skill-market
Market sizing research with TAM/SAM/SOM framework
Best use case
skill-market is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.
Market sizing research with TAM/SAM/SOM framework
Teams using skill-market should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.
When to use this skill
- You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.
When not to use this skill
- You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
- You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.
Installation
Claude Code / Cursor / Codex
Manual Installation
- Download SKILL.md from GitHub
- Place it in
.claude/skills/skill-market/SKILL.mdinside your project - Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill
How skill-market Compares
| Feature / Agent | skill-market | Standard Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Support | Not specified | Limited / Varies |
| Context Awareness | High | Baseline |
| Installation Complexity | Unknown | N/A |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this skill do?
Market sizing research with TAM/SAM/SOM framework
Where can I find the source code?
You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.
Related Guides
AI Agent for Product Research
Browse AI agent skills for product research, competitive analysis, customer discovery, and structured product decision support.
AI Agent for SaaS Idea Validation
Use AI agent skills for SaaS idea validation, market research, customer discovery, competitor analysis, and documenting startup hypotheses.
SKILL.md Source
# Market Skill
Thin wrapper that routes market sizing research requests to the `market-agent`.
**IMPORTANT**: This skill implements the skill-internal postflight pattern. After the subagent returns,
this skill handles all postflight operations (status update, artifact linking, git commit) before returning.
## Context Pointers
Reference (do not load eagerly):
- Path: `.claude/context/formats/subagent-return.md`
- Purpose: Return validation
- Load at: Subagent execution only
Note: This skill is a thin wrapper. Context is loaded by the delegated agent, not this skill.
## Trigger Conditions
This skill activates when:
### Direct Invocation
- User explicitly runs `/market` command with task number
- User runs `/research` on a founder task with `task_type: "market"`
### Implicit Invocation (during task implementation)
When an implementing agent encounters any of these patterns:
**Plan step language patterns**:
- "Analyze market size"
- "Calculate TAM/SAM/SOM"
- "Market sizing analysis"
- "Estimate addressable market"
**Target mentions**:
- "TAM", "SAM", "SOM"
- "total addressable market"
- "market opportunity"
- "market sizing"
### When NOT to trigger
Do not invoke for:
- Competitive analysis (use skill-analyze)
- GTM strategy (use skill-strategy)
- General business research (use skill-researcher)
- Revenue projections (not market sizing)
---
## Execution Flow
### Stage 1: Input Validation
Validate required inputs:
- `task_number` - Must be provided and exist in state.json
- `industry` - Optional, string
- `segment` - Optional, string
- `mode` - Optional, one of: VALIDATE, SIZE, SEGMENT, DEFEND
```bash
# Lookup task
task_data=$(jq -r --argjson num "$task_number" \
'.active_projects[] | select(.project_number == $num)' \
specs/state.json)
# Validate exists
if [ -z "$task_data" ]; then
return error "Task $task_number not found"
fi
# Extract fields
language=$(echo "$task_data" | jq -r '.language // "founder"')
status=$(echo "$task_data" | jq -r '.status')
project_name=$(echo "$task_data" | jq -r '.project_name')
description=$(echo "$task_data" | jq -r '.description // ""')
# Extract pre-gathered forcing_data (if present)
forcing_data=$(echo "$task_data" | jq -r '.forcing_data // null')
pre_gathered_mode=$(echo "$forcing_data" | jq -r '.mode // null' 2>/dev/null)
# Validate mode if provided
if [ -n "$mode" ]; then
case "$mode" in
VALIDATE|SIZE|SEGMENT|DEFEND) ;;
*) return error "Invalid mode: $mode. Must be VALIDATE, SIZE, SEGMENT, or DEFEND" ;;
esac
fi
```
---
### Stage 2: Preflight Status Update
Update task status to "researching" BEFORE invoking subagent.
**Update state.json**:
```bash
jq --arg ts "$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" \
--arg status "researching" \
--arg sid "$session_id" \
'(.active_projects[] | select(.project_number == '$task_number')) |= . + {
status: $status,
last_updated: $ts,
session_id: $sid
}' specs/state.json > specs/tmp/state.json && mv specs/tmp/state.json specs/state.json
```
**Update TODO.md**: Use Edit tool to change status marker to `[RESEARCHING]`.
---
### Stage 3: Create Postflight Marker
```bash
padded_num=$(printf "%03d" "$task_number")
mkdir -p "specs/${padded_num}_${project_name}"
cat > "specs/${padded_num}_${project_name}/.postflight-pending" << EOF
{
"session_id": "${session_id}",
"skill": "skill-market",
"task_number": ${task_number},
"operation": "research",
"reason": "Postflight pending: status update, artifact linking, git commit",
"created": "$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"
}
EOF
```
---
### Stage 4: Prepare Delegation Context
Include pre-gathered forcing_data when available:
```json
{
"task_context": {
"task_number": N,
"project_name": "{project_name}",
"description": "{description}",
"language": "founder",
"task_type": "market"
},
"forcing_data": {
"mode": "{pre_gathered_mode}",
"problem": "{pre_gathered_problem}",
"target_entity": "{pre_gathered_target}",
"geography": "{pre_gathered_geography}",
"price_point": "{pre_gathered_price_point}",
"gathered_at": "{timestamp}"
},
"industry": "optional industry hint",
"segment": "optional segment hint",
"mode": "VALIDATE|SIZE|SEGMENT|DEFEND or use forcing_data.mode",
"metadata_file_path": "specs/{NNN}_{SLUG}/.return-meta.json",
"metadata": {
"session_id": "sess_{timestamp}_{random}",
"delegation_depth": 1,
"delegation_path": ["orchestrator", "market", "skill-market"]
}
}
```
**Note**: If `forcing_data` is present from STAGE 0 of /market command, pass it to the agent.
The agent will use pre-gathered data and only ask follow-up questions for missing details.
