--- name: skills-selector description: Meta-skill gatekeeper that runs FIRST on every task to decide which other skill(s) — if any — should activate. Analyzes the user request, matches it against a ranked catalog (frontend-design, ui-ux-pro-max, superpowers/planning, git-*, mcp-builder, smart-dispatch, claude-api, etc.), and emits a tight SELECTION plan so other skills are loaded on-demand only. Minimizes token/context consumption by refusing to activate heavy skills unless clearly justified. Triggers on ANY user instruction that could plausibly benefit from a specialized skill — i.e. essentially every turn that starts new work. Keywords: "plan", "design", "ui", "ux", "implement", "build", "create", "fix", "refactor", "commit", "pr", "review", "test", "debug", "deploy", "mobile", "video", "mcp", "skill", "architecture", "api", "ci", "docs", "copy", "social", "setup", "doctor". allowed-tools: Read, Grep, Glob --- # Skills Selector — The Skill That Picks Skills > Prime directive: you are the **first gate** for every task. Decide which skill(s) deserve to load, or declare that none are needed. Every token spent on an unused skill is a token stolen from the user's real work. ## Why this skill exists Loading a skill injects hundreds to thousands of tokens into the context. Many CLIs now ship 20–80+ skills. Without a gatekeeper, every plausible match fires, the context fills with orchestration noise, and the model gets slower, more expensive, and more confused. `skills-selector` fixes that by running once at the top of a task and committing to a **minimal, justified selection**. This skill is intentionally short. If you want depth, call the chosen skill — don't add it here. --- ## Protocol — run exactly these steps, in order ### 0. Consume the EXEC-MAP contract if present (skip re-classification) If stage-0 (`senior-prompt-engineer`) already ran, an `EXEC-MAP v1` block is in context. **Consume it — do not re-classify from scratch:** - Take `intent` directly as the primary intent (skip step 1). - Seed candidates from `EXEC-MAP.skills` (skip step 2's catalog lookup; still run step 3 rank/prune to validate, cap at 2, and drop heavy skills lacking signal). - Carry `effort`/`tokens` into `BUDGET`. - Add `MAP: consumed` to the emitted block so the audit trail shows stage-0's work wasn't redone. Only fall through to steps 1–2 when **no** EXEC-MAP block exists. ### 1. Classify the request (inline, silent) — only if no EXEC-MAP Assign the user's turn to **one primary intent** from: | Intent | Typical verbs / nouns | | --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | `plan` | "plan", "design the approach", "how should we", "architect" | | `design-ui` | "design", "redesign", "landing page", "polish UI", "figma" | | `build-code` | "implement", "build", "create ", "add" | | `fix-bug` | "fix", "not working", "error", "broken", "regression" | | `refactor` | "refactor", "simplify", "clean up", "extract" | | `review` | "review", "audit", "check diff", "is this safe" | | `test` | "write tests", "coverage", "e2e", "unit test" | | `git-op` | "commit", "pr", "branch", "changelog", "release notes" | | `debug` | "debug", "trace", "repro", "investigate" | | `docs` | "readme", "document", "write docs", "api doc" | | `content` | "copy", "tweet", "post", "landing copy", "pitch" | | `media` | "video", "remotion", "heygen", "thumbnail", "render" | | `mcp-or-skill` | "mcp server", "new skill", "create a skill", "extend" | | `config-harness` | "hook", "settings.json", "permission", "keybinding" | | `ops` | "deploy", "ci", "docker", "k8s", "pipeline" | | `trivial-or-chat` | Q&A, clarification, status checks, tiny edits | Ambiguous? Ask yourself: *what artifact does the user expect at the end?* That answer usually disambiguates. ### 2. Match candidates from the catalog Look up the intent in the **Catalog** below. A request can match multiple rows — that's fine, rank them next. 3. **Rank and prune (token-aware)** Apply these rules, in order — each one can drop a candidate: 1. **RTK Bypass Dispatch for Boilerplate.** If the task is a repetitive, mechanical fix (lint, typecheck, test fixes in test files, or i18n), ALWAYS select `smart-dispatch` and prioritize the correct bypass command (e.g., `rtk gemini --yolo` as primary). Emit `BUDGET: low`. 2. **Trivial requests stay inline.** If the task is a single-line edit, a status check, a factual question, or something the model can handle in under ~3 tool calls: **select nothing**. Emit `SKILLS: []`. 3. **Cap at 2 skills per turn.** Orchestration cost grows super-linearly. If you picked 3+, drop the lowest-weight one or split the work. 4. **Prefer narrow over broad.** `git-commit` beats `git-master` for a commit. `ui-polisher` beats `ui-ux-pro-max` for a minor CSS tweak. 5. **Heavy skills need explicit signal.** `ui-ux-pro-max`, `frontend-design`, `gsd:new-project`, `superpowers` (if present), `remotion-best-practices`, `heygen-best-practices`, `mcp-builder`, `Agent Development` — only if the user names their domain or explicitly asks for depth. 6. **Never chain design + plan + build in one turn.** Pick the nearest waypoint and let the user confirm before escalating. 7. **If a domain skill and a meta-skill both match, pick the domain one.