) are NOT applied — prototypes are time-boxed by Budget. The accepted prefix list reads from .claude/project-config.*.json → .ticket.prefix_whitelist; [Prototype] must be in that list.
7. Branch suggestion. Always prototype/<TICKET-ID>-<slug>. The branch name is what AgDR-exemption hooks check (alongside the [Prototype] active-ticket marker and the prototype(...) PR type).
8. No PRD, no tech design. Prototypes describe a direction to explore, not a feature. Don't ask for user stories, ACs, or design specs — those belong on the follow-up [Feature] ticket if the disposition is PROMOTE.

Workflow exemptions for prototype work

A prototype PR is exempt from the production SDLC subset listed below — the same surgical exemptions as /spike; everything else still applies. The exemptions are mechanical (the AgDR hooks detect the [Prototype] prefix, the prototype(...) PR type, or the prototype/ branch and skip), not advisory.

Gate	Production work	Prototype work
Pre-Build (parent epic, story tickets, ACs, design review)	Required	Skipped — the prototype ticket IS the unit
AgDR for technical decisions (require-agdr-for-arch-pr.sh, require-agdr-for-arch-changes.sh)	Required	Skipped — ship a memo on /prototype-close --discard instead
Test coverage > 80%	Required	Skipped — coverage is irrelevant for throw-away mockups
Code Reviewer agent (Rex)	Required on every PR	Required — even throw-away code gets a sanity check
Security Auditor (auth/crypto/secrets diff)	Required	Required — security gates fire regardless of intent
Glossary in PR body	Required	Required — prototype PRs explain WHAT DIRECTION WAS LEARNED, which is the artefact
QA Engineer verification	Required (AC verification)	Required (Direction verification: did we learn what to build?)
Disposition decision before close	N/A	Required — operator must declare PROMOTE or DISCARD via /prototype-close

See .claude/rules/workflow-gates.md § Spike work for the rule statement (which covers prototype work under the same exemption set), .claude/skills/spike/SKILL.md (the throwaway technical sibling), and .claude/skills/walking-skeleton/SKILL.md (the kept end-to-end slice).

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Part of ApexYard — multi-project SDLC framework for Claude Code · MIT.