---
### Stage 5: Invoke Agent
**CRITICAL**: You MUST use the **Task** tool to spawn the agent.
**Required Tool Invocation**:
```
Tool: Task (NOT Skill)
Parameters:
- subagent_type: "market-agent"
- prompt: [Include task_context, forcing_data, industry, segment, mode, metadata_file_path, metadata]
- description: "Market sizing research with TAM/SAM/SOM"
```
The agent will:
- Use pre-gathered forcing_data if available (skip already-answered questions)
- Present mode selection only if not pre-selected
- Ask follow-up forcing questions for details not in forcing_data
- Create research report at specs/{NNN}_{SLUG}/reports/
- Write metadata file
- Return brief text summary
---
### Stage 6: Parse Subagent Return
```bash
padded_num=$(printf "%03d" "$task_number")
metadata_file="specs/${padded_num}_${project_name}/.return-meta.json"
if [ -f "$metadata_file" ] && jq empty "$metadata_file" 2>/dev/null; then
status=$(jq -r '.status' "$metadata_file")
artifact_path=$(jq -r '.artifacts[0].path // ""' "$metadata_file")
artifact_type=$(jq -r '.artifacts[0].type // ""' "$metadata_file")
artifact_summary=$(jq -r '.artifacts[0].summary // ""' "$metadata_file")
else
status="failed"
fi
```
---
### Stage 7: Update Task Status (Postflight)
If status is "researched", update state.json and TODO.md.
**Update state.json**:
```bash
jq --arg ts "$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" \
--arg status "researched" \
'(.active_projects[] | select(.project_number == '$task_number')) |= . + {
status: $status,
last_updated: $ts
}' specs/state.json > specs/tmp/state.json && mv specs/tmp/state.json specs/state.json
```
**Update TODO.md**: Use Edit tool to change status marker to `[RESEARCHED]`.
---
### Stage 8: Link Artifacts
Add artifact to state.json with summary.
**IMPORTANT**: Use two-step jq pattern to avoid escaping issues.
```bash
if [ -n "$artifact_path" ]; then
# Step 1: Filter out existing research artifacts (use "| not" pattern)
jq '(.active_projects[] | select(.project_number == '$task_number')).artifacts =
[(.active_projects[] | select(.project_number == '$task_number')).artifacts // [] | .[] | select(.type == "research" | not)]' \
specs/state.json > specs/tmp/state.json && mv specs/tmp/state.json specs/state.json
# Step 2: Add new research artifact
jq --arg path "$artifact_path" \
--arg type "$artifact_type" \
--arg summary "$artifact_summary" \
'(.active_projects[] | select(.project_number == '$task_number')).artifacts += [{"path": $path, "type": $type, "summary": $summary}]' \
specs/state.json > specs/tmp/state.json && mv specs/tmp/state.json specs/state.json
fi
```
**Update TODO.md**: Add research artifact link using count-aware format.
**Strip specs/ prefix for TODO.md** (TODO.md is inside specs/): `todo_link_path="${artifact_path#specs/}"`
Use count-aware artifact linking format per `.claude/rules/state-management.md` "Artifact Linking Format".
---
### Stage 9: Git Commit
```bash
git add -A
git commit -m "task ${task_number}: complete research
Session: ${session_id}
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>"
```
---
### Stage 10: Cleanup
```bash
rm -f "specs/${padded_num}_${project_name}/.postflight-pending"
rm -f "specs/${padded_num}_${project_name}/.postflight-loop-guard"
rm -f "specs/${padded_num}_${project_name}/.return-meta.json"
```
---
### Stage 11: Return Brief Summary
```
Market sizing research completed for task {N}:
- Mode: {mode}, {questions_asked} forcing questions completed
- Problem: {brief problem statement}
- Entity count: {value} from {source}
- Pre-gathered data used: {yes/no}
- Research report: specs/{NNN}_{SLUG}/reports/01_{short-slug}.md
- Status updated to [RESEARCHED]
- Changes committed
- Next: Run /plan {N} to create implementation plan
```
---
## Return Format
Brief text summary (NOT JSON).
Expected successful return:
```
Market sizing research completed for task 234:
- Mode: SIZE, 8 forcing questions completed
- Problem: Streamline deploy coordination for mid-market SaaS
- Entity count: 500,000 mid-market SaaS companies globally (Gartner)
- Pre-gathered data used: yes (4 questions from STAGE 0)
- Research report: specs/234_market_sizing_fintech/reports/01_market-sizing.md
- Status updated to [RESEARCHED]
- Changes committed with session sess_1736700000_abc123
- Next: Run /plan 234 to create implementation plan
```
---
## Error Handling
### Input Validation Errors
Return immediately if task not found.
### Metadata File Missing
Keep status as "researching" for resume.
### User Abandonment
Return partial status with progress made.
### Git Commit Failure
Non-blocking: Log failure but continue.Related Skills
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