# Do We Need This — discovery kit

A skill that helps someone find out whether a piece of organizational work is still needed, and what should happen to it. It works from a conversation: no documents, no account, no setup beyond loading the skill. Documents add evidence; a Do We Need This workspace adds a place to save, run workshops, and confirm decisions.

Start with [the skill](skills/process-discovery/SKILL.md). It sizes the work, breaks it into parts, asks the questions for each kind of part, follows up on what the answers reveal, and ends with a diagnosis and a draft decision for people to confirm. [An example conversation](examples/purchase-approval.md) shows the shape.

A second skill, [codebase discovery](skills/codebase-discovery/SKILL.md), applies the same method to the software that carries the work. It reads the code and, when available, the database of a business application; lists its screens, fields, options, statuses, rules, reports, and jobs; traces what each one does; measures how often each is used; and writes a software map with the questions only people can answer. It then hands each item to process discovery. It is not a dead-code tool: it assesses code that runs.

## Ways to use it

- **Claude Code**: install this folder as a plugin. Claude Code loads both skills from `skills/`, the `/discover`, `/map-codebase` and `/conclude` commands from `commands/`, and seven agents from `agents/`; `.claude-plugin/plugin.json` holds only the name, description, and version.
- **ChatGPT and Codex**: `plugin.json` and `mcp.json` make it an OpenAI plugin; see docs/CHATGPT_PLUGIN.md in the repository. Codex agents are in `.codex/agents/`.
- **Any other harness**: load `skills/process-discovery/` as a skill or paste SKILL.md as instructions. It links to its references; load them when it says to.
- **Over MCP**: the hosted server at doweneedthis.com/mcp serves the same method through `get_method` and saves maps through `apply_discovery_batch`. Authenticate with your own account. Never put access tokens in a distributed plugin.

## What is in it

```
skills/process-discovery/SKILL.md        the runbook
  references/method.md                   what is assessed, evidence, weighing, limits
  references/scope.md                    levels, load, breaking down
  references/types/*.md                  nine type modules
  references/follow-ups/*.md             sixteen follow-up modules, pulled in by signals
  references/decide.md                   keep, change, stop trial, investigate
  references/outputs.md                  summary, briefs, trial plan, message, guide, workshop, review
  references/interviewing.md
  references/saving.md                   optional: recording in a workspace
skills/codebase-discovery/SKILL.md       the runbook for code and data
  references/reading-software.md         code and data as evidence, blind spots, reading safely
  references/intake.md                   frame, inputs, how queries run, where the map goes
  references/survey.md                   anchors, element records, IDs, glossary
  references/measure.md                  query patterns, periods, privacy
  references/trace.md                    forward and backward, effects, from elements to items
  references/elements/*.md               eight element modules
  references/stacks/*.md                 profile template; sql, java, dotnet, javascript-typescript,
                                         python, php
  references/changes.md                  changes, trials, and rebuild dispositions in software
  references/map.md                      the software map
agents/*.md                              evidence-reader, case-for-keeping, method-reviewer, recorder,
                                         surface-surveyor, code-tracer, usage-measurer
.codex/agents/*.toml                     the same roles for Codex (generated)
examples/purchase-approval.md
```

The type and follow-up modules are the single source of the method's texts. The app and the MCP server read a generated copy; `bun run kit:build` regenerates it and `bun run kit:check` verifies links, structure, and the plugin listing.