Cp Skill Health Check

---
name: cp-skill-health-check
description: Diagnose Commonplace project layout, promoted-skill discovery, user-level uv tool installation, command PATH ownership, and launch-environment failures.
type: kb/types/instruction.md
user-invocable: true
allowed-tools: Read, Grep, Glob, Bash
context: fork
argument-hint: "[symptom] — optional description of what is broken"
---

# Commonplace Health Check

## EXECUTE NOW

Use this skill when a Commonplace KB has missing skills, missing or failing `commonplace-*` commands, or commands that work in one shell but not in an IDE or agent runtime. It applies both to installed KBs, where shipped content lives under `kb/commonplace/`, and to the Commonplace source repository, where shipped content lives directly under `kb/`.

Target symptom: `$ARGUMENTS`

Do not modify files during diagnosis. Report the evidence and the smallest repair. Apply a repair only when the user asked for one.

## Step 1 — Locate the project and classify the layout

From the workspace root, inspect:

```bash
pwd
test -f AGENTS.md && echo "AGENTS.md: present" || echo "AGENTS.md: missing"
test -f CLAUDE.md && echo "CLAUDE.md: present" || echo "CLAUDE.md: missing"
test -d kb/commonplace && echo "layout: installed KB" || true
test -f pyproject.toml && test -d src/commonplace && echo "layout: source repo" || true
test -d .agents/skills && echo ".agents/skills: present" || true
test -d .claude/skills && echo ".claude/skills: present" || true
```

Interpretation:

- Installed KB: `kb/commonplace/{notes,reference,instructions}/` exists.
- Source repository: `pyproject.toml`, `src/commonplace/`, and top-level `kb/{notes,reference,instructions}/` exist.
- Neither: the wrong directory is open or `commonplace-init` has not run.
- `.venv` is not a Commonplace layout requirement. A project may still own one for unrelated dependencies.

## Step 2 — Check the control plane and skill projections

Read the active root control-plane file and confirm it routes Commonplace commands by bare name. Then inspect the canonical health skill and the runtime projections:

```bash
test -f kb/commonplace/instructions/cp-skill-health-check/SKILL.md && echo "installed canonical skill: OK" || true
test -f kb/instructions/cp-skill-health-check/SKILL.md && echo "source canonical skill: OK" || true
test -f .agents/skills/cp-skill-health-check/SKILL.md && echo ".agents projection: OK" || true
test -f .claude/skills/cp-skill-health-check/SKILL.md && echo ".claude projection: OK" || true
```

If the canonical skill exists but the current runtime cannot discover its projection, `commonplace-init` may need to be rerun or the runtime may use another skill-discovery surface. Do not repair a Commonplace source checkout with `commonplace-init`; follow the source repository's `AGENTS.md` instead.

## Step 3 — Check the uv tool installation and command ownership

On Linux/macOS:

```bash
command -v uv || true
uv tool list || true
uv tool dir --bin || true
command -v commonplace-init || true
command -v commonplace-validate || true
which -a commonplace-validate 2>/dev/null || true
```

On native Windows PowerShell:

```powershell
Get-Command uv -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
uv tool list
uv tool dir --bin
Get-Command commonplace-init -All -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Get-Command commonplace-validate -All -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
```

Classify the result:

- **uv missing:** the installation prerequisite is absent.
- **`llm-commonplace` absent from `uv tool list`:** the user-level tool is not installed.
- **Command exists inside `uv tool dir --bin` but bare-name lookup fails:** the tool executable directory is missing from this process's `PATH`.
- **Bare name resolves outside `uv tool dir --bin`:** another install or a project venv shadows the user-level tool. Report every candidate from `which -a` or `Get-Command -All`.
- **Only some declared `commonplace-*` commands exist:** the tool installation is incomplete or stale after an entry-point metadata change; reinstall it.
- **A fresh terminal resolves the command but the IDE or agent does not:** the launch class did not inherit the updated user environment. Treat this as runtime environment propagation, not package absence.

Do not use `uv tool install --force` as the default repair for an executable conflict. First identify which installation owns the conflicting name and remove or reorder the stale owner.

## Step 4 — Check legacy project-environment residue

Inspect only; do not delete:

```bash
test -f .envrc && sed -n '1,80p' .envrc || true
test -d .venv && echo ".venv exists; determine its owner before cleanup" || true
```

The exact `.envrc` generated by older Commonplace releases contained only:

```bash
export PATH="$PWD/.venv/bin:$PATH"
export UV_CACHE_DIR="$PWD/.uv-cache"
```

That exact file is obsolete after the user-level tool works in fresh processes. An edited `.envrc` must be reviewed manually. A `.venv` may hold the project's own dependencies; never classify it as removable merely because Commonplace no longer needs it.

## Step 5 — Check package and validator health

If this is an installed KB:

```bash
commonplace-validate kb/commonplace/reference/commands.md
```

If this is the Commonplace source repository:

```bash
commonplace-validate kb/reference/commands.md
uv run pytest -q
```

Interpretation:

- Command not found: return to step 3.
- Import or dependency error: reinstall the uv tool. For an editable source install, metadata and dependency changes require `uv tool install --reinstall --python ">=3.11" --editable .` even though ordinary source edits do not.
- Validator runs: the command package is healthy; focus on skill discovery or launch-environment propagation.
- `uv run pytest` fails before tests start: the source project's dependency environment is unhealthy. `pytest` is a development dependency, not part of the Commonplace command tool.

## Repair commands

Published install:

```bash
uv tool install --python ">=3.11" llm-commonplace
uv tool update-shell
```

Editable source install, run from the Commonplace checkout:

```bash
uv tool install --python ">=3.11" --editable .
uv tool update-shell
```

After `uv tool update-shell`, fully restart the shell, IDE, desktop agent, or service being tested. The shell update is durable and is not rerun at every shell start. In CI, configure a job-local uv tool executable directory and append it to `$GITHUB_PATH`; do not mutate a shell profile.

One uv tool installation supplies one active Commonplace version per OS user. Switching between published and editable sources changes the command implementation for every project under that user.

## Step 6 — Report

Use this format:

```text
Commonplace health check:
- Project root: OK / problem
- Layout: installed KB / source repo / problem
- Control-plane file: OK / problem
- Runtime skills: OK / problem
- uv tool installation: OK / problem
- Runtime PATH: OK / problem
- Command ownership: uv tool / conflict / missing
- Validator: OK / problem

Likely cause:
<one or two sentences>

Recommended fix:
<concrete next command or user action>

Evidence:
- <short command result>
- <short command result>

Maintenance observations:
- <legacy .envrc, unrelated .venv requiring owner review, stale skill copies, or "None">
```

List independent problems in this blocking order:

1. Wrong directory or missing initialized layout.
2. Missing canonical skill or runtime projection.
3. uv or the `llm-commonplace` tool is missing.
4. uv's tool executable directory is absent from the consuming process's `PATH`.
5. Another executable shadows the uv tool.
6. Package import, dependency, or validator failure.

Do not claim the installation is fixed unless the failing check passes in the same launch class that originally failed.