retrospective

Generate sprint or milestone retrospectives from plans, status, and git history.

Updated May 13, 2026
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/FrancisVarga/the-dream-machine --skill retrospective-francisvarga
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: retrospective
Source: https://github.com/FrancisVarga/the-dream-machine/tree/main/.claude/skills/retrospective
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/FrancisVarga/the-dream-machine --skill retrospective-francisvarga

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve?

It turns completed work into clear, data-backed retrospectives so teams can identify what improved outcomes, what broke down execution, and what to change next.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • Sprint/milestone retrospective generation: Creates a structured retrospective using sprint plans, milestone definitions, and actual completion status to compute metrics and trends.
  • Existing retrospective update or archival: Detects prior retrospectives and either updates them with new findings or archives the old one before generating a fresh report.
  • Actionable next-iteration planning: Produces prioritized, owner-assigned action items plus process improvements, tuned to recurring blockers and technical debt signals.

Quick Start

Run retrospective for your sprint or milestone by invoking: retrospective sprint-3.

Frequently Asked Questions about retrospective

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I generate a sprint retrospective with velocity tracking and blocker analysis?

Sprint retrospectives are generated by analyzing planned work against actual completion status and git history, computing velocity metrics, blocker trends, and carryover assessment. The Skill produces a deterministic report with prioritized action items and process improvements.

What is the best way to analyze technical debt and FIXME trends for milestone retrospectives?

Milestone retrospectives analyze repository signals such as TODO and FIXME trends alongside git history and completion status. This data-backed approach identifies recurring blockers and technical debt patterns, producing prioritized action items with assigned owners for the next iteration.

Can I update an existing retrospective or does it automatically archive old reports?

Existing retrospective files are detected automatically upon invocation. You choose whether to update the prior retrospective with new findings or archive the old report before generating a fresh one, ensuring historical data is preserved while maintaining current analysis accuracy.

Do I need a sprint-status.yaml file to run retrospective analysis?

The Skill loads authoritative status data from production/sprint-status.yaml, with a markdown fallback available if the YAML file is absent. Sprint plans or milestone definitions and actual completion status are required to compute metrics and generate actionable insights.

How does retrospective handle carryover assessment and sprint planning action items?

Carryover assessment evaluates incomplete work from sprint plans against actual completion status. The Skill generates prioritized, owner-assigned action items and process improvements tuned to recurring blockers and technical debt signals, directly informing next sprint planning.

What limitations exist when generating retrospective reports from git history?

Retrospective reports rely on deterministic writing to production/retrospectives and require valid argument parsing for sprint-N or milestone-name workflows. Accuracy depends on the availability of sprint-status.yaml or markdown fallback files and consistent git history commit data.