SKILL.md
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Never put auth tokens in shell commands. Do not type VERCEL_TOKEN=..., --token ..., or Authorization: Bearer ... into commands that may be echoed in chat.
Framework Support
The preflight reads package.json and sets expectations before metric fan-out.
Framework
Status
Notes
Next.js App Router
supported
strongest route mapping, scanners, playbooks, citations
Next.js Pages Router
supported
scoped to Pages Router idioms when detected
SvelteKit
supported
route mapping for src/routes files and SvelteKit scanner
Nuxt
supported
route mapping plus generic/platform checks; fewer framework-specific recs
Astro
limited
route mapping plus generic checks; fewer framework-specific recs
Hono / Remix / unknown
blocked by default
continue only if the user accepts a limited platform/code-only audit
If unsupported, stop and ask before scanning or gating:
This project uses <framework>. Vercel Optimize supports metric-backed code recommendations for Next.js, SvelteKit, and Nuxt. Astro support is limited. For <framework>, I can still run a limited platform/scanner audit, but route-level Vercel metrics may not map back to source files.
Do you want me to continue with the limited audit, or stop here?
If the user continues, rerun collection with --continue-unsupported-framework.
Run Directory
Use a fresh run directory for every audit. Do not reuse briefs, sub-agent outputs, or reports across runs.
RUN_DIR="$(mktemp -d -t vercel-optimize-XXXXXX)"
Pipeline
1. Collect, scan, and merge signals
Run from the linked app directory or pass --cwd where a script supports it. Keep stdout JSON separate from stderr logs. Do not combine streams.
node scripts/collect-signals.mjs [projectId] > "$RUN_DIR/vercel-signals.json" 2> "$RUN_DIR/collect.stderr"
node -e 'JSON.parse(require("fs").readFileSync(process.argv[1], "utf8"))' "$RUN_DIR/vercel-signals.json"
node scripts/scan-codebase.mjs <repo-root> > "$RUN_DIR/codebase.json"
node scripts/merge-signals.mjs "$RUN_DIR/vercel-signals.json" "$RUN_DIR/codebase.json" --out "$RUN_DIR/signals.json"
Collection details, schemas, metric IDs, and degradation behavior live in references/data-collection.md. The metric registry is lib/queries.mjs; keep all queries on the shared 14-day window.
1.1 Stop on blockers
Check blockers before gating:
jq '{frameworkSupportBlocker, observabilityPlus, observabilityPlusUsable, observabilityPlusBlocker, observabilityPlusBlockerDetail}' "$RUN_DIR/signals.json"
Required actions:
frameworkSupportBlocker === "unsupported_framework": use the unsupported-framework prompt above.
observabilityPlusBlocker === null: continue.
no_traffic: tell the user route metrics are sparse; continue only if they accept limited output.
payment_requiredorno_oplus_probe: render references/observability-plus.md verbatim and ask.
project_disabled: tell the user to enable Observability Plus for the project or accept a limited audit.
daily_quota_exceeded: stop and tell the user the Observability query quota is exhausted; retry after the next UTC midnight reset, or ask whether to continue with a limited code-only audit.
not_linked: link the app directory, then rerun Step 1. If app path and project are known:
vercel link --yes --project <project-name-or-id> --cwd <app-dir>
# add --team <team-id-or-slug> when known
forbiddenorproject_not_found: fix auth/team scope. Do not pitch Observability Plus.
all_failed_other: show the raw error code and ask whether to continue in limited code-only mode.
Do not silently fall back to code-only mode. If the user accepts a limited audit, rerun collection with:
node scripts/collect-signals.mjs [projectId] --continue-without-observability > "$RUN_DIR/vercel-signals.json" 2> "$RUN_DIR/collect.stderr"
Then scan and merge again.
