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name: retro-synthesizer description: | Synthesize sprint retrospective notes into categorized action items and patterns. Use this skill when:

• You have sprint retro notes (raw text, meeting transcript, or structured notes) to process
• You need to identify recurring patterns across multiple retros
• You want categorized action items with owners and deadlines from retro discussions

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Retro Synthesizer

Process sprint retrospective notes into structured action items, recurring patterns, and process improvement recommendations.

Workflow

1. Accept input — User pastes retro notes or provides file path
2. Categorize items into: What went well, What didn't go well, Action items
3. Tag categories: Process, Technical, Team, External
4. Identify patterns — If previous retro outputs exist, compare for recurring themes
5. Generate recommendations
6. Output — Print to conversation

Categories

Category	Covers
Process	Sprint planning, estimation, ceremonies, communication, standups
Technical	Code quality, tech debt, tooling, CI/CD, testing, deployments
Team	Collaboration, knowledge sharing, workload balance, onboarding
External	Dependencies, stakeholder communication, blockers from outside

Output Format

# Retro Summary — Sprint {N} ({Date})

## What Went Well
| Category | Item | Impact |
|----------|------|--------|
| Process | {description} | {why it mattered} |

## What Didn't Go Well
| Category | Item | Root Cause | Frequency |
|----------|------|-----------|-----------|
| Technical | {description} | {why it happened} | First time / Recurring |

## Action Items
| # | Action | Owner | Deadline | Category | Priority |
|---|--------|-------|----------|----------|----------|
| 1 | {specific action} | {name} | {date} | {category} | High/Med/Low |

## Recurring Patterns
{Items that appeared in 2+ retros — flag for systemic fix}

## Process Improvement Recommendations
1. {Specific recommendation with rationale}
2. {Specific recommendation with rationale}

Rules

• Every action item MUST have an owner (name, not "team") and deadline
• Flag items recurring across 2+ retros as "Recurring" — these need systemic fixes
• Recommendations must be specific and actionable ("Add PR size limit of 400 lines" not "Improve code review")
• If no previous retros available, skip "Recurring Patterns" section

Anti-Patterns

• Don't assign action items to "the team" — assign to a person
• Don't write vague recommendations — be specific enough to act on
• Don't ignore "went well" items — they validate what's working

Quality Checklist

• Every action item has an owner and deadline
• Categories applied to all items
• Recurring patterns identified (if history available)
• Recommendations are specific and actionable