positioning

Pack Availability Guard

Before telling the user to run a skill from another project-local pack, check .agents/project.json.enabled_packs. If the target pack is not enabled, recommend npx skillpacks install <pack> from the project shell, instead of the target skill. After install, tell Codex users to start a fresh Codex CLI session if the $ skill list remains stale. Global skills are always valid. Skills from this same pack are valid because the current skill is already running from that pack.

Positioning — Orchestrator

Invoke as $positioning.

This is an orchestrator skill using the parent router delegation pattern. It detects context, recommends applicable positioning frameworks, and synthesizes their outputs. Individual frameworks live as child skills under frameworks/.

Report-First Approval Gate

Default to scope-first approval: before synthesized research, inspect only enough repository, user, and source context to propose research scope, source plan, assumptions, output paths, and approval questions in a review alignment page plus a concise conversation summary.

Do not perform synthesized research, rank candidates, make recommendations, or write working packets or canonical deliverables until final compiled YAML approves the research scope. Minimal pre-approval discovery may identify available files, source categories, and open questions; label it as scope evidence, not findings.

After approved research-scope YAML, perform the research and write only the non-canonical working packet defined in the staged workflow. Then update the review alignment page with findings and stop again for feedback-only YAML or final compiled YAML artifact approval before creating or updating canonical research, spec, or task files.

Do not include Recommended next skill, Recommended next command, or downstream routing language. The approval request itself is the next action. Only emit next-skill routing after the approved artifact has been written or updated.

Staged Research Workflow

Use this staged workflow for synthesized research or report outputs that would create or update canonical research, spec, or task files.

1. Stage 1 - Scope discovery and approval. Inspect only enough repository, user, and source context to propose research scope, source plan, assumptions, output paths, and approval questions. Build the review HTML alignment page before synthesized research. The page must render the proposed scope, available source categories, known context, assumptions/confidence, proposed working-packet and canonical output paths, and research-scope approval gates. Stop for final compiled YAML approval of the research scope. Do not perform synthesized research, rank candidates, make recommendations, or write working packets, canonical research, spec, or task files in Stage 1.
2. Stage 2 - Research and artifact review. Only after approved research-scope YAML with no unresolved needs-clarification, unresolved down feedback, or other unresolved negative feedback, perform the synthesized research, run required source/code checks, and write only a non-canonical working packet: flat mode uses research/_working/preliminary-<skill>-research.md; product-path mode uses research/{slug}/_working/preliminary-<skill>-research.md. Replace <skill> with this skill's name value. Raw evidence or search logs may remain as supporting evidence where this skill already requires them, but synthesized deliverables stay in the working packet. Update the review HTML alignment page so it renders the complete working-packet substance as structured HTML review UI: purpose-built sections, tables, matrices, gates, cards, and tier-appropriate charts or diagrams that preserve every packet section, finding, caveat, and decision detail without summary loss. Raw Markdown packet text may appear only as a supplemental source view after the rendered review UI; do not make a Full Preliminary Packet or Full Working Packet raw Markdown dump, giant <pre><code> block, link-only view, or source-only view the primary review surface. Include the evidence matrix, assumptions/confidence register, source coverage gaps, proposed canonical file changes, and artifact approval gates. Stop for either feedback-only YAML or final compiled YAML. Feedback-only YAML revises the working packet and page, then remains in Stage 2.
3. Stage 3 - Finalize approved artifacts. Consume final compiled YAML for artifact approval only when it has no unresolved needs-clarification, unresolved down feedback, or other unresolved negative feedback. Apply approved edits first, archive the working packet to docs/history/archive/YYYY-MM-DD/HHMMSS/<original-working-path>, remove the active working packet, write the approved canonical artifacts to the unchanged output paths below, and convert the alignment page to confirmed with the approval record preserved.

Canonical output paths remain unchanged. Search logs and other supporting evidence remain allowed only where this skill's output contract already requires them.

Evidence And Feedback Handling

Treat user feedback as input to evaluate, not as automatic ground truth.

• For factual, evidentiary, technical, or source-backed claims: verify against available evidence. If the user appears to misunderstand the evidence or states something factually incorrect, push back clearly and cite the evidence. Do not rewrite findings merely to agree.
• For taste, brand, positioning preference, risk appetite, prioritization, or other subjective judgment calls: weigh user feedback heavily and adapt the recommendation unless it conflicts with verified evidence.
• When feedback mixes facts and preference, separate them explicitly: correct the factual part, then incorporate the preference where it is a legitimate judgment call.
• When uncertain, say what is known, what is inferred, and what would change the conclusion.

