Poteto Help

---
name: poteto-help
description: Guides users through /pstack:poteto-mode and picking the skill, playbook, or principle for a task. Type /pstack:poteto-help with a question.
disable-model-invocation: true
---

# Poteto help

Answer the user's question about pstack, hand them a prompt they can send, and link the file the answer came from. For a help question, don't start the work. The user asked how, and a pstack run spends real tokens, so let them send the prompt.

A message that asks for work, such as "use pstack to fix this bug", is not a help question. Read [`poteto-mode`](../poteto-mode/SKILL.md) and do the work under it.

This file maps questions to the skills that hold the answers. Those files own the details. Read the file you route to before you quote it, and trust it when it disagrees with this map. The links here point into the installed plugin, which the user may not be able to open, so give the user the file's public copy: `https://github.com/lucasheriques/pstack/blob/main/` followed by its path from the repo root, such as `skills/how/SKILL.md` or `skills/poteto-help/references/prompting.md`.

## Find out what they need

Infer the need from the message and the conversation. A named situation, such as "which skill reviews a PR?", goes straight to its section. If the need is still unclear, ask one multiple-choice question with these options, then answer only the section they pick:

- Get set up
- Start a task with `/pstack:poteto-mode`
- Pick a skill for a situation
- Fix a run that went wrong
- Make pstack my own

If the project has no `verify-*` skill or other app harness, agents have no scripted way to drive the app. Mention `/pstack:create-verification-skill` when the question is about proving a change works.

## Get set up

1. Install with `claude plugin marketplace add lucasheriques/pstack`, then `claude plugin install pstack@pstack`. Update with `claude plugin marketplace update pstack`, then `claude plugin update pstack@pstack`, and restart Claude Code.
2. Check the requirements in the [README](../../README.md): `gh` for PR work, the `gh stack` extension for stacks, and `bun` for the helper scripts.
3. Start a real task with `/pstack:poteto-mode`, a goal, and a check that can pass or fail.

Installing changes nothing until a skill runs. `poteto-mode` also switches on by itself for engineering work that matches a playbook. Offer to word their first prompt with them, per [`references/prompting.md`](references/prompting.md).

To change which model a role uses, edit [`poteto-mode/references/models.md`](../poteto-mode/references/models.md). `claude plugin update` overwrites the installed copy, so fork the repo and install from the fork to keep an edit. Roles map to `opus`, `sonnet`, or `inherit`. If cost is the worry, say where the tokens go. pstack spends extra tokens on subagents and review panels. A role set to `sonnet` costs less than `opus`, and a shorter panel list runs fewer subagents, one for each entry. Save `/pstack:poteto-mode` for work that needs rigor.

To let agents merge their own PRs, the user writes a policy at `~/.claude/pstack/merge-policy.json`. The README's "Letting agents merge" section has the format. Without it agents open ready PRs and never merge.

## Start a task with `/pstack:poteto-mode`

`/pstack:poteto-mode` matches the task to a playbook, copies the playbook's steps into the todo list, and runs the other skills as the steps need them. A step it skips stays in the list as `skip: <reason>`. A good prompt states the goal and how to tell it's done. It doesn't list skills, because a hand-written sequence tends to drop or reorder steps the playbook would keep. Read [`references/prompting.md`](references/prompting.md) before you help word one.

`poteto-mode` applies itself when a playbook matches or the task needs rigor, and stays out of casual turns. Invoke it again when the subject changes, so it matches a fresh playbook. Its subagents run as `pstack:poteto-agent`. To get the same style from a subagent of your own, spawn it with `subagent_type: "pstack:poteto-agent"`.

## Pick a skill

The default answer is `/pstack:poteto-mode`, which runs most of the others when its steps need them. Name a skill directly when the user wants more or less of something than the playbook gives. Read the skill before you recommend it.

| The user wants to | Skill |
|---|---|
| Do any non-trivial task with rigor | [`/pstack:poteto-mode`](../poteto-mode/SKILL.md) |
| Know how code works now, or where new code should live | [`/pstack:how`](../how/SKILL.md) |
| Know why code is shaped this way, or where a number came from | [`/pstack:why`](../why/SKILL.md) |
| Understand a change or subsystem, explained plainly | [`/pstack:teach`](../teach/SKILL.md) |
| Catch up on their own recent work on a topic | [`/pstack:recall`](../recall/SKILL.md) |
| Know what a small diff could break outside itself | [`/pstack:blast-radius`](../blast-radius/SKILL.md) |
| Settle types and module shape before code that crosses a function boundary | [`/pstack:architect`](../architect/SKILL.md) |
| Get several attempts at one brief, merged into the best one | [`/pstack:arena`](../arena/SKILL.md) |
| Run parallel checks over slices, or race workers | [`/pstack:swarm`](../swarm/SKILL.md) |
| Have different models review a diff and try to break it | [`/pstack:interrogate`](../interrogate/SKILL.md) |
| Fix a bug test-first when a cheap local test exists | [`/pstack:tdd`](../tdd/SKILL.md) |
| Apply TypeScript rules to `.ts` or `.tsx` work | [`/pstack:typescript-best-practices`](../typescript-best-practices/SKILL.md) |
| Strip comments before review, using a reviewer that didn't write them | [`/pstack:no-comments`](../no-comments/SKILL.md) |
| Clean AI tells out of prose | [`/pstack:unslop`](../unslop/SKILL.md) |
| Write docs, an RFC, a README, a PR description, or a commit message to a standard | [`/pstack:technical-writing`](../technical-writing/SKILL.md) |
| Hear the last reply again in plain words | [`/pstack:bro`](../bro/SKILL.md) |
| Give agents a scripted way to drive the app and prove behavior | [`/pstack:create-verification-skill`](../create-verification-skill/SKILL.md) |
| Bring a verification skill and its feature map back in line with the app | [`/pstack:maintain-verification-skill`](../maintain-verification-skill/SKILL.md) |
| Vet a performance number before reporting or acting on it | [`/pstack:benchmark-checklist`](../benchmark-checklist/SKILL.md) |
| Run a large or cross-cutting change, or one to review after stepping away | [`/pstack:figure-it-out`](../figure-it-out/SKILL.md) |
| Keep a decision log during a run, and review it afterward | [`/pstack:show-me-your-work`](../show-me-your-work/SKILL.md) |
| Turn their own working habits into a personal mode skill | [`/pstack:automate-me`](../automate-me/SKILL.md) |
| Turn what a finished task taught into skill edits | [`/pstack:reflect`](../reflect/SKILL.md) |
| Stop agents from repeating the same mistakes in this repo | [`/pstack:correct`](../correct/SKILL.md) |
| Find their way around pstack | `/pstack:poteto-help` |

