Prompt and template catalogs
Day Shift keeps reusable agent instructions and planning-document shapes in separate asset families. The shipped manifests are the machine-readable authority for membership and version evidence; this page is their operator-facing catalog.
Asset families and version evidence
Section titled “Asset families and version evidence”The prompt manifest at .day-shift/prompts/user/manifest.json has prompt_manifest_version: 1 and a shared prompt_version: 1. Each prompt entry also has its own version, layer, and action. The template manifest at .day-shift/templates/manifest.json has template_manifest_version: 1 and a shared template_version: 1; each template entry has an independent version, kind, and artifact_type. Family-level versions describe manifest contracts or shared baselines. They do not replace entry versions.
These locations have different ownership:
- Packaged defaults are recovery and bootstrap sources shipped with Day Shift.
.day-shift/prompts/latest/is a managed fallback/evidence layer, not the user editing destination..day-shift/prompts/user/is the workspace-owned prompt layer and the only prompt-content write destination..day-shift/templates/is the workspace-owned template customization surface. Its manifest distinguishes artifact templates, repository-local exceptions, and scaffold/support assets.- Generated context is rendered evidence, not a prompt or template source. Manually authored planning artifacts remain project evidence, not reusable source assets.
Read-only prompt list, prompt show, prompt diff, templates list, review, and validation output reports evidence only. It does not edit an asset, repair drift, or advance a lifecycle. Explicit init, edit, update, or materialize operations are separate writes.
Prompt discovery and fallback
Section titled “Prompt discovery and fallback”Prompt-consuming workflows resolve one requested prompt suffix through an ordered chain: the workspace-owned user layer first, the managed latest layer second, and the packaged default last. The resolved path, source, attempted layers, fallback trace, and warning are inspectable evidence. A fallback does not copy, edit, or promote the selected source, and resolution fails when the prompt is unavailable across all three layers.
| Layer | Prerequisite and input | Output or failure | Customization and mutation posture |
|---|---|---|---|
.day-shift/prompts/user/ |
A matching workspace prompt for the requested layer/action suffix. | Resolves directly with no fallback warning. | Workspace-owned and editable, but lookup itself is read-only. |
.day-shift/prompts/latest/ |
No matching user prompt and a matching managed latest prompt. | Resolves with a warning and fallback trace naming the missed user layer. | Managed evidence/fallback; resolution does not make it the editing destination. |
| Packaged default | Neither workspace layer contains the prompt and the installed package ships it. | Resolves with a warning and trace of both missed workspace layers. Missing here too is a blocking unavailable-prompt failure. | Recovery/bootstrap source; it is not silently copied into user ownership. |
workflow explain is the selected-artifact, read-only way to inspect the applicable workflow, requested prompt, resolution result, trust lanes, and next boundary. Prompt-family writes remain explicit: prompt init seeds eligible user assets without treating lookup as a write, while prompt edit and prompt update require a selected user-layer target. Detailed editing and customization procedures belong to the workspace-customization guide delivered in milestone 03.
Rendering and trust lanes
Section titled “Rendering and trust lanes”A rendered prompt keeps four visible lanes in order: generated context, agent entrypoint guidance, warnings, then prompt instructions. The lanes have different authority and must not be flattened together.
- Generated context is repository-derived evidence. It can be incomplete or stale and never overrides canonical artifacts or repository policy.
- Agent entrypoint guidance comes from
.day-shift/agents.mdand states the repository contract. When the rendering surface requires that file, absence is a blocking failure by default. - Warnings expose fallback, missing, or degraded evidence. An explicit
--no-agent-style degraded rendering mode may omit agent guidance only when the owning command supports it; the output must retain a visible warning and must not imply that generated context became trusted policy. - Prompt instructions come from the resolved prompt source and govern only the selected lifecycle action. They do not authorize writes outside that action.
Treat the current repository artifacts as source of truth when generated context, a resume pointer, or prior agent output conflicts with them. Stop before writing when required guidance, prompt resolution, selected-artifact identity, or upstream evidence is contradictory.
Template discovery and output routing
Section titled “Template discovery and output routing”Template identity, routing, and output are three separate lanes. A prompt template_ref or template_refs value identifies relevant source shape only. A template-manifest destination authorizes an installed output only for the scaffold/support entry that explicitly declares it. A generated or manually authored planning artifact is project evidence at its selected path, not a reusable template source.
templates list discovers template inventory and routing evidence without writing. template materialize requires an explicitly selected template and supported destination, reports invalid or ambiguous routing as a no-write failure, and is the write boundary for creating that routed output. Review, diff, validation, and dry-run evidence do not materialize or update anything. Template editing, merge behavior, stale workspace copies, and upgrade recovery belong to milestones 03 and 04.