Prerequisites

• Hard: research/icp.md (or research/{slug}/icp.md) must exist. If not, tell the user to run $customer-discovery first and stop.
• Hard: research/competitive-analysis.md (or research/{slug}/competitive-analysis.md) must exist. If not, tell the user to run $competitive-analysis first and stop.
• Strong default: research/journey-map.md (or research/{slug}/journey-map.md) should exist before writing canonical positioning. If missing, recommend $journey-map first unless the user explicitly needs a provisional positioning analysis.
• Soft: Read these if they exist:
  • research/journey-map.md — where value is delivered, the aha moment
  • research/customer-feedback.md — real customer language about what makes the product different
  • research/monetization.md — pricing context for value perception

Execution Model — Research Session Loop

This is a self-advancing Pattern A research orchestrator. Use docs/research-session-loop-convention.md: each invocation resolves state from pasted YAML plus filesystem, runs one heavy phase, emits the next review gate, and stops. Do not route framework selection through tasks/todo.md or $exec.

State lives in:

• research/_working/positioning-run.yaml or research/{slug}/_working/positioning-run.yaml, written after approved framework selection and containing selected framework slugs plus canonical intermediate paths.
• Canonical intermediate existence: a framework is complete when research/positioning-{framework}.md or research/{slug}/positioning-{framework}.md exists.

Operational Modes

Mode A: Framework Selection (default first invocation)

Activated by: $positioning or $positioning [focus area] (no special flags).

Mode B: Synthesis

Activated by: $positioning --synthesize

Mode C: Product-Positioning Shortcut

Activated by: $positioning product or $positioning post-launch or $positioning obviously-awesome

---

Process

0. Product-Path Scope Resolution

Resolve research scope by product path before using code or app structure as a hint:

1. If $ARGUMENTS names a non-archived research/{slug}/ directory or a product-path ID whose scope_path points there, use that path. Treat {slug} as the product/app name, not the ICP, audience, or segment label.
2. If $ARGUMENTS names only research/_archive/{slug}/ or a manifest entry with status: archived or legacy status: abandoned, stop and warn that the path is archived; do not write or update scoped outputs there.
3. Read research/.progress.yaml when present. Normalize legacy active_path to active_paths on read and write back active_paths on manifest updates. Treat legacy abandoned as archived; exclude archived, abandoned, deferred, revisit_candidate, promoted, and any scope_path under research/_archive/ from active target selection.
4. If active product paths exist in the manifest, use those paths. If multiple active paths exist, ask which one to target unless this skill explicitly supports cross-path output.
5. If no active manifest target exists, list non-archived product directories under research/, excluding research/_archive/ and dot directories. Auto-select only when exactly one exists; ask when multiple exist.
6. If no product directories exist, use flat research/ single-product mode.
7. Detect monorepo/app/package structure only as a secondary hint. Suggest creating a missing research/{slug}/ product path when code clearly exposes an app, but do not require code or monorepo detection before using research/{slug}/.

When product path {slug} is active, read and write research under research/{slug}/, specs under specs/{slug}/, and treat top-level research/*.md files as flat-mode documents or cross-path summaries.

1. Mode Detection

Detect market-positioning mode (default) or product-positioning mode:

Market-positioning mode activates when:

• No research/customer-feedback.md with post-launch customer evidence, AND
• No production codebase with live users detected, AND
• $ARGUMENTS does not contain "product", "post-launch", or "obviously-awesome"

Available frameworks in market mode:

• jtbd-positioning — Jobs-to-be-Done positioning analysis
• strategic-canvas — Blue Ocean strategic canvas
• moore-positioning — Geoffrey Moore positioning hypothesis
• category-design — Play Bigger category creation

Product-positioning mode activates when:

• research/customer-feedback.md exists with real customer data, OR
• $ARGUMENTS contains "product", "post-launch", or "obviously-awesome", OR
• Production spec exists AND customer feedback references real users

Available frameworks in product mode:

• obviously-awesome — April Dunford (requires real customer evidence)
• strategic-canvas — optionally, for category refresh

2. Load Context

• Read research/icp.md, research/competitive-analysis.md
• Read soft prerequisites if they exist
• Read CLAUDE.md, README for product context
• Read any existing research/positioning-*.md intermediate artifacts

3. Mode A — Framework Selection

Build an alignment page with:

1. Mode explanation: which mode was detected and why
2. Available evidence summary
3. Multi-select framework section: checkboxes with pre-checked defaults:
   • Market mode: jtbd-positioning + strategic-canvas + moore-positioning pre-checked; category-design unchecked
   • Product mode: obviously-awesome pre-checked; strategic-canvas unchecked
4. Loop plan: selected frameworks will be recorded in the run manifest; each fresh $positioning invocation runs the next pending framework inline and stops for that framework's findings review
5. Approval gate

After user approval (compiled YAML with selected_frameworks list):

Write selected frameworks to the run manifest:

orchestrator: positioning
selected_frameworks:
  - slug: jtbd-positioning
    intermediate: research/positioning-jtbd-positioning.md
  - slug: strategic-canvas
    intermediate: research/positioning-strategic-canvas.md
  - slug: moore-positioning
    intermediate: research/positioning-moore-positioning.md

Only include selected frameworks. Then run the first pending framework inline at its research stage and stop with that framework's findings review page. On each later invocation, consume approved YAML for the previous framework, write its canonical intermediate, run the next pending framework, and stop. When all selected framework intermediates exist, synthesize.

