Overview
Reconstruct the workflow behind a delivered outcome from local ax data. First determine the anchor, then find related sessions, review the conversations, tools, skills, commits, and subagent delegation records, and finally write a compact, traceable retrospective.
This skill assumes that axis already installed, the related sessions have been ingested, and the local ax database is accessible.
When to use
Use this skill when the user has the following needs:
- Wants to know how a feature, PR, demo, or outcome was delivered
- Wants to review why a result succeeded
- Wants to view the workflow around a date, commit, topic, or repository event
- Wants to identify which sessions, tools, skills, or key decisions contributed to an outcome
- Wants to turn a past effective agent work session into a reusable practice
Do not use
This skill should not be used in the following scenarios:
- Just viewing what was done recently
- Writing a new implementation plan before reviewing historical evidence
- Project status reporting unrelated to a specific outcome, date, or commit
- Requesting retrospective details when there is no usable ax data on the local machine
Instructions for use
- Determine the anchor:
- Commit SHA: use that commit directly.
- Date: view a short window before and after that date.
- Topic or outcome name: first search for related commits.
- Recent work in the current repository: view the most recent sessions in the current repository.
- Find candidate sessions:
ax recall "<topic>" --sources=commit --json
ax sessions near <sha> --json
ax sessions around <date> --days=3 --json
ax sessions here --days=14 --json
- Select at most five sessions. Prefer sessions with more turns, matching commits, involvement of related files, or records of related tool and skill usage.
- Review each selected session:
ax sessions show <id> --json
ax sessions show <id> --by-role
ax sessions show <id> --expand=<subagent-uuid>
- If ax cannot connect to the database, tell the user to start the ax service first, then stop. Do not fabricate evidence.
- Write the retrospective based on evidence:
- Ordered workflow: what was done first, what was done next, and how it was finally wrapped up.
- Role of skills and tools: explain what each key skill or tool produced.
- Key decisions: record the points where the user guided, made trade-offs, or changed direction.
- Reusable practices: summarize how to reproduce a similar process next time.
Output
Output Markdown, including:
- A summary paragraph
- An ordered workflow timeline
- Key evidence with session id, commit, or command
- When evidence is sufficient, give a brief reusable process
Keep the tone factual. Cite local evidence. Clearly mark unknown where it cannot be confirmed.