Seeding, inspection, and writes
Section titled “Seeding, inspection, and writes”Initialization seeds workspace-owned prompts and templates from packaged assets when enabled, preserves divergent existing files by default, and reports skipped or kept content rather than silently overwriting customization. --without-templates and --no-agent suppress eligible seeding; they do not delete existing assets.
Use list, show, diff, workflow explanation, review, validation, and dry-run output to establish prerequisites and preview effects. Use init, prompt edit/update, template update, manifest update, or template materialize only after selecting the corresponding asset and write boundary. A failure or warning from an evidence command is not permission to guess a repair. Upgrade comparison, merge, drift classification, and recovery procedures are intentionally deferred to milestone 04.
Supported prompt combinations
Section titled “Supported prompt combinations”Seven lifecycle layers are shipped: specification, slice, phase, milestone, task, implementation, and reconciliation. Every layer supports build, next, review, and recertify. Build prompts create or complete the selected layer’s evidence shape; next prompts hand completed evidence to the next consumer; review prompts are read-only; recertify prompts reassess currency without automatically writing.
All prompts use YAML front matter variables prompt_version, layer, and action. Paths, selected artifacts, repository context, generated context, agent guidance, warnings, and command placeholders are supplied by the consuming prompt-rendering workflow rather than hidden template interpolation.
| Prompt identity | Version | Purpose and lifecycle consumer | Template source/output shape |
|---|---|---|---|
.day-shift/prompts/user/specification.build.md |
1 | Build or revise a selected specification; consumed at specification authoring. | .day-shift/templates/specification.md |
.day-shift/prompts/user/specification.next.md |
1 | Hand a registered specification to explicit slice creation. | .day-shift/templates/slice-overview.md |
.day-shift/prompts/user/specification.review.md |
1 | Read-only specification readiness review. | None |
.day-shift/prompts/user/specification.recertify.md |
1 | Read-only specification currency decision. | None |
.day-shift/prompts/user/slice.build.md |
2 | Build or revise the selected slice contract. | .day-shift/templates/slice-overview.md |
.day-shift/prompts/user/slice.next.md |
2 | Hand a standard slice to declared phase creation. | .day-shift/templates/phase-overview.md |
.day-shift/prompts/user/slice.review.md |
2 | Read-only slice review. | None |
.day-shift/prompts/user/slice.recertify.md |
1 | Read-only slice currency decision. | None |
.day-shift/prompts/user/phase.build.md |
2 | Build or revise the selected phase contract. | .day-shift/templates/phase-overview.md |
.day-shift/prompts/user/phase.next.md |
2 | Hand a phase to declared milestone scaffolding. | .day-shift/templates/milestone-overview.md, .day-shift/templates/milestone-reconciliation.md |
.day-shift/prompts/user/phase.review.md |
2 | Read-only phase review. | None |
.day-shift/prompts/user/phase.recertify.md |
1 | Read-only phase currency decision. | None |
.day-shift/prompts/user/milestone.build.md |
2 | Build or revise the selected milestone contract. | .day-shift/templates/milestone-overview.md |
.day-shift/prompts/user/milestone.next.md |
2 | Hand a milestone to declared task scaffolding. | .day-shift/templates/task-definition.md, .day-shift/templates/implementation-summary.md |
.day-shift/prompts/user/milestone.review.md |
2 | Read-only milestone review. | None |
.day-shift/prompts/user/milestone.recertify.md |
1 | Read-only milestone currency decision. | None |
.day-shift/prompts/user/task.build.md |
2 | Build or revise a task contract. | .day-shift/templates/task-definition.md |
.day-shift/prompts/user/task.next.md |
1 | Run scoped implementation and complete its evidence handoff. | .day-shift/templates/implementation-summary.md |
.day-shift/prompts/user/task.review.md |
1 | Read-only task readiness review. | None |
.day-shift/prompts/user/task.recertify.md |
1 | Read-only task currency decision. | None |
.day-shift/prompts/user/implementation.build.md |
1 | Build the selected task implementation summary. | .day-shift/templates/implementation-summary.md |
.day-shift/prompts/user/implementation.next.md |
1 | Roll completed task summaries into milestone review. | .day-shift/templates/milestone-reconciliation.md |
.day-shift/prompts/user/implementation.review.md |
1 | Read-only implementation-evidence review. | None |
.day-shift/prompts/user/implementation.recertify.md |
1 | Read-only implementation-summary currency decision. | None |
.day-shift/prompts/user/reconciliation.build.md |
1 | Build an explicit task-level reconciliation exception. | .day-shift/templates/reconciliation.md |
.day-shift/prompts/user/reconciliation.next.md |
1 | Classify reviewed follow-up candidates without scaffolding them. | None |
.day-shift/prompts/user/reconciliation.review.md |
1 | Read-only reconciliation acceptance review. | None |
.day-shift/prompts/user/reconciliation.recertify.md |
1 | Read-only reconciliation currency decision. | None |
The applicable command family is prompt: list/show/diff inspect resolved prompt evidence; init/edit/update perform explicitly selected user-layer writes. Lifecycle scaffold and review commands consume the prompt contracts but do not make prompt files interchangeable with the artifacts they guide.