2. Gate candidates
node scripts/gate-investigations.mjs "$RUN_DIR/signals.json" > "$RUN_DIR/gate.json"
Output shape:
toLaunch: code-scope candidates to investigate.
platform: project/account-scope recommendations.
gated: skipped, covered, or disqualified candidates that must still appear in the report.
budget: candidate budget and selection mode.
Default budget is 6 code-scope candidates with a diversity guardrail. To expand:
node scripts/gate-investigations.mjs "$RUN_DIR/signals.json" --max-candidates 12 > "$RUN_DIR/gate.json"
node scripts/gate-investigations.mjs "$RUN_DIR/signals.json" --max-candidates all > "$RUN_DIR/gate.json"
Generated candidate docs: references/candidates.md.
2.1 Ask about audit scope when needed
Before deep-dive, run:
node scripts/budget-summary.mjs "$RUN_DIR/gate.json" --format json > "$RUN_DIR/budget-summary.json"
If shouldAsk is false, continue.
If shouldAsk is true:
- Print
exactChatMessage.bodyexactly as returned. Do not summarize, truncate, reorder, or rewrite it.
- Then ask
questionTextusingquestionPayloadwhen the host supports structured questions.
- If the user chooses a different number, rerun the gate with
--max-candidates <choice>.
Never put the long preview inside the question field. The preview and the question are separate surfaces.
2.2 Deep-dive and reconcile
node scripts/deep-dive.mjs "$RUN_DIR/signals.json" "$RUN_DIR/gate.json" --cwd <project-dir> > "$RUN_DIR/investigation-evidence.json"
node scripts/reconcile-candidates.mjs "$RUN_DIR/investigation-evidence.json" \
--gate "$RUN_DIR/gate.json" \
--out "$RUN_DIR/reconciled-investigation.json"
--cwd must be the linked project directory so vercel metrics resolves the right project/team.
Reconciliation deterministically converts disproven candidates into observations before any source investigation:
metric_mismatch
error_storm
deployment_regression
scanner_only_no_metric
2.3 Generate briefs and investigate
List the work:
node scripts/prepare-investigation-brief.mjs "$RUN_DIR/signals.json" "$RUN_DIR/reconciled-investigation.json" --list > "$RUN_DIR/briefs-manifest.json"
Generate one brief for every entry in briefs-manifest.json.briefs. The group can be toLaunch or platform; do not generate only toLaunch briefs.
mkdir -p "$RUN_DIR/briefs" "$RUN_DIR/sub-agent-outputs"
node scripts/prepare-investigation-brief.mjs "$RUN_DIR/signals.json" "$RUN_DIR/reconciled-investigation.json" \
--group <brief.group> --index <brief.index> --out "$RUN_DIR/briefs/<brief.group>-<brief.index>.md"
Use briefs-manifest.json.briefs[].label for visible worker names, for example Low cache-hit route on /docs/llm-digest/[...slug], not toLaunch-7.
Fan-out rule:
- 1-2 briefs: investigate inline.
- 3+ briefs: spawn one sub-agent per brief when the host supports it.
- Hosts without sub-agents: run inline serially.
Sub-agent contract:
- The brief is the whole prompt.
- Read only files listed in the brief, plus route-local imports when needed.
- Emit one JSON recommendation or one JSON no-change finding using references/recommendations.md.
- Do not cite URLs outside the provided citation subset.
- Do not recommend framework features unavailable in the detected version.
If a sub-agent reaches for repo-wide grep, the candidate is malformed; drop or abstain rather than widening scope.
2.4 Collect outputs
Save each raw investigation result in $RUN_DIR/sub-agent-outputs/, then collect:
node scripts/collect-sub-agent-outputs.mjs \
--manifest "$RUN_DIR/briefs-manifest.json" \
--out "$RUN_DIR/recommendations.json" \
"$RUN_DIR/sub-agent-outputs/"
The collector extracts JSON, prepends pre-resolved records, enforces manifest order, and fails on missing, duplicate, unknown, or mismatched candidateRef values.