** E.g. for "write a PR", `git-pr-create` beats `smart-dispatch`. ### 4. Emit the selection block, then hand off Print **exactly one** block at the top of your response, then stop this skill and let the chosen skill(s) take over. Do not repeat the block. Do not wrap it in prose. ``` SKILLS: [skill-a, skill-b] # [] means "none — handle inline" INTENT: REASON: <≤15 words, concrete> BUDGET: # token/context intent MAP: # consumed = seeded from senior-prompt-engineer EXEC-MAP NEXT: ``` If `SKILLS: []`, proceed inline without invoking any skill. If one or more skills are selected, **invoke them via the platform's Skill mechanism** (Claude Code: `Skill` tool; Codex: `/` or skill invocation; Gemini: slash command / skill call). Never paraphrase a skill — always invoke it so its authoritative content drives behavior. --- ## Catalog — keyword → skill (keep compact; depth lives inside each skill) Legend: **P** = platform scope (C=Claude, X=Codex, G=Gemini, L=lemon-code built-in, any=portable). Weight is a rough token cost: `·` tiny, `··` small, `···` medium, `····` heavy. Prefer lower-weight skills when the task is small. ### Planning & orchestration | Skill | P | W | Activate when | | ------------------------------ | ----- | ---- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | `smart-dispatch` | any | ·· | Multi-step feature spanning ≥2 models/agents | | `superpowers` (if installed) | C | ···· | User explicitly asks for "superpowers" or deep plan kit | | `gsd:plan-phase` | C/X | ··· | Phase-level plan inside an existing GSD project | | `gsd:discuss-phase` | C/X | ·· | Gathering phase context through Q&A | | `gsd:new-project` | C/X | ···· | Bootstrapping a brand-new GSD project | | `gsd:do` / `gsd:next` | C/X | · | "what's next" routing inside GSD workflow | | `gsd:fast` / `gsd:quick` | C/X | · | Trivial or quick guaranteed-atomic task | ### Design & UI | Skill | P | W | Activate when | | ------------------------------ | ----- | ---- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | `frontend-design` | C/X | ···· | From-scratch page/component with strong visual identity | | `ui-ux-pro-max` | C/X | ···· | Redesign, design system, accessibility sweep, figma import | | `ui-polisher` (lemon) | L | ·· | Small polish: spacing, hierarchy, micro-interactions | | `web-design-guidelines` | L | ·· | Principles Q&A: typography, spacing, color | | `vercel-react-native-skills` | C | ··· | React Native / Expo perf, nav, lists | ### Frontend & mobile code | Skill | P | W | Activate when | | ------------------------------ | ----- | ---- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | `frontend` (lemon) | L | ·· | React/Next/Tailwind component work | | `react-native` (lemon) | L | ·· | RN/Expo screens, animations | | `vercel-react-best-practices` | L | ·· | Vercel/ISR/edge/bundle tuning | | `mobile-fix-release-certificates` | C | ·· | Android Google Sign-In DEVELOPER_ERROR | ### Backend / language | Skill | P | W | Activate when | | ------------------------------ | ----- | ---- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | `nodejs-backend` | L | ·· | REST, middleware, auth in Node/Bun | | `java-backend` | L | ·· | Spring/JPA/Maven | | `csharp-backend` | L | ·· | .NET / ASP.NET / EF | | `golang` | L | · | Go idiomatic code, goroutines | | `typescript-expert` | L | · | Advanced TS types/generics | | `javascript-expert` | L | · | Modern JS, Bun, ESM | | `python-ml` | L | ·· | Python, pandas, ML | ### Git workflow | Skill | P | W | Activate when | | ------------------------------ | ----- | ---- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | `git-commit` | any | · | Creating a commit from staged/unstaged changes | | `git-branch` | any | · | Creating/switching/cleaning branches | | `git-pr-create` | any | ·· | Opening a PR with semantic title + body | | `git-review` / `review` | any | ·· | Code review of diff/PR | | `git-changelog` | any | · | Generating changelogs / release notes | | `git-master` | any | ·· | Broad flow automation across commit+branch+PR | ### Quality, testing, debugging | Skill | P | W | Activate when | | ------------------------------ | ----- | ---- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | `testing` | L | ·· | TDD, unit/integration strategy | | `webapp-testing` | L | ·· | Playwright / Cypress / Testing Library | | `backend-testing` | L | ·· | API tests, DB mocks, integration | | `api-test-loop` | any | ··· | REST API validation loop via CURL (REST, security, perf, inputs, outputs) | | `postman-generator` | any | ·· | Create Postman collections, environments, JS tests and run Newman | | `systematic-debugging` | L | ·· | Non-trivial bug, needs repro/isolate/hypothesize | | `auto-fix` | L | · | Build/TS/test error with known pattern | | `error-fix-loop` | any | ··· | Any error requiring full quality cycle + docs/rules update | | `security-review` | any | ·· | Security sweep of PR / diff | | `refactoring-pro` / `simplify` | any | · | Reduce complexity, extract, DRY | ### AI / agents / MCP / skills | Skill | P | W | Activate when | | ------------------------------ | ----- | ---- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | `claude-api` | C | ·· | Building on Anthropic SDK, prompt caching, tool-use | | `graphify` | any | ··· | Codebase/architecture question AND `graphify-out/` exists — query graph before raw exploration | | `mcp-builder` / `create-mcp` | any | ··· | New MCP server with FastMCP or official SDK | | `skill-creator` | any | ·· | Creating a new skill (use AFTER this selector decides) | | `Agent Development` | C | ··· | Designing a new sub-agent / agent definition | | `ai-setup` | L | ·· | Configure providers, models, keys | | `azure-ai` | L | ·· | Azure OpenAI / Cognitive Services | ### Media, content, marketing | Skill | P | W | Activate when | | ------------------------------ | ----- | ---- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | `remotion-best-practices` | any | ·· | React video with Remotion | | `heygen-best-practices` | any | ·· | HeyGen AI avatar video | | `copywriting` | any | · | Landing copy, CTA, headline | | `social-content` | any | · | LinkedIn / X / IG / social strategy | | `lemon-blog-post` | C/G | ·· | Lemon blog article generation | | `seo-audit` | L | ·· | SEO audit, meta, Core Web Vitals | ### Documents & files | Skill | P | W | Activate when | | ------------------------------ | ----- | ---- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | `xlsx` | any | ