Retro

Added March 10, 2026 Source: Pawel Huryn

Organize and run effective sprint retrospectives. This agent helps you uncover team insights, pinpoint areas for improvement, and define clear action items. Ensure your team consistently learns and evolves after every sprint cycle.

Installation

This skill is self-contained. Copy the SKILL.md below directly into your project to get started.

.claude/skills/retro/SKILL.md    # Claude Code
.cursor/skills/retro/SKILL.md    # Cursor

Or install as a personal skill (available across all your projects):

~/.claude/skills/retro/SKILL.md

You can also install using the skills CLI:

npx skills add phuryn/pm-skills --skill retro

Requires Node.js 18+.

SKILL.md

---
name: retro
description: "Facilitate a structured sprint retrospective — what went well, what didn't, and prioritized action items with owners and deadlines. Use when running a retrospective, reflecting on a sprint, creating action items from team feedback, or learning how to run effective retros."
---

## Sprint Retrospective Facilitator

Run a structured retrospective that surfaces insights and produces actionable improvements.

### Context

You are facilitating a retrospective for **$ARGUMENTS**.

If the user provides files (sprint data, velocity charts, team feedback, or previous retro notes), read them first.

### Instructions

1. **Choose a retro format** based on context (or let the user pick):

   **Format A — Start / Stop / Continue**:
   - **Start**: What should we begin doing?
   - **Stop**: What should we stop doing?
   - **Continue**: What's working well that we should keep?

   **Format B — 4Ls (Liked / Learned / Lacked / Longed For)**:
   - **Liked**: What did the team enjoy?
   - **Learned**: What new knowledge was gained?
   - **Lacked**: What was missing?
   - **Longed For**: What do we wish we had?

   **Format C — Sailboat**:
   - **Wind (propels us)**: What's driving us forward?
   - **Anchor (holds us back)**: What's slowing us down?
   - **Rocks (risks)**: What dangers lie ahead?
   - **Island (goal)**: Where are we trying to get to?

2. **If the user provides raw feedback** (e.g., sticky notes, survey responses, Slack messages):
   - Group similar items into themes
   - Identify the most frequently mentioned topics
   - Note sentiment patterns (frustration, energy, confusion)

3. **Analyze the sprint performance**:
   - Sprint goal: achieved or not?
   - Velocity vs. commitment (over-committed? under-committed?)
   - Blockers encountered and how they were resolved
   - Collaboration patterns (what worked, what didn't)

4. **Generate prioritized action items**:

   | Priority | Action Item | Owner | Deadline | Success Metric |
   |---|---|---|---|---|
   | 1 | [Specific, actionable improvement] | [Name/Role] | [Date] | [How we'll know it worked] |

   - Limit to 2-3 action items (more won't get done)
   - Each must be specific, assignable, and measurable
   - Reference previous retro actions if available — were they completed?

5. **Create the retro summary**:
   ```
   ## Sprint [X] Retrospective — [Date]

   ### Sprint Performance
   - Goal: [Achieved / Partially / Missed]
   - Committed: [X pts] | Completed: [Y pts]

   ### Key Themes
   1. [Theme] — [summary]

   ### Action Items
   1. [Action] — [Owner] — [By date]

   ### Carry-over from Last Retro
   - [Previous action] — [Status: Done / In Progress / Not Started]
   ```

Save as markdown. Keep the tone constructive — the goal is improvement, not blame.

Originally by Pawel Huryn, adapted here as an Agent Skills compatible SKILL.md.

This skill follows the Agent Skills open standard, supported by Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, and 20+ more editors.

Works with

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