feat: add templates and skills for issue-based DEPs (#7765)

Signed-off-by: Dan Gil <dagil@nvidia.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: Dan Gil <dagil@nvidia.com>

.claude/skills/dep-create/SKILL.md

+# Skill: Create a DEP as a GitHub Issue
+
+## Purpose
+
+Create a new Dynamo Enhancement Proposal (DEP) as a GitHub Issue on
+`ai-dynamo/dynamo`. The issue number becomes the DEP number. Also
+handles adding implementation plans and retroactive DEPs for existing
+work.
+
+## When to Use
+
+When the user wants to propose a new feature, architecture change, or
+process improvement via the issue-based DEP workflow. Also when adding
+an implementation plan to an existing DEP, or filing a retroactive DEP
+for work already merged.
+
+## Workflow
+
+### Create a New DEP
+
+1. **Ask for source material**: Prompt the user for a Google Doc,
+   Confluence page, or other NVIDIA-internal document that contains
+   the background, customer context, or detailed requirements. Read
+   it using the appropriate tool (gdocs, Confluence MCP, WebFetch).
+   Include the link in the issue's References section — the document
+   is only accessible to NVIDIA employees and serves as the record
+   for customer-specific context that cannot appear in the public
+   issue prose.
+
+2. **Gather required fields** from the user and source doc (prompt
+   if missing):
+   - **Summary**: One-paragraph description of the proposal
+   - **Motivation**: Why this change is needed
+   - **Proposal**: Detailed description of the proposed change
+
+3. **Determine the area label** based on proposal content. Area labels
+   are bare names (e.g., `frontend`, `router`, `backend-vllm`) that
+   correspond to CODEOWNERS teams.
+
+4. **Decide template**: full or lightweight.
+   Use lightweight if only Summary, Motivation, and Proposal are needed.
+
+5. **Create the issue** (full DEP):
+
+```bash
+gh issue create \
+  --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo \
+  --title "DEP: <short descriptive title>" \
+  --label "dep:draft" \
+  --label "<area>" \
+  --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
+## Summary
+<summary>
+
+## Motivation
+<motivation>
+
+## Proposal
+<proposal>
+
+## Alternate Solutions
+<alternates>
+
+## Requirements
+<requirements>
+
+## References
+<references — include internal doc link here>
+EOF
+)"
+```
+
+   **For lightweight DEP**, use:
+
+```bash
+gh issue create \
+  --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo \
+  --title "DEP (light): <short descriptive title>" \
+  --label "dep:draft" \
+  --label "dep:lightweight" \
+  --label "<area>" \
+  --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
+## Summary
+<summary>
+
+## Motivation
+<motivation>
+
+## Proposal
+<proposal>
+EOF
+)"
+```
+
+6. **Report** the created issue number and URL to the user.
+
+### Add an Implementation Plan
+
+1. **Read the DEP issue** and its discussion:
+
+```bash
+gh issue view <number> --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo
+gh issue view <number> --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo --comments
+```
+
+2. **Draft the plan** with phases, tasks, effort estimates,
+   dependencies, risks, and testing strategy.
+
+3. **Post as a comment**:
+
+```bash
+gh issue comment <number> --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo --body-file /tmp/plan.md
+```
+
+### Retroactive DEP
+
+For work already merged without a DEP, file with `dep:implementing`
+or `dep:done` and reference the existing PRs.
+
+## Notes
+
+- The issue body IS the spec — treat it as a living document.
+- `dep:draft` is applied automatically. PIC changes to
+  `dep:under-review` when ready.
+- For lightweight DEPs, use `dep:lightweight` label and omit optional
+  sections.
+- For plan revisions, post a new comment with a changelog at the top.
+  Do not edit the original — preserve the timeline.
+- **Customer name stripping**: Before creating or updating a DEP,
+  scan the summary, motivation, proposal, and all other fields for
+  specific customer names, company names, or partner names. Replace
+  them with generic references (e.g., "a customer", "a cloud
+  partner", "an enterprise user"). DEPs are public — no customer
+  names should appear in issue bodies, comments, or plans.

.claude/skills/dep-status/SKILL.md

+# Skill: Check DEP Status
+
+## Purpose
+
+List DEP issues with their current status, area, PIC, and approval
+state. Find related DEPs for a given topic or component.
+
+## When to Use
+
+When the user wants to see the status of one or more DEPs, check what's
+pending review, find DEPs related to a component, or get a triage
+summary.
+
+## Workflow
+
+1. **List open DEP issues**:
+
+```bash
+gh issue list --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo \
+  --search 'label:"dep:draft","dep:under-review","dep:approved","dep:implementing"' \
+  --json number,title,labels,assignees,createdAt,updatedAt
+```
+
+2. **Filter by area** (if requested):
+
+```bash
+gh issue list --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo \
+  --label "<area>" \
+  --json number,title,labels,assignees
+```
+
+3. **Filter by status** (if requested):
+
+```bash
+gh issue list --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo \
+  --label "dep:<status>" \
+  --json number,title,labels,assignees
+```
+
+4. **Format as a summary table**:
+
+```text
+| # | Title | Status | Area | PIC | Updated |
+|---|-------|--------|------|-----|---------|
+| 42 | DEP: KV router scheduling | dep:under-review | router | @pic | 2026-03-28 |
+```
+
+5. **Find related DEPs** by searching issue titles and bodies:
+
+```bash
+gh issue list --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo \
+  --search 'DEP <keyword> label:"dep:draft","dep:under-review","dep:approved","dep:implementing","dep:done"' \
+  --json number,title,labels,state
+```
+
+6. **Include closed DEPs** if requested:
+
+```bash
+gh issue list --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo \
+  --state closed \
+  --search 'label:"dep:done","dep:deferred","dep:rejected","dep:replaced"' \
+  --json number,title,labels,assignees,closedAt
+```
+
+## Notes
+
+- For a full triage view, include both open and recently closed DEPs.
+- Cross-reference with `dep:lightweight` label to distinguish full vs.
+  lightweight DEPs.
+- Area labels are bare names (e.g., `frontend`, `router`) — no prefix.

