nav-start_skill

Overview

This skill loads the Navigator documentation navigator to start or resume a development session with optimized context. It prepares project docs, configuration, user preferences, and optional knowledge graph and telemetry so you can jump into work faster. Use it at session start, when resuming after a break, or when you need a project status snapshot.

How this skill works

The skill checks for Navigator initialization and optionally runs a non-blocking version check or auto-update. It reads the lightweight index (.agent/DEVELOPMENT-README.md), loads .nav-config.json and a user profile if present, surfaces knowledge-graph summaries and relevant memories, and optionally lists assigned tasks from the configured PM tool. Finally it prints a concise session summary and enforces a workflow check before task execution.

When to use it

• At the start of a development session: 'start my session', 'begin work'
• When resuming work after a break: 'resume work', 'continue from where I left off'
• To get a quick project status or documentation index: 'show me the docs', 'what should I work on?'
• Before beginning a new feature or multi-file change to load context and task markers
• When you want ToM preferences, knowledge-graph memories, or session metrics applied

Best practices

• Run this skill only once per session at startup to avoid redundant loads
• Allow non-blocking version checks and auto-update; never block session start on updates
• Initialize Navigator (.agent/DEVELOPMENT-README.md) with /nav:init before using this skill
• Keep a .agent/.user-profile.json to apply verbosity and confirmation preferences automatically
• Use nav-compact and context markers to preserve progress across sessions

Example use cases

• Start a focused coding session and immediately see the project structure and current task focus
• Resume where you left off by loading an active context marker saved in a previous session
• Surface top relevant memories from the knowledge graph before tackling a fragile area like auth
• Verify PM-assigned issues (GitHub/Linear) before picking a task for the session
• Quickly check session telemetry (OTel) to monitor token usage and session cost for ROI