%{
  title: "Automated release notes with 'demo' skill",
  author: "Willem van den Ende",
  tags: ~w(ai),
  description: "Agents can make release notes, given the right tools and instructions. Showboat, Chrome DevTools MCP were quite easy to use. ",
  published: true
}
---

Yesterday, I added scheduled posts to firehose. I let my coding agent write the [release notes](blog/releases/scheduled-publishing). It is fun to read the release notes like this, and see the screenshots. Do note that a coding agent might not care there is no navigation - it happily will remember the urls and navigate to them, so that is something you might want to double check with exploratory testing :-).

I've included the full skill below. It is not in the repository, it went straight to my home directory so I can use it in other projects. This is the second project I have used it in. It helped me earlier do a fairly large architectural spike for an enterprise client, and include screenshots of a working application in the response document. Working software is still a great measure of progress.

# Demo skill - let your agent generate demos with screenshots for you
 
---
name: demo
description: >-
  Generate a living demo document proving a feature works. Uses showboat
  for Markdown assembly with captured command output and rodney for Chrome
  browser screenshots. Use when the user says "demo this", "show me it works",
  "create a demo", or after /build completes.
argument-hint: "<feature-name> [--scenario <description>] [--plan <path>]"
user-invocable: true
allowed-tools: Read, Write, Glob, Grep, Bash
---

# Demo

Role: worker. This command generates a standalone Markdown demo document that proves a feature works, using showboat for document assembly and rodney for browser automation.

You have been invoked with the `/demo` command.

## Parse Arguments

Arguments: $ARGUMENTS

- Positional: `<feature-name>` (required) — short name or description of the feature to demo
- `--scenario <description>`: Explicit demo scenario describing what to show. If omitted, infer from the plan and recent commits.
- `--plan <path>`: Path to the plan file. If omitted, search `plans/` for the most recently modified `.md` file with status `implemented` or `approved`.

## Steps

### 1. Check tool availability

Verify showboat and rodney are installed:

```bash
showboat --help 2>/dev/null && echo "showboat: ok" || echo "showboat: missing"
rodney --help 2>/dev/null && echo "rodney: ok" || echo "rodney: missing"
```

If either tool is missing, tell the user:

> One or more demo tools are missing. Install them with:
> ```bash
> go install github.com/simonw/showboat@latest
> go install github.com/simonw/rodney@latest
> ```

Do not proceed until both tools are confirmed available.

### 2. Gather feature context

Build an understanding of what to demo from these sources (in priority order):

1. **Explicit scenario** (`--scenario`): If provided, use as primary guide.
2. **Plan file**: Read the plan's Goal, Acceptance Criteria, and completed Steps.
3. **Recent commits**: Run `git log --oneline -15` and `git diff main...HEAD --stat` to identify changed files and commit messages.
4. **Route map**: Cross-reference changed files against known LiveView routes in the router (`lib/hub_web/router.ex`).

From these sources, produce a **demo outline**:
- **Narrative**: 2-3 sentence description of what the feature does
- **Backend evidence**: mix commands, test output, or database queries to run
- **UI pages**: which routes to visit and what to look for
- **Interactions**: any clicks, form fills, or navigation sequences to perform

If no plan exists and commits are ambiguous, ask the user for a brief description of what to demo.

### 3. Check dev server

```bash
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" http://localhost:4000/ 2>/dev/null
```

If the server is not reachable:

> The Phoenix dev server is not running. Start it now?
> ```bash
> mix phx.server &
> ```

After starting, wait up to 10 seconds and verify connectivity. If it still fails, proceed with backend-only evidence (skip all browser screenshots) and note the limitation in the demo document.

### 4. Handle authentication

The app requires authentication for LiveView routes. Before capturing UI screenshots:

1. Ensure a demo user exists:
   ```bash
   mix run -e "
     alias Hub.Accounts
     case Accounts.get_user_by_email(\"demo@example.com\") do
       nil -> Accounts.register_user(%{email: \"demo@example.com\", password: \"demodemo1234\"})
       user -> {:ok, user}
     end
   "
   ```

2. Log in via rodney:
   ```bash
   rodney start
   rodney open http://localhost:4000/users/log-in
   rodney wait "input[name='user[email]']"
   rodney input "input[name='user[email]']" "demo@example.com"
   rodney input "input[name='user[password]']" "demodemo1234"
   rodney click "button[type='submit']"
   rodney waitidle
   ```

If login fails, warn and proceed with backend-only evidence.

