Doc Queue

Before starting, ask for the user's GitHub username if not already known:

Question: "What is your GitHub username? (This is needed to assign issues to you)"

Store this for:

• Assigning issues when work begins
• Filtering out issues already assigned to the user
• Crediting work in commits

Step 1: Locate the Documentation Epic

Primary Epic (Current Quarter)

First, try to fetch the current quarterly documentation epic:

# Get current fiscal quarter and year
# Federal fiscal year: Q1=Oct-Dec, Q2=Jan-Mar, Q3=Apr-Jun, Q4=Jul-Sep
# Fiscal year starts October 1, so calendar year Oct-Dec is FY+1

# Fetch the known epic for Q1 2026
gh issue view 5410 --repo department-of-veterans-affairs/vets-design-system-documentation --json state,title,number | cat

If epic #5410 is CLOSED, search for the next quarterly epic:

# Calculate current fiscal quarter (FY starts October)
# Q1: Oct-Dec, Q2: Jan-Mar, Q3: Apr-Jun, Q4: Jul-Sep

gh issue list --repo department-of-veterans-affairs/vets-design-system-documentation \
  --search "is:issue is:open \"Documentation updates to VADS\" in:title" \
  --label "Epic" \
  --json number,title,state \
  --limit 5 | cat

Fallback 1: Documentation Label Issues

If no open epic is found, fall back to the oldest issues with the documentation-design.va.gov label:

gh issue list --repo department-of-veterans-affairs/vets-design-system-documentation \
  --label "documentation-design.va.gov" \
  --state open \
  --json number,title,createdAt,assignees \
  --limit 20 | cat | jq 'sort_by(.createdAt) | .[0:10]'

If issues are found, proceed to Step 2 (Issue Selection) with these results.

Fallback 2: Guidance Label Issues

If no documentation-design.va.gov issues are found, search for guidance-related issues:

# Try guidance-update label first
gh issue list --repo department-of-veterans-affairs/vets-design-system-documentation \
  --label "guidance-update" \
  --state open \
  --json number,title,createdAt,assignees \
  --limit 20 | cat | jq 'sort_by(.createdAt) | .[0:10]'

# If none, try guidance-new label
gh issue list --repo department-of-veterans-affairs/vets-design-system-documentation \
  --label "guidance-new" \
  --state open \
  --json number,title,createdAt,assignees \
  --limit 20 | cat | jq 'sort_by(.createdAt) | .[0:10]'

If issues are found with either label, proceed to Step 2 (Issue Selection) with these results.

Fallback 3: Ask User for Epic/Issue URL

If no issues are found through any of the above methods, ask the user:

Question: "I couldn't find any open documentation or guidance issues. Please provide either:

1. A URL to a documentation epic to pull issues from
2. A URL to a specific documentation issue to work on"

Accept formats:

• https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/vets-design-system-documentation/issues/XXXX
• Issue number only: #XXXX or XXXX

Issue Discovery Priority Summary

1. Primary: Current quarterly epic (#5410 or search for "Documentation updates to VADS Q[N] [YEAR]")
2. Fallback 1: Oldest issues with documentation-design.va.gov label
3. Fallback 2: Oldest issues with guidance-update or guidance-new labels
4. Fallback 3: Ask user for epic/issue URL

Step 2: Select Issue from Queue

Fetch Documentation Issues

Get all open documentation issues, sorted by creation date (oldest first):

gh issue list --repo department-of-veterans-affairs/vets-design-system-documentation \
  --label "documentation-design.va.gov" \
  --state open \
  --json number,title,createdAt,labels,assignees \
  --limit 50 | cat | jq 'sort_by(.createdAt)'

Selection Priority

1. Oldest unassigned issue - Issues with no assignees get priority
2. Issues with component labels (e.g., va-alert, va-button) - More scoped work
3. Issues without complex dependencies - Can be completed independently

Present Options to User

Show the 5 oldest issues and ask which one to work on:

Question header: "Select issue" Question: "Here are the 5 oldest documentation issues. Which would you like to work on?"

Options:

1. [Oldest issue title] (#number - created date)
2. [Second oldest] (#number - created date)
3. [Third oldest] (#number - created date)
4. [Fourth oldest] (#number - created date)
5. [Fifth oldest] (#number - created date)

Allow "Other" for user to specify a different issue number.

Claim the Issue

Once the user selects an issue, immediately assign it to them:

gh issue edit <ISSUE_NUMBER> --repo department-of-veterans-affairs/vets-design-system-documentation --add-assignee "<GITHUB_USERNAME>"

This signals to the team that someone is actively working on the issue.

Step 3: Groom the Issue

REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use guidance-grooming to analyze and prepare the issue for writing.

The guidance-grooming skill will:

• Fetch full issue details and identify affected files
• Analyze completeness against the required information checklist
• Prompt you for any missing context or design decisions
• Post a structured ## Grooming Summary comment on the issue
• Apply the groomed label

Skip this step if the issue already has a ## Grooming Summary comment in its comments — it's already been groomed.

Step 4: Reference Contributing Guide

Before making documentation changes, fetch and review the contributing guide:

WebFetch: https://design.va.gov/about/contributing-to-the-design-system/contributing-to-docs
Prompt: Extract documentation guidelines including file organization, front matter requirements, formatting standards, and style guidance.

Key Documentation Standards

File Organization:

• Components: src/_components/[component-name]/index.md or src/_components/[component-name].md
• Patterns: src/_patterns/[category]/[pattern-name].md (for example, ask-users-for or help-users-to)
• Templates: src/_templates/[template-name]/index.md

Front Matter Required Fields:

---