Manifest Generator

Manifest Generator

Auto-generate capability manifests from skill/MCP descriptions using Codex

Purpose

Uses OpenAI Codex to analyze existing skills, MCPs, tools, and components to automatically generate their capability manifests. This bootstraps the entire orchestration system by inferring preconditions, effects, domains, and relationships from descriptions and implementations.

When to Use

• Bootstrapping: Generate manifests for all 59 skills + 50 MCPs at once
• New resources: Auto-generate manifest when creating new skills/MCPs
• Updates: Regenerate manifest when skill description changes
• Validation: Compare generated manifest with existing to detect drift

Key Capabilities

• Precondition Inference: Analyzes skill description to determine what must exist before use
• Effect Extraction: Identifies state changes the skill produces
• Domain Detection: Categorizes skill into technical domains
• Relationship Discovery: Infers which skills this enables/conflicts with/composes with
• Risk Assessment: Evaluates cost, latency, and risk level from description

Inputs

inputs:
  skill_path: string # Path to skill directory (e.g., SKILLS/rag-implementer)
  resource_type: string # "skill" | "mcp" | "tool" | "component" | "integration"
  description_file: string # Usually SKILL.md or README.md
  implementation_file: string # Optional: actual code file for validation
  output_path: string # Where to write manifest.yaml (default: same directory)

Process

Step 1: Read Source Materials

# Read skill description
DESCRIPTION=$(cat $skill_path/SKILL.md)

# Read implementation if available
if [ -f "$skill_path/index.js" ]; then
  IMPLEMENTATION=$(head -100 $skill_path/index.js)
fi

# Read existing registry entry
REGISTRY_ENTRY=$(jq ".[] | select(.name==\"$skill_name\")" META/skill-registry.json)

Step 2: Generate Manifest with Codex

codex exec "
Analyze this ${resource_type} and generate a capability manifest.

DESCRIPTION:
${DESCRIPTION}

IMPLEMENTATION (if available):
${IMPLEMENTATION}

REGISTRY ENTRY:
${REGISTRY_ENTRY}

Generate a YAML manifest matching this schema:
$(cat SCHEMAS/capability-manifest.schema.json)

Infer the following:

1. PRECONDITIONS: What files, dependencies, or state must exist?
   Examples:
   - file_exists('package.json')
   - has_dependency('react')
   - env_var_set('OPENAI_API_KEY')
   - not file_exists('.vector-index')

2. EFFECTS: What does this create/modify/delete?
   Examples:
   - creates_vector_index
   - adds_auth_middleware
   - configures_database
   - updates_tests

3. DOMAINS: What technical areas does it touch?
   Examples: rag, auth, api, database, testing, nextjs, react

4. COMPATIBILITY:
   - requires: What must exist first?
   - conflicts_with: What can't coexist?
   - composes_with: What works well together?
   - enables: What does this unlock?

5. RISK ASSESSMENT:
   - cost: free/low/medium/high (API calls, compute)
   - latency: instant/fast/slow (execution time)
   - risk_level: safe/low/medium/high (side effects)

6. SUCCESS SIGNAL: How do we know it worked?
   Examples:
   - 'tests pass'
   - 'file exists: .vector-index'
   - 'HTTP 200 from /api/search'
   - 'can query vector database'

Output ONLY valid YAML. No explanatory text.
"