### 5. Initialize the demo document

Slugify the feature name (lowercase, hyphens, no special chars). Then:

```bash
showboat init "demos/demo-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)-<slug>.md" "Demo: <Feature Name>"
```

Store the demo file path for use in all subsequent steps.

### 6. Narrative introduction

```bash
showboat note <demo-file> "## Feature Overview

<2-3 sentence description derived from the plan or commits.>

**Branch**: $(git branch --show-current)
**Commits**: <N> commits ahead of main
**Plan**: <plan file path or 'none'>
"
```

### 7. Backend evidence

Capture backend proof via `showboat exec`. Always include relevant tests. Add narrative notes between evidence blocks explaining what each proves.

**Test output** (always include):
```bash
showboat note <demo-file> "## Test Suite"
showboat exec <demo-file> bash "mix test <relevant-test-files> --color"
showboat note <demo-file> "All <N> tests pass, confirming <specific criterion>."
```

**Compilation check**:
```bash
showboat note <demo-file> "## Compilation Check"
showboat exec <demo-file> bash "mix compile --warnings-as-errors"
```

**Database state** (if relevant to the feature):
```bash
showboat note <demo-file> "## Database State"
showboat exec <demo-file> bash "mix run -e '<query expression>'"
```

### 8. UI screenshots

For each UI page identified in step 2, navigate with rodney, screenshot, and embed via showboat.

**Static page capture**:
```bash
rodney open http://localhost:4000/<route>
rodney waitidle
rodney screenshot demos/screenshots/<feature>-<page-name>.png

showboat note <demo-file> "### <Page Name>

<What this page shows and why it proves the feature works.>"

showboat image <demo-file> '![<What the screenshot demonstrates>](demos/screenshots/<feature>-<page-name>.png)'
```

**Interactive flow** (form submissions, navigation):
```bash
showboat note <demo-file> "### Interactive Flow: <Flow Name>"

# Before state
rodney screenshot demos/screenshots/<feature>-before.png
showboat image <demo-file> '![Before: <initial state>](demos/screenshots/<feature>-before.png)'

# Perform interaction
rodney click "<selector>"
rodney input "<selector>" "<value>"
rodney click "<submit-selector>"
rodney waitidle

# After state
rodney screenshot demos/screenshots/<feature>-after.png
showboat image <demo-file> '![After: <resulting state>](demos/screenshots/<feature>-after.png)'
```

### 9. Acceptance criteria checklist

If a plan file exists, map each acceptance criterion to evidence:

```bash
showboat note <demo-file> "## Acceptance Criteria Verification

- [x] <Criterion 1> -- see Test Suite output above
- [x] <Criterion 2> -- see <Page Name> screenshot
- [x] <Criterion 3> -- see Database State output
"
```

If no plan, summarize what was demonstrated and what it proves.

### 10. Clean up

```bash
rodney stop 2>/dev/null || true
```

### 11. Report results

Display:
```
## Demo Complete

- **Document**: demos/<filename>.md
- **Screenshots**: <N> captured in demos/screenshots/
- **Evidence**: <N> backend commands, <N> UI screenshots
- **Acceptance criteria**: <N>/<M> demonstrated
```

## Error Handling

- **Tools not installed**: Show `go install` commands. Do not proceed without them.
- **Dev server not running**: Offer to start. If startup fails, produce backend-only demo and note the limitation.
- **Authentication failure**: Proceed with backend-only evidence. Note skipped UI screenshots in the document.
- **Screenshot failure**: Log the error as a note in the demo document, continue with remaining screenshots.
- **No plan found**: Infer from git commits and changed files. Ask the user for a description if commits are ambiguous.
- **Rodney/Chrome crash**: Run `rodney stop` then `rodney start` to reset. Retry once. If it fails again, degrade to backend-only.

## Integration

- `/build` can suggest running `/demo` after a successful build
- `/pr` can invoke `/demo` to generate evidence before or after PR creation
- `/plan` produces the acceptance criteria this command verifies visually
- Beads (`bd`) can reference demo documents as task completion evidence
- Reads plan files from `plans/` directory (same format as `/build`)
