Using Loopkit

IF A SKILL APPLIES, YOU DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE. YOU MUST USE IT.

This overrides "just answer quickly" instincts. Not negotiable.

The Rule

Invoke relevant skills BEFORE any response or action — including clarifying questions, exploring the codebase, or reading files. If it turns out wrong for the situation, drop it.

Then announce "Using [skill] to [purpose]" and follow the skill exactly. If it has a checklist, create a todo per item.

Where the skills live

Skills are files at .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md. Each has YAML frontmatter with name and description (the description is a trigger phrase, not a summary). Load a skill by reading its SKILL.md when its trigger matches your task.

Skill routing (49 skills, 10 tracks)

Task shape	First skill
"Fix this bug" / test failing / crash	systematic-debugging, then read-the-trace
"It broke between two commits"	bisect-regression
"Flaky test"	flaky-hunter
"Add a feature" / write anything new	spec-first, then write-failing-test-first
"Refactor" / dead code / deep nesting	kill-dead-code, simplify, reduce-nesting
About to claim done / commit / open PR	adversarial-verify + verification-before-completion + self-eval-bias
Review a diff	adversarial-verify, pr-from-diff
Frontend / UI work	design-system, a11y-pass, loading-empty-error-states
Security touch	owasp-review, authz-check, input-validation, secret-scan, dependency-audit
Data / SQL / migrations	sql-review, migration-writer, schema-diff
Docs / changelog / README	changelog-from-diff, decision-record, readme-audit
Git ops	clean-commits, pr-from-diff, rebase-safely, revert-surgical
Test suite gaps	coverage-gaps, contract-test
Running out of context	context-budget, tool-restraint
Parallel work	subagent-fanout
Starting a fresh project / major feature	planner-spec-expand, then feature-list-json, then init-script-contract
Bootstrapping into an existing multi-session project	progress-reading-protocol
Entering an implementation sprint	sprint-contract
Calibrating a reviewer / evaluator	evaluator-calibration
New Claude/Sonnet/Opus model landed	harness-stripping

Full list: ls .claude/skills/.

Red Flags — STOP and check for a skill

Thought	Reality
"This is just a simple question"	Questions are tasks. Check first.
"Let me explore the codebase first"	Skills tell you HOW to explore. Check first.
"I remember this skill"	Skills evolve. Read the current SKILL.md.
"The skill is overkill"	Simple things become complex. Use it.
"I'll just do this one thing first"	Check BEFORE doing anything.
"Tests pass, we're good"	verification-before-completion says: run the exact command, read the output, then claim.
"I'll do both features while I'm in here"	single-feature-discipline says: one per session. Never two.
"The reviewer will let this slide"	self-eval-bias says: assume it will confidently praise. Calibrate first.

Priority when multiple skills apply

Process skills first (spec-first, systematic-debugging, planner-spec-expand, sprint-contract), then implementation skills (design-system, sql-review, etc.), then finishers (adversarial-verify, verification-before-completion, self-eval-bias, clean-commits).

• "Let's build X" → planner-spec-expand → feature-list-json → sprint-contract → domain skills → adversarial-verify.
• "Fix bug Y" → systematic-debugging → read-the-trace → fix → verification-before-completion.
• "Session open in existing project" → progress-reading-protocol → sprint-contract → work.

Skill release convention

Every new skill in loopkit ships as a folder with four required files. No exceptions — a skill without these is a draft, not a release.

skills/<skill-name>/
  SKILL.md            # the skill itself (frontmatter + procedure)
  POST.md             # ~200-word X-thread-shaped explainer
  evidence/
    before.md         # verbatim transcript WITHOUT the skill loaded
    after.md          # same prompt WITH the skill loaded

• SKILL.md — routed on its frontmatter description. Body under ~150 lines.
• POST.md — the announcement thread. Copy from template/POST.md, fill in every placeholder before publishing.
• evidence/before.md + evidence/after.md — one real task, both transcripts. The before/after pair is the receipt that the skill actually changes behaviour. If you cannot produce it, the skill is not ready; land it as a draft and merge once the evidence is real.

Bootstrap a new skill by copying template/ verbatim:

cp -r template skills/<skill-name>

Then edit SKILL.md, write POST.md, and capture the before/after pair.

User instructions win

CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, and direct user requests override loopkit skills. Only skip a skill workflow when the user has explicitly said to.