# Os Whats Next

ALWAYS invoke this skill when the user asks what to do next, what is left, or what is...

- Repository: https://github.com/kharmanskyi/open-steps (1291 stars)
- Category: Engineering
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-10-05
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add kharmanskyi/open-steps --skill os-whats-next -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add kharmanskyi/open-steps --skill os-whats-next -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add kharmanskyi/open-steps --skill os-whats-next -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add kharmanskyi/open-steps --skill os-whats-next -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add kharmanskyi/open-steps`

## Description

ALWAYS invoke this skill when the user asks what to do next, what is left, or what is blocked - "what's next", "what now", "what should we work on", "anything I can do" - in any language. This skill picks the next piece of work; when the user asks HOW to do a thing or says they do not understand what to do, that is os-step-by-step. Reads the last report, local changes, open pull requests and always the backlog. First finishes what is finished: verified-ready pull requests merge in the same pass. Then sorts the rest into doable-alone and needs-you, ending with one recommended next task in plain words - what it closes or unblocks. Never invents tasks.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# os-whats-next

Answer "what do we do now" with the next move, not a map. The user does not
need the dependency graph - they need what got finished, what to take next,
and why, in plain words. This skill decides; `os-step-by-step` walks the user
through their part; `os-done-or-not` reports what came of it.

## Language

Write in the language the user speaks in this session, detected from the
conversation. Commands, file names and identifiers stay English.

## When to use

Triggers: the description above, plus a session just ended wanting a next move.

## Step 1 - read the state, quickest first

Stop as soon as you can answer.

1. **The last report** - `~/.claude/open-steps/reports/<project>/latest.md`:
   a handover written for exactly this moment.
2. **Local state** - uncommitted changes, unpushed commits, current branch.
3. **Open pull requests** - one call:
   `gh pr list --json number,title,mergeStateStatus,reviewDecision,isDraft`.
4. **The backlog - always.** The issue tracker when one is already connected
   (never authenticate or install one), otherwise task files in the repo:
   `BIG-PICTURE.md`, `PLAN.md`, `TODO.md`, `docs/plan*`. Next work comes from
   the backlog, not from imagination. No backlog anywhere → say so.

   Where `os-big-picture` keeps that file, **only the "What is next" section
   is the backlog.** The feature table above it is an inventory, and a row
   that has not changed in months is a finished feature, not a task. Reading
   work out of it is inventing work, which rule 4 below forbids. A row under
   "Worth retiring" is a real candidate, but it is a decision to put to the
   user, never a task to start.

The rest: https://github.com/kharmanskyi/open-steps/blob/HEAD/skills/os-whats-next/SKILL.md