Claim a feature and begin working on it. Exports the spec, learnings, and decisions to the local repo. Use when user says "pick a feature", "claim this feature", "start working on", "grab <slug>", or "let me take <slug>". Requires .nexus.json in project root.
Claim a feature for work. This locks its file paths via Redis, exports the spec and prior context to .nexus/active/<slug>/, and sets it as your active feature in .nexus.json.
.nexus.json — check activeFeaturenexus feature release)nexus project link <project-id> first."CRITICAL: Always ask the user before picking. Show them what will be claimed and get explicit confirmation. Never auto-pick.
CRITICAL: Use $ARGUMENTS for the slug, not $1.
If no slug provided via $ARGUMENTS, first run nexus feature available and present options. Wait for user choice.
Confirm with the user:
"Pick feature <slug>? This will claim it and lock its file paths."
After confirmation, run:
nexus feature pick $ARGUMENTS
Read ALL three exported files and summarize:
.nexus/active/<slug>/spec.md — the feature specification (goal, approach, acceptance criteria).nexus/active/<slug>/learnings.md — prior learnings from previous sessions (may be empty).nexus/active/<slug>/decisions.md — prior architectural decisions (may be empty)Present a summary:
The CLI prints:
Picked feature: cache-layer
Spec exported to .nexus/active/cache-layer/
| Scenario | CLI Message | What to Tell User |
|---|---|---|
| Already have active feature | (check .nexus.json before running) | "You already have <slug> active. Release it first with nexus feature release, or /done if it's complete." |
| Feature not found | Error: <message> (404) | "Feature not found. Check the slug with /available." |
| Feature already claimed | Error: <message> (409) | "Someone else has this feature. Run /available to see what's free." |
| File claim conflicts | Error: <message> (409) | "File paths overlap with another active feature's claims. Run /status to see who has conflicting files." |
| Not linked | Not linked to a project. Run: nexus project link | Run nexus project link <project-id> first |
| Not logged in | Not logged in. Run: nexus login | Run nexus login --token <key> first |
After picking, remind the user of available tools:
/learn — record discoveries and gotchas/decision — record architectural choices/save — save progress checkpoints/done — when implementation is completeFor the full pick flow: See nexus skill > references/ARCHITECTURE.md