The Agentic Fieldbook

The Agentic Fieldbook (TAF) is one plugin containing focused Agent Skills for real software-delivery work. Install TAF once; use its skills independently. Each skill follows the open Agent Skills specification, keeps deterministic work in scripts, and loads its full instructions only when it is relevant.

Created and maintained by Gürkan Süerdem (@Phalegethon).

Available skills

Claude Code exposes these as /taf:branch-handoff and /taf:work-recovery. Codex uses the corresponding plugin-qualified TAF skills and can select them automatically for relevant requests.

Planned names such as pr-summary, release-risk, incident-brief, and dependency-audit are roadmap items, not shipped skills.

Install TAF

Claude Code

Add the TAF marketplace, install the single plugin, and reload:

/plugin marketplace add Phalegethon/the-agentic-fieldbook
/plugin install taf@the-agentic-fieldbook
/reload-plugins

Open the plugin details to see both contained skills. Installing TAF makes the collection discoverable; Claude reads a full SKILL.md only when that skill is invoked or selected.

Codex

Add this Git repository as a marketplace and install the single TAF plugin:

codex plugin marketplace add Phalegethon/the-agentic-fieldbook
codex plugin add taf@the-agentic-fieldbook

In the Codex app, the same plugin can then present taf:branch-handoff and taf:work-recovery beneath TAF. The repository contains a native .codex-plugin/plugin.json; no copied aggregate skill bundle is created.

Other Agent Skills hosts

For a host supported by the skills CLI, install the complete TAF collection for that agent:

npx --yes skills@latest add Phalegethon/the-agentic-fieldbook \
  --skill '*' \
  --agent antigravity \
  --yes

Replace antigravity with the intended supported agent. Add --global only for an intentional user-wide installation. This compatibility path may materialize separate skill directories because the host has no plugin container, but it installs the same TAF collection from the same canonical skills/ sources.

Migrate to TAF 2.0

TAF 2.0 replaces the former branch-handoff and work-recovery Claude plugins with one taf plugin. Run this clean migration in order:

/plugin uninstall branch-handoff@the-agentic-fieldbook
/plugin uninstall work-recovery@the-agentic-fieldbook
/plugin marketplace update the-agentic-fieldbook
/plugin install taf@the-agentic-fieldbook
/reload-plugins

The old namespaces are intentionally not retained. After reloading, verify that /taf:branch-handoff and /taf:work-recovery appear under the TAF plugin. Historical Git tags remain available if an installation must be recovered, but TAF 2.x is the supported product line.

Update TAF

Claude Code users can refresh the marketplace and update the unified plugin:

/plugin marketplace update the-agentic-fieldbook
/plugin update taf@the-agentic-fieldbook
/reload-plugins

To opt into Claude marketplace auto-update, open /plugin, choose Marketplaces, select the-agentic-fieldbook, and enable auto-update. TAF never enables silent updates or performs a network update check while a skill runs.

Codex users can refresh the Git marketplace and reinstall the selected product:

codex plugin marketplace upgrade the-agentic-fieldbook
codex plugin add taf@the-agentic-fieldbook

Agent Skills compatibility installations should rerun the matching skills@latest add command with the same agent and scope, then verify active paths with:

npx --yes skills@latest list --json

Subscribe to this repository's GitHub Releases for TAF product updates. Product releases list every bundled skill version.

Use branch-handoff

From a Git repository, ask:

Use /taf:branch-handoff to compare this branch with main and prepare the DEV and QA handoff.

Natural-language invocation also works when the host supports automatic skill selection:

Compare this branch with main and prepare the DEV and QA handoff.

When the request supplies neither a platform target nor local only, the skill asks one combined structured question for optional Jira and GitHub context before repository or diff analysis. Choose Jira, GitHub, both, or local-only; the skill then requests only the selected exact targets and permissions.

To include Jira intent and acceptance criteria, supply the exact issue:

Use branch-handoff to compare the current branch with origin/main and prepare the DEV and QA handoff. jira FE-2669

Defaults and boundaries:

• Uses a merge-base comparison and prefers a fresh remote base when available.
• Reads committed changes only unless working-tree inclusion is requested.
• Does not run project tests, builds, lint, code review, blame, or broad history.
• Produces local QA, Developer/PR, and evidence sections.
• Keeps Jira and GitHub local by default. Every platform read or comment needs the session-scoped consent described by the skill.

Runtime requirements are Git and Python 3. There are no Python package dependencies.

Use work-recovery

From the interrupted Git worktree, ask:

Use /taf:work-recovery to tell me where this work stopped and the single best next step. Do not run tests or change repository state.

The normal report ends with a reminder rather than a generated handoff. To move the same evidence into another session, ask separately:

Now turn that recovery dossier into a compact continuation prompt for another session.

Default boundaries:

• Reads bounded current-worktree Git metadata and tracked staged/unstaged diff evidence; other worktrees contribute metadata only.
• Untracked content requires exact path authorization and remains protected by no-follow, file-type, size, binary, generated, and credential gates.
• Does not run tests, builds, lint, project validation, or repository mutation.
• Does not build or update an index, query a provider, or access the network.
• Uses an existing provider/index only after separate explicit authorization; native recovery remains complete when none is available.
• Writes no recovery artifact and reports exact evidence omissions within the selected context budget.

Runtime requirements are Git and Python 3. The bundled collector uses only the Python standard library.

Versioning and releases

TAF and its skills have separate versions:

• TAF 2.0.0 versions the collection, manifests, namespaces, and release.
• branch-handoff 1.2.1 versions its behavior contract.
• work-recovery 1.0.1 versions its behavior contract.

New primary GitHub releases use the TAF product version, beginning with v2.0.0. Historical per-skill releases remain as legacy records.

Repository structure

the-agentic-fieldbook/
├── .agents/plugins/marketplace.json
├── .claude-plugin/
│   ├── marketplace.json
│   └── plugin.json
├── .codex-plugin/plugin.json
├── skills/
│   ├── branch-handoff/
│   │   ├── SKILL.md
│   │   ├── agents/openai.yaml
│   │   ├── references/
│   │   └── scripts/collect_diff.py
│   └── work-recovery/
│       ├── SKILL.md
│       ├── agents/openai.yaml
│       ├── references/
│       └── scripts/
└── tests/

Both plugin manifests use the same canonical skills/ directory. Full skill instructions are not combined into one prompt.

Verification

python3 -m unittest discover -s tests -p 'test_*.py' -v
scripts/vendor-work-recovery-runtime --check
claude plugin validate .

Codex packaging can be tested without changing a normal Codex installation by using a temporary CODEX_HOME, adding the repository marketplace, and installing taf@the-agentic-fieldbook.

Contributing

Issues, skill proposals, forks, and pull requests are welcome. Contributors use their own GitHub identities; @Phalegethon is the maintainer and review owner, not a required commit identity. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.