3. Verify recommendations
node scripts/verify-and-regen.mjs "$RUN_DIR/recommendations.json" \
--signals "$RUN_DIR/signals.json" \
--repo-root <project-dir> \
--out "$RUN_DIR/verify.json"
This script extracts claims, verifies files/citations/version fit, grades quality, applies sanitizers, emits verifiedRecommendations, withheldRecommendations, renderableRecommendations, and creates regenPlan for failed or unsafe recommendations.
Recommendation schema, writing rules, sanitizer order, and grading rules: references/recommendations.md. Verification rules: references/verification.md.
For each regenPlan entry, rerun the same brief with a Previous attempt failed these checks section listing topFailures. Keep the regenerated output only if verification improves without gutting citations.
4. Render report and final message
node scripts/render-report.mjs "$RUN_DIR/verify.json" "$RUN_DIR/gate.json" "$RUN_DIR/signals.json" \
--project <name> \
--out "$RUN_DIR/report.md" \
--message-out "$RUN_DIR/final-message.json"
Use --debug-out "$RUN_DIR/debug.json" only when developing the skill. Customer Markdown and chat output must not expose passRate, quality, sanitizer trails, raw sub-agent names, or other implementation fields.
After rendering, print final-message.json.body verbatim and stop. Do not add highlights, debug notes, raw counts, sub-agent summaries, or extra explanation. Render-time dedupe, platform caps, and hard-safety drops can change the customer-visible count, so never summarize from raw verify.json.
Report structure and impact framing: references/scoring.md.
Recommendation Rules
Every recommendation must:
- Trace to a launched candidate, platform candidate, pre-resolved observation, or verified traffic-independent scanner finding.
- Include observed metric evidence from
signals.jsonorevidence.deepDive.
- Cite verified files with line numbers when code is involved.
- Include at least one allowed citation that applies to the detected framework/version.
- Use precise observed performance numbers.
- Use cost magnitude phrases only; never customer-facing
$Nsavings.
- Name a specific cache policy when recommending caching.
- Keep unsafe responses dynamic unless evidence proves they are safe to cache: auth-sensitive paths, errors, fallback responses, missing content, invalid requests, geolocation/device-varying output, and unversioned dynamic URLs.
Never recommend "verify X is on" for facts already present in signals.project, including Fluid compute status, memory tier, regions, in-function concurrency, and timeout.
Scanner Rules
Scanner findings are supplementary. Drop findings annotated COLD-PATH or NO-ROUTE-MAPPING unless the scanner declares metadata.trafficIndependent === true.
Traffic-independent examples: middleware matcher, source maps, React Compiler config, build settings. Route-local cache or data-fetch patterns need route-level traffic evidence.
Scanner docs: references/scanner-patterns.md.
Final Customer Terms
Use:
recommendations ready
observations from investigation
investigated, no change recommended
not investigated in this run
Avoid:
sub-agent
abstention
passRate
quality score
gate
LLM
Failure Copy
Use these messages without adding sales copy or process detail.
No traffic in the last 14 days:
This project has no meaningful traffic in the last 14 days, so route-level metrics are sparse. I can still check traffic-independent scanner findings and project settings, but I cannot rank route fixes until traffic accumulates.
Route-level metrics unavailable:
Use the verbatim choice template in references/observability-plus.md. Do not silently fall back to code-only mode; present the two-path choice: enable Observability Plus and rerun the metric-backed audit, or accept a limited code-only run.
Project is not linked:
This worktree is not linked to a Vercel project. Run vercel link --yes --project <project-name-or-id> --cwd <app-dir> and rerun the audit. If the team is known, add --team <team-id-or-slug>.
Most route-to-file mappings failed:
The route inventory matched fewer than half of the routes we saw in observability. This is common in monorepos with custom routing. I've surfaced what I can match; the rest appear in the "Not investigated in this run" section.