.claude/skills/dep-update/SKILL.md

+# Skill: Update DEP Lifecycle
+
+## Purpose
+
+Update DEP status through its lifecycle — triage, review, approve,
+defer, or close. Covers the PIC workflow from initial assignment
+through final approval.
+
+## When to Use
+
+When triaging DEP issues, reviewing a DEP as PIC or reviewer,
+approving a DEP that is under review, or updating DEP status.
+
+## Workflow
+
+### Triage (assign PIC)
+
+1. **List unassigned DEPs**:
+
+```bash
+gh issue list --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo \
+  --label "dep:draft" \
+  --json number,title,labels,assignees \
+  --jq '.[] | select(.assignees | length == 0)'
+```
+
+2. **Assign PIC** based on the area label:
+
+```bash
+gh issue edit <number> --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo \
+  --add-assignee "<github-username>"
+```
+
+3. **Move to review** when the spec is ready:
+
+```bash
+gh issue edit <number> --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo \
+  --remove-label "dep:draft" \
+  --add-label "dep:under-review"
+```
+
+### Review
+
+1. **Read the DEP issue and discussion**:
+
+```bash
+gh issue view <number> --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo
+gh issue view <number> --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo --comments
+```
+
+2. **Post review feedback** as comments on the issue.
+
+3. **Request changes** or clarifications from the author.
+
+### Approve
+
+1. **Verify the issue is under review**:
+
+```bash
+gh issue view <number> --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo --json labels
+```
+
+2. **Post the approval comment**:
+
+```bash
+gh issue comment <number> --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo --body "/approve"
+```
+
+3. **If this is the PIC approving** (or all required reviewers have
+   approved), update the label:
+
+```bash
+gh issue edit <number> --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo \
+  --remove-label "dep:under-review" \
+  --add-label "dep:approved"
+```
+
+## Notes
+
+- For straightforward DEPs, the PIC's `/approve` is sufficient.
+- For multi-reviewer DEPs, the PIC maintains a pinned approval
+  checklist and updates the label only when all required approvals are
+  collected.
+- `/approve` comments are searchable for audit:
+  `gh search issues --repo ai-dynamo/dynamo "/approve" in:comments`
+- Area labels are bare names (e.g., `frontend`, `router`) — no prefix.

.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/dep-light.yml

+name: Lightweight DEP
+description: Quick proposal for smaller changes
+title: "DEP (light): "
+labels: ["dep:draft", "dep:lightweight"]
+body:
+  - type: dropdown
+    id: area
+    attributes:
+      label: Area
+      description: Primary area this DEP affects
+      options:
+        - external-api
+        - frontend
+        - router
+        - backend-vllm
+        - backend-trtllm
+        - backend-sglang
+        - kv-memory
+        - multimodal
+        - planner
+        - core-platform
+        - observability
+        - fault-tolerance
+        - gateway
+        - devops
+        - docs
+        - process
+        - k8s
+        - dgdr
+        - xpu
+    validations:
+      required: true
+  - type: textarea
+    id: summary
+    attributes:
+      label: Summary
+    validations:
+      required: true
+  - type: textarea
+    id: motivation
+    attributes:
+      label: Motivation
+    validations:
+      required: true
+  - type: textarea
+    id: proposal
+    attributes:
+      label: Proposal
+    validations:
+      required: true

.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/dep.yml

+name: Dynamo Enhancement Proposal (DEP)
+description: Propose a new feature, architecture change, or process improvement
+title: "DEP: "
+labels: ["dep:draft"]
+body:
+  - type: dropdown
+    id: area
+    attributes:
+      label: Area
+      description: Primary area this DEP affects (determines PIC assignment)
+      options:
+        - external-api
+        - frontend
+        - router
+        - backend-vllm
+        - backend-trtllm
+        - backend-sglang
+        - kv-memory
+        - multimodal
+        - planner
+        - core-platform
+        - observability
+        - fault-tolerance
+        - gateway
+        - devops
+        - docs
+        - process
+        - k8s
+        - dgdr
+        - xpu
+    validations:
+      required: true
+  - type: textarea
+    id: summary
+    attributes:
+      label: Summary
+      description: One-paragraph summary of the proposal
+    validations:
+      required: true
+  - type: textarea
+    id: motivation
+    attributes:
+      label: Motivation
+      description: Why is this change needed? What problem does it solve?
+    validations:
+      required: true
+  - type: textarea
+    id: proposal
+    attributes:
+      label: Proposal
+      description: Detailed description of the proposed change
+    validations:
+      required: true
+  - type: textarea
+    id: alternates
+    attributes:
+      label: Alternate Solutions
+      description: What other approaches were considered and why were they not chosen?
+    validations:
+      required: false
+  - type: textarea
+    id: requirements
+    attributes:
+      label: Requirements
+      description: Specific requirements (use MUST/SHOULD per RFC-2119)
+    validations:
+      required: false
+  - type: textarea
+    id: references
+    attributes:
+      label: References
+      description: Links to related documents, prior art, external resources
+    validations:
+      required: false