4. Mode B — Synthesis ($positioning --synthesize)

Read all intermediate framework outputs (research/positioning-*.md). At least one must exist.

Synthesize into unified research/positioning.md:

Market-positioning synthesis: combined hypothesis, Moore template filled with cross-framework evidence, evidence matrix, confidence levels, validation plan. Header: > Mode: Market Positioning (hypothesized, pre-product)

Product-positioning synthesis: positioning statement from Obviously Awesome, customer-grounded evidence matrix, confidence levels. Header: > Mode: Product Positioning (customer-grounded)

Build alignment page for synthesis approval. After approval: write research/positioning.md, emit next-step routing.

5. Mode C — Product-Positioning Shortcut

Skip multi-select. Build an alignment page for the shortcut execution plan with:

1. Shortcut explanation: product-positioning shortcut selected and why obviously-awesome is the only queued framework
2. Evidence readiness: customer-feedback requirement and any missing evidence caveats
3. Proposed loop plan: the single obviously-awesome framework that will be recorded in the run manifest
4. Approval gate: require final compiled YAML approval before writing the run manifest

Do not write the run manifest before alignment approval. The next action is review of the HTML alignment page.

After user approval via final compiled YAML, write this selected set to the run manifest and enter the next pending framework session:

orchestrator: positioning
selected_frameworks:
  - slug: obviously-awesome
    intermediate: research/positioning-obviously-awesome.md

Run obviously-awesome inline at its research stage and stop with the framework findings review page.

6. Next Steps (after synthesis only)

• IF no journey-map: check for customer-lifecycle pack → recommend $journey-map
• DEFAULT: check for product-design pack → if enabled, recommend $user-flow-map [positioning-backed product direction]; if not enabled, recommend npx skillpacks install product-design from the project shell
• IF solution-customer fit weak/disputed: $value-prop-canvas
• IF business-model risks: $lean-canvas
• IF no GTM: check for business-growth pack → recommend $gtm
• IF GTM exists: recommend $gtm refresh
• IF no monetization: check for business-growth pack → recommend $monetization
• IF codebase exists: check for business-ops pack → recommend $mvp-gap

7. Downstream Impact Check (after synthesis write)

Check research/gtm.md. Classify impact as None/Minor/Major per standard pattern.

Optional Research Trigger Map

These detours are conditional framework owners, not required AFPS chain links.

Positioning signal	Owner	Trigger threshold
Solution-customer fit weak/disputed, value mapping low confidence	$value-prop-canvas	Trigger: unique attributes can't be confidently mapped to value. Skip: value mapping clear.
Business-model risk exposed by category strategy	$lean-canvas	Trigger: risk would change UX or prototype choices. Skip: normal competitive findings.
Pricing architecture central to positioning	$monetization	Trigger: category/value mapping requires grounded pricing. Skip: pricing not a differentiator.

Output

Mode A: run manifest update plus next pending framework review page

Mode B: research/positioning.md (unified synthesis — see claude variant for full template)

Mode C: pre-approval alignment page, then run manifest update and obviously-awesome framework review after final compiled YAML approval

Task Classification

When this skill produces follow-up work, file it by execution semantics:

• Immediately actionable work goes in tasks/todo.md.
• Human-only external actions go in tasks/manual-todo.md.
• Condition-gated records go in tasks/record-todo.md.
• Cadence-based reviews go in tasks/recurring-todo.md.

Constraints

• Requires ICP + competitive analysis.
• Customer-grounded. Every decision connects to real evidence.
• Mode detection is evidence-based. Do not override without user confirmation.
• Parent owns the research loop. It records selected frameworks in the run manifest and runs one pending framework inline per invocation. Do not queue framework work in tasks/todo.md or hand it to $exec.
• Synthesis requires at least one framework output.
• Do not overwrite existing research/positioning.md without asking first.

Alignment Page

When this skill produces durable deliverables (research, specs, plans, reports, prototypes, or any document output), build a full-depth HTML alignment page following ALIGNMENT-PAGE.md in this skill's directory. Output: alignment/positioning-{topic}.html.

Default Shipping Contract

Follow the shared shipping contract convention in CLAUDE.md.