Activation Path

---
name: activation-path
description: Design or repair the path from signup to experienced value: registration and identity flows, trial start, verification, first-run setup, empty states, checklists, templates, team invitation, stalled-user recovery, and the activation definition itself. Use when people fail to create accounts or create them and never reach value; use page-conversion for the marketing page before signup and retention-recovery once value has lapsed.
license: MIT
metadata:
  version: "2.0.0"
  author: MTEnt
---

# Activation Path

Reduce unnecessary commitment while preserving identity, security, consent, and data integrity, then design the minimum path to experienced value. Product tours are not a substitute for a coherent workflow, and account creation is not activation.

If `.agents/marketing-context.md` exists, read it first; it is the truth file every skill in this hub shares, and its evidence states are constraints. Read [signup-workflow.md](references/signup-workflow.md) for field review, flow choice, trust, mobile, and post-submit states. Read [activation-workflow.md](references/activation-workflow.md) for activation models, the minimum path, components, recovery, and experiments.

## Operating contract

1. Define eligible users, entry sources, the intended account state, security requirements, the observable activation behavior, baseline, and downstream retention.
2. Inspect every step, field, alternative sign-in path, validation, error, verification, interruption, prerequisite, first action, first result, and failure path.
3. Mark each step required now, safely deferred, automatically inferred, optional, or removable; distinguish motivation, comprehension, trust, technical failure, and avoidable effort.
4. Specify the complete revised journey with copy, states, events, assistance, persistence, and channel handoffs.
5. Measure downstream retention and quality, not step completion alone; protect fraud controls, privacy, recovery, accessibility, and valid consent.

Do not remove necessary security, trade customer quality for completion rate, force tours, fake completion, or hide required work until late.

## Return

Current-flow evidence, activation definition, bottleneck, revised journey, field table, complete interface copy, all states, event contract, recovery paths, dependencies, and the ship or experiment decision.