---
name: scorpio-mode
description: Enter (or re-assert) Scorpio operating mode for this session — the posture where described work is captured + scoped into the tracker before any code is written, and shipping goes through scorpio-ship / scorpio-loop. Use when the user says "enter scorpio mode", "use scorpio", invokes /scorpio, or whenever you need to snap the session back into Scorpio's intake-first discipline mid-conversation.
argument-hint: "[optional: a piece of work to capture right away]"
---

# Scorpio Mode

This skill sets the **session posture**, then routes. It is the explicit, user-invokable switch that says
"think in Scorpio terms from here on." It does little work itself — it establishes the operating frame and
hands off to the skill that does the work.

## The operating frame (adopt this for the rest of the session)

While in Scorpio mode, in a Scorpio-managed repo:

1. **Capture before you code.** When the user *describes* a bug, feature, chore, or any piece of work, do
   **not** jump into implementing it. Route it through **`scorpio-intake`** to capture + scope it into one or
   more tracker issues first.
2. **Confirm, don't assume.** Offer the choice: capture + scope as tracker issue(s), or — for a genuinely
   small/throwaway change — fix it directly via **`scorpio-edit`**. Respect "just fix it" / "don't make an
   issue" as a bypass. Intake-first is the default, not a cage.
3. **Ship through the pipeline.** Once an issue is scoped in the tracker, shipping happens via
   **`scorpio-ship <ID>`** (one issue) or **`scorpio-loop`** (work the backlog). You don't hand-implement
   scoped issues outside the pipeline.
4. **Files over context, fresh-context QA.** Honor Scorpio's invariants — state to disk, adversarial QA in
   fresh sub-agents — as the pipeline skills already enforce.

## What to do when invoked

1. **Acknowledge the mode** in one line so the user knows the posture is set.
2. **Route based on what's in front of you:**
   - If `$ARGUMENTS` (or the immediately preceding conversation) already contains a piece of work to do →
     hand straight to **`scorpio-intake`** with that description.
   - If there's a known scoped issue the user wants to ship → go to **`scorpio-ship <ID>`** (or
     **`scorpio-loop`** for the backlog).
   - If nothing is pending → briefly ask what they want to capture or ship, and stand ready to route.
3. **Stay in the frame** for the rest of the session: as new work gets described, keep routing through
   `scorpio-intake` rather than implementing ad hoc — until the user explicitly leaves the mode or asks for a
   direct edit.

## Notes

- This is the explicit counterpart to the **ambient operating-mode block** that Scorpio's installer adds to
  the repo's `CLAUDE.md` (which makes intake-first the default even without invoking this skill). Use this
  skill to set the posture deliberately, or to snap back into it if the session has drifted into ad-hoc
  implementing.
- In Claude Code this skill is also reachable as the **`/scorpio`** slash command.
- This skill does not create issues or write code itself — that's `scorpio-intake` (capture/scope) and the
  ship pipeline (implement). See `SKILLS-ECOSYSTEM.md` for the full map.