Template catalog
Section titled “Template catalog”Artifact templates contain YAML metadata placeholders and required Markdown sections. Common variables are planning coordinates (slice, phase, milestone, and task where applicable), source-spec and parent references, lifecycle statuses, workflow provenance, execution mode, and evidence sections. Lightweight variants intentionally omit phase and milestone coordinates. Reconciliation shapes add completed-summary links and review evidence. Scaffold/support entries use their declared destination only when the manifest provides one.
| Template identity | Version | Class and consumer | Variables, placeholders, or output role |
|---|---|---|---|
.day-shift/templates/specification.md |
1 | Artifact: specification; spec authoring and spec workflows. |
Specification identity, source intent, scope, acceptance, and traceability. |
.day-shift/templates/slice-overview.md |
1 | Artifact: slice_overview; standard slice scaffolding. |
Slice identity, planning depth, ordered phases, parent spec. |
.day-shift/templates/lightweight-slice-overview.md |
1 | Artifact: slice_overview; lightweight lane. |
Slice identity and direct ordered tasks; no phase/milestone parents. |
.day-shift/templates/phase-overview.md |
1 | Artifact: phase_overview; phase scaffolding. |
Slice/phase coordinates, ordered milestones, upstream links. |
.day-shift/templates/milestone-overview.md |
1 | Artifact: milestone_overview; milestone scaffolding. |
Slice/phase/milestone coordinates and ordered task slugs. |
.day-shift/templates/task-definition.md |
1 | Artifact: task_definition; standard task scaffolding. |
Coordinates, readiness, execution mode, targets, runtime delta, validation, recovery. |
.day-shift/templates/lightweight-task-definition.md |
1 | Artifact: task_definition; lightweight task scaffolding. |
Slice/task coordinates and task evidence without phase/milestone parents. |
.day-shift/templates/implementation-summary.md |
1 | Artifact: implementation_summary; standard task closeout. |
Statuses, changed paths, acceptance, validation, deviations, follow-up evidence. |
.day-shift/templates/lightweight-implementation-summary.md |
1 | Artifact: implementation_summary; lightweight closeout. |
Slice/task evidence without phase/milestone parents. |
.day-shift/templates/reconciliation.md |
1 | Artifact: reconciliation; explicit task-level review exception. |
Review status, planned/discovered/backlog/residual work, concerns, verdict. |
.day-shift/templates/milestone-reconciliation.md |
1 | Artifact: reconciliation; default milestone rollup. |
Milestone coordinates, completed summary links, criteria and validation review. |
.day-shift/templates/internal-specification.md |
1 | Repository-local artifact exception: internal_specification. |
Compact internal decomposition support; not a packaged-default artifact template. |
.day-shift/templates/markdownlint.json |
1 | Scaffold/support: markdownlint_config. |
Explicit installed output .markdownlint.json. |
.day-shift/templates/continue-default-agent-system-message.md |
1 | Scaffold/support: continue_agent_system_message. |
Usage-only copy/paste support; no automatic destination. |
The applicable command families are template, templates, and template materialize. Listing and drift reporting are read-only. Updating a workspace template or materializing an explicitly routed scaffold is a separate selected write; a prompt’s template_ref describes source/output shape and never authorizes automatic body inlining or a guessed destination.
Lifecycle links
Section titled “Lifecycle links”Use From intake to implementation for specification through implementation consumers and Evidence review and reconciliation for summary and reconciliation consumers. Use Workspace initialization for the bootstrap boundary. Detailed resolution, rendering, customization, and upgrade procedures are separate operational guides; this catalog defines shipped membership and identity.