pixelheros/CCGS Skill Testing Framework/skills/pipeline/map-systems.md

Skill Test Spec: /map-systems

Skill Summary

/map-systems decomposes a game concept into a systems index. It reads the approved game concept and pillars, enumerates both explicit and implicit systems, maps dependencies between systems, assigns priority tiers (MVP / Vertical Slice / Alpha / Full Vision), and organizes systems into a layered design order (Foundation → Core → Feature → Presentation). The output is written to design/systems-index.md after user approval.

This skill is required between game concept approval and per-system GDD creation — it is a mandatory gate in the pipeline. In full review mode, CD-SYSTEMS (creative-director) and TD-SYSTEM-BOUNDARY (technical-director) spawn in parallel after the decomposition is drafted. In lean or solo mode, both gates are skipped. The skill writes to design/systems-index.md.

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Static Assertions (Structural)

Verified automatically by /skill-test static — no fixture needed.

• Has required frontmatter fields: name, description, argument-hint, user-invocable, allowed-tools
• Has ≥2 phase headings
• Contains verdict keywords: COMPLETE, BLOCKED
• Contains "May I write" collaborative protocol language (for systems-index.md)
• Has a next-step handoff at the end (/design-system)
• Documents gate behavior: CD-SYSTEMS + TD-SYSTEM-BOUNDARY in parallel in full mode

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Director Gate Checks

In full mode: CD-SYSTEMS (creative-director) and TD-SYSTEM-BOUNDARY (technical-director) spawn in parallel after the systems decomposition is drafted and before design/systems-index.md is written.

In lean mode: both gates are skipped. Output notes: "CD-SYSTEMS skipped — lean mode" and "TD-SYSTEM-BOUNDARY skipped — lean mode".

In solo mode: both gates are skipped with equivalent notes.

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Test Cases

Case 1: Happy Path — Game concept exists, 5-8 systems identified

Fixture:

• design/gdd/game-concept.md exists with Core Mechanics and MVP Definition sections
• design/gdd/game-pillars.md exists with ≥1 pillar defined
• No design/systems-index.md exists yet
• production/session-state/review-mode.txt contains full

Input: /map-systems

Expected behavior:

1. Skill reads game-concept.md and game-pillars.md
2. Identifies 5-8 systems (explicit + implicit)
3. Maps dependencies between systems and assigns layers
4. CD-SYSTEMS and TD-SYSTEM-BOUNDARY spawn in parallel and return APPROVED
5. Asks "May I write design/systems-index.md?"
6. Writes systems-index.md after approval
7. Updates production/session-state/active.md

Assertions:

• Between 5 and 8 systems are identified (not fewer, not more without explanation)
• CD-SYSTEMS and TD-SYSTEM-BOUNDARY spawn in parallel (not sequentially)
• Both gates complete before the "May I write" ask
• "May I write design/systems-index.md?" is asked before writing
• systems-index.md is NOT written without approval
• Session state is updated after writing
• Verdict is COMPLETE

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Case 2: Failure Path — No game concept found

Fixture:

• design/gdd/game-concept.md does NOT exist
• design/gdd/ directory may be empty or absent

Input: /map-systems

Expected behavior:

1. Skill attempts to read design/gdd/game-concept.md
2. File not found
3. Skill outputs: "No game concept found. Run /brainstorm to create one, then return to /map-systems."
4. Skill exits without creating systems-index.md

Assertions:

• Skill outputs a clear error naming the missing file path
• Skill recommends /brainstorm as the next action
• No systems-index.md is created
• Verdict is BLOCKED

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Case 3: Director Gate — CD-SYSTEMS returns CONCERNS (missing core system)

Fixture:

• Game concept exists
• production/session-state/review-mode.txt contains full
• CD-SYSTEMS gate returns CONCERNS: "The [core-system] is implied by the concept but not identified"

Input: /map-systems

Expected behavior:

1. Systems are drafted (5-8 initial systems identified)
2. CD-SYSTEMS gate returns CONCERNS naming the missing core system
3. TD-SYSTEM-BOUNDARY returns APPROVED
4. Skill surfaces CD-SYSTEMS concerns to user
5. User is asked: revise systems list to add the missing system, or proceed as-is
6. If revised: updated systems list shown before "May I write" ask

Assertions:

• CD-SYSTEMS concerns are shown to the user before writing
• Skill does NOT auto-write systems-index.md while CONCERNS are unresolved
• User is given the option to revise or proceed
• Revised systems list is re-shown after revision before final "May I write"

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Case 4: Edge Case — systems-index.md already exists

Fixture:

• design/gdd/game-concept.md exists
• design/systems-index.md already exists with N systems

Input: /map-systems

Expected behavior:

1. Skill reads the existing systems-index.md and presents its current state
2. Skill asks: "systems-index.md already exists with [N] systems. Update with new systems, or review and revise priorities?"
3. User chooses an action
4. Skill does NOT silently overwrite the existing index

Assertions:

• Skill detects and reads the existing systems-index.md before proceeding
• User is offered update/review options — not auto-overwritten
• Existing system count is presented to the user
• Skill does NOT proceed with a full re-decomposition without user choosing to do so

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Case 5: Director Gate — Lean mode and solo mode both skip gates, noted

Fixture (lean mode):

• Game concept exists
• production/session-state/review-mode.txt contains lean

Lean mode expected behavior:

1. Systems are decomposed and drafted
2. Both CD-SYSTEMS and TD-SYSTEM-BOUNDARY are skipped
3. Output notes: "CD-SYSTEMS skipped — lean mode" and "TD-SYSTEM-BOUNDARY skipped — lean mode"
4. "May I write" ask proceeds directly

Assertions (lean mode):

• Both gate skip notes appear in output
• Skill proceeds to "May I write" without gate approval
• systems-index.md is written after user approval

Fixture (solo mode):

• Same game concept, production/session-state/review-mode.txt contains solo

Solo mode expected behavior:

1. Same decomposition workflow
2. Both gates skipped — noted in output with "solo mode"
3. "May I write" ask proceeds

Assertions (solo mode):

• Both skip notes appear with "solo mode" label
• Behavior is otherwise identical to lean mode for this skill

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Protocol Compliance

• Reads game-concept.md and game-pillars.md before any decomposition
• "May I write design/systems-index.md?" asked before writing
• systems-index.md is NOT written without user approval
• CD-SYSTEMS and TD-SYSTEM-BOUNDARY spawn in parallel in full mode
• Skipped gates noted by name and mode in lean/solo output
• Ends with next-step handoff: /design-system [next-system]

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Coverage Notes

• Circular dependency detection (System A depends on System B which depends on A) is part of the dependency mapping phase — not independently fixture-tested here.
• Priority tier assignment (MVP heuristics) is evaluated as part of the Case 1 collaborative workflow rather than independently.
• The next argument mode (handing off the highest-priority undesigned system to /design-system) is not tested here — it is a post-index-creation convenience.