What makes this different from a standard retrospective tool?

This skill specifically targets 'The Real Problem' by discouraging vague corporate language and forcing specificity about failures, costs, and wasted resources to ensure lessons are actually learned.

How does this help with team project handoffs?

By creating a LESSONS.md file, it provides a clear map of what to skip, what to keep, and what technical hurdles the next developer will encounter, significantly reducing onboarding friction.

What templates are included in the skill?

It provides specialized templates for research projects (investigations), events (conferences/workshops), publications (newsletters/podcasts), and editorial tools (newsroom software).

Can I use this for non-journalism projects?

Yes. While it includes journalism-specific templates, the core framework for documenting technical debt, process wins, and failure analysis is applicable to any software development or research project.

Project Retrospective Writer

Name: Project Retrospective Writer
Author: jamditis

byjamditis

•

Productivity & Workflow

Generates honest, detailed LESSONS.md files to capture institutional knowledge and document project failures with actionable specificity.

The Project Retrospective skill helps teams and individuals close out projects by generating high-quality LESSONS.md files that prioritize brutal honesty over corporate jargon. Designed with a journalistic eye for detail, it prompts users to identify 'The Real Problem'—the gap between initial assumptions and actual needs—while providing specialized templates for investigations, events, and editorial tools. It is an essential utility for preventing the repetition of costly mistakes, documenting technical debt, and preserving institutional memory during project handoffs or annual reviews.

Key Features

01Automated LESSONS.md generation using structured, high-specificity templates

02Strict voice guidelines that eliminate vague corporate speak and placeholders

03Specialized post-mortem templates for research, events, publications, and tools

0441 GitHub stars

05Deep-dive analysis section to identify the gap between assumptions and reality

06Actionable tech stack verdicts to evaluate tools used during the project

Use Cases

01Documenting post-mortems for data journalism investigations or complex research projects

02Conducting annual reviews of ongoing initiatives like newsletters, podcasts, or digital publications

03Capturing technical debt and 'lessons learned' during software project handoffs

What are Skills?·How to Install

Install with 🐟 Skill.Fish

npx skillfish add jamditis/claude-skills-journalism project-retrospective

For use in Claude.ai and ChatGPT

Download Skill