If a skill directory next to this one is missing from the table, read its frontmatter and route by its description. The `principle-*` files live under [`poteto-mode/principles/`](../poteto-mode/principles/) and are covered below.

Close calls:

- `/pstack:how` explains what the code does. `/pstack:why` explains the reasons. `/pstack:teach` runs one or both and explains the result plainly.
- `/pstack:arena` gives every worker the same brief and merges the best parts. `/pstack:swarm` splits work into slices or a race and returns one report.
- `/pstack:architect` implements right after it settles the design. Add "with checkpoint" to review the design before it writes code.
- `/pstack:interrogate` reviews the diff. `/pstack:blast-radius` looks for breakage outside the diff and proves the one fact that makes the change safe.
- `/pstack:recall` rebuilds context across recent chats. Resuming one specific chat or branch is the Session pickup playbook.
- `/pstack:figure-it-out` designs one rigorous run. The Orchestrate playbook runs a program that spans days and many PRs. The Autonomous run playbook drives one task to a finish condition.

Not in pstack: `/loop`, `/simplify`, and `/run` are Claude Code built-ins. pstack has no `/orchestrate` skill. Orchestrate is a `poteto-mode` playbook.

## Playbooks and principles

Playbooks are step lists inside `poteto-mode`, not skills, so they have no slash command. Describing the task picks one. Phrases like these name one directly:

- "babysit this pr" or "check on pr 123" runs Babysit. It drives the PR to merge-ready and stops there. It doesn't merge unless the user asks to merge, land, or ship.
- An explicit instruction to land or merge, such as "land the stack", runs Shipping.
- Taking over a prior agent's work, such as "take over this branch", runs Session pickup.
- "pause safely" runs Pause safely.
- "full autopilot on this queue" runs Autopilot-full. "stack them, don't ship" runs Autopilot-stack.
- Testing how a skill or prompt change affects agent behavior runs Eval.

The Playbooks section of [`poteto-mode`](../poteto-mode/SKILL.md) lists every playbook and when it applies. For work that spans phases or stacked PRs, asking for a plan runs the [Multi-phase plan playbook](../poteto-mode/playbooks/multi-phase-plan.md), which writes the plan and doesn't implement it. For a design question, the Prototype playbook or `/pstack:architect` settles it in code first.

Principles are one-rule files that `poteto-mode` reads and cites in its replies. The user rarely invokes one. They steer with the names instead, as in "apply prove it works. show me the real output."

## Fix a run that went wrong

| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| The mode stopped applying after a few turns | It applies itself only when a playbook matches. Invoke `/pstack:poteto-mode` again at the start of the next task. |
| A question got treated as the next step of the last task | Invoke `/pstack:poteto-mode` again for the new subject, or say the turn doesn't need the mode. |
| A `models.md` edit disappeared | `claude plugin update` overwrites the installed copy. Fork the repo and install from the fork to keep an edit. |
| Runs cost more than expected | See the cost paragraph under Get set up. |
| A skill didn't run | Most skills run when the user types them or when `poteto-mode` runs them, and it doesn't run every skill. |
| Parallel agents overwrote each other | Give each agent its own worktree, with `isolation: "worktree"`. |
| An overnight run moved but finished nothing | Give `/loop` a stop condition that can pass or fail, not just an interval. |
| The reply claims success from a green build | Ask for the real command, flow, stored value, or profile. That's the prove-it-works principle. |
| An agent can't merge | `merge-gate` refuses without a policy file, a passing CI run, and a repo entry. Its verdict names the reason. |

For a run that drifts, [`references/prompting.md`](references/prompting.md) has one-line steers.

## Make pstack my own

- [`/pstack:automate-me`](../automate-me/SKILL.md) drafts a personal mode skill from the user's own history, to use alongside `poteto-mode`.
- [`/pstack:reflect`](../reflect/SKILL.md) after a session turns its lessons into skill edits the user approves.
- `/pstack:poteto-mode write a skill for <workflow>` runs the authoring playbook. The eval playbook tests a skill change blind.
- Fix a misbehaving skill in its own PR, not inside the feature work where it went wrong.

## Reply

Lead with the answer. Give at most one example prompt in a code block, adapted from [`references/recipes.md`](references/recipes.md) when one fits, then the link to that file. Keep it short unless the user asked for the whole map.