/pair-capability-assess-ai — AI Development Assessment

Evaluate and decide on AI development tools: AI assistants, MCP integrations, AI-specific SDKs, and models. Follows the resolution cascade.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
$choice	No	Override: skip assessment, use this AI tool directly (e.g. claude-code, cursor)

Composed Skills

Skill	Type	Required
/pair-capability-record-decision	Capability	Yes — records AI tool decision as ADL

Proposal Target

The rendered adoption content is destined for this section — the caller writes it via /pair-capability-record-decision:

• Target: adoption/tech/tech-stack.md — AI section only
• Ownership: AI section (shared file — /pair-capability-assess-stack owns core sections, /pair-capability-assess-testing owns testing section)

Adoption File

• Target: adoption/tech/tech-stack.md — AI section only
• Ownership: AI section (shared file — /pair-capability-assess-stack owns core sections, /pair-capability-assess-testing owns testing section)

Algorithm

Step 1: Resolution Cascade

Path A — Argument Override

1. Check: Is $choice provided?
2. Skip: If not provided, go to Path B.
3. Act: Confirm the choice. Check for conflicts with existing adoption.
4. Verify: Developer confirms. Proceed to Step 3.

Path B — Adoption Exists

1. Check: Does adoption/tech/tech-stack.md exist and contain a populated AI section?
2. Skip: If no AI section or empty, go to Path C.
3. Act: Read current AI adoption. Confirm it's valid.
4. Check: Does a corresponding decision record exist?
5. Act: If decision record missing, compose /pair-capability-record-decision to backfill.
6. Verify: Done — exit skill.

Path C — Full Assessment

1. Act: Proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: Read Guidelines

1. Act: Read AI development guidelines:
   • AI Development README — maturity model, tool selection matrix, implementation strategies
   • AI Tools — tool comparison and configuration
   • MCP Integration — MCP protocol standards
2. Act: Read project context:
   • adoption/product/PRD.md — AI requirements, team size
   • adoption/tech/tech-stack.md — existing stack (AI tools must integrate)
3. Verify: Guidelines and context loaded.

Step 3: Evaluate Options

1. Act: Use the Tool Selection Decision Matrix from guidelines:

   • Evaluate tools on: Code Generation, Context Awareness, Architecture Review, Team Integration, Security/Privacy.
   • Consider: budget, team size, workflow integration, privacy requirements.

2. Act: Evaluate AI development areas:

   • Primary AI assistant: IDE-integrated tool (Cursor, Copilot, Claude Code, etc.)
   • Strategic AI: Architecture review, complex problem-solving tool
   • MCP integration: If applicable, MCP servers and protocol adoption
   • AI-specific libraries: SDKs, embedding tools, AI frameworks with versions

3. Act: Assess team's AI maturity level (from guidelines maturity model):

   • Level 1: Basic AI Assistance
   • Level 2: Integrated AI Workflows
   • Level 3: Strategic AI Architecture
   • Level 4: AI-Native Development

4. Act: Present recommendation:

   AI Development Recommendation:

   • Primary assistant: [tool] — [rationale]
   • Strategic AI: [tool] — [rationale]
   • MCP: [yes/no — details]
   • AI maturity target: Level [N]
   • Additional tools: [list with versions]

5. Verify: Developer approves.

Step 4: Write Adoption File

1. Act: Write or update only the AI section of tech-stack.md:
   • AI assistants with versions/tiers
   • MCP integrations if applicable
   • AI-specific SDKs and libraries with versions
   • Preserve all other sections (core, testing)
2. Verify: AI section written. Other sections preserved.

Step 5: Record Decision

1. Act: Compose /pair-capability-record-decision:
   • $type: non-architectural
   • $topic: ai-development-tools
   • $summary: "[Primary tool] adopted as AI development assistant with [maturity level] target"
2. Verify: ADL created. Adoption consistent.

Output Format

ASSESSMENT COMPLETE:
├── Domain:    AI Development
├── Path:      [Argument Override | Adoption Exists | Full Assessment]
├── Decision:  [primary tool + maturity level + additional tools]
├── Adoption:  [tech-stack.md AI section — written | confirmed | updated]
├── Record:    [ADL path — created | exists | backfilled]
└── Status:    [Complete | Confirmed existing]

Composition Interface

When composed by /pair-process-bootstrap:

• Input: /pair-process-bootstrap invokes during Phase 2.
• Output: Returns decision summary and adoption file path.

When invoked independently:

• Full interactive flow. Developer commits changes.

Edge Cases

• tech-stack.md exists but no AI section: Add AI section, preserve all other content.
• Project doesn't use AI tools: Write minimal section noting "AI development tools not adopted — [reason]".
• Multiple AI assistants: Document primary and secondary with roles (e.g. primary for coding, secondary for architecture review).
• MCP adoption requires infrastructure changes: Recommend composing /pair-capability-assess-infrastructure for infra implications.

Graceful Degradation

• If AI development guidelines not found, use minimal assessment: ask developer for AI tool preferences.
• If /pair-capability-record-decision not installed, warn and skip recording.
• If tech-stack.md doesn't exist, create it with AI section. Warn: "Created tech-stack.md — core sections should be populated by /pair-capability-assess-stack."

Notes

• AI tool decisions are non-architectural → produce ADL. Exception: if MCP integration fundamentally changes system architecture, use ADR.
• Section ownership: this skill writes ONLY the AI section of tech-stack.md.
• Version tracking: every AI tool includes version or tier (e.g. "Claude Code", "GPT-4o", "Cursor Pro").
• Educational content (AI development principles, best practices, WHY) stays in guidelines.