---
name: hq-status
description: Use when you need a cross-cutting view of where HQ stands — research state, design implementation state, open issues, or the decision-record index. Triggers on "what's the status", "show the ADR index", "where do things stand", "what's in progress", "what's open".
---

# hq-status

Generates a cross-cutting view **from frontmatter**. This is a read-and-render skill, not a
workflow — HQ has **no central status file by design** (decision 35). Every view is
generated on demand and never written back to disk.

## What to read

| Section | Files | Frontmatter |
|---|---|---|
| Research | `01-RESEARCH/NNN-*/00-overview.md` | `status` (`active` / `graduated` / `abandoned`), `initiated`, `touches`, `became` |
| Design | `03-DESIGN/**/*.md` (not READMEs) | `layer` (`as-is` / `to-be`), `status` (`designed` / `in-progress` / `implemented` / `abandoned`), `code`, `updated`, `decisions` |
| Decisions | `02-DECISIONS/NNNN-*.md` | `status` (`proposed` / `accepted` / `superseded`), `date`, `deciders`, `reconstructed`, `superseded-by`, `extends` |
| Issues | `04-ISSUES/NNN-*/00-report.md` | `status` (`open` / `diagnosing` / `located` / `resolved` / `wontfix`), `opened`, `located-in`, `fixed-by`, `amended-design` |

## Steps

1. Read the frontmatter block from every file above — a grep across each tree is enough, no
   need to load bodies.
2. Render what was asked as Markdown tables. Group and sort sensibly. The **ADR index** is one
   of these views: records ordered by number, with title, date and status, and reconstructed
   ones marked.
3. Flag anything inconsistent at the end, as flags — do not silently correct the render:
   - a `graduated` or `abandoned` effort with an empty `became:`
   - an `implemented` design with an empty `code:`
   - a `superseded` record with no `superseded-by:`
   - an `open` or `diagnosing` issue with no activity
   - a to-be design whose `decisions:` points at a record that does not exist
   - an as-is design whose claims are older than its `updated:` date suggests

## Do not

- **Do not write a status file.** Central status files are explicitly rejected. The view is
  always generated, always ephemeral. This includes the ADR index — the hand-written one had
  already drifted after a single addition, which is why it was removed.
- Do not infer status from prose. Trust only the frontmatter; if it is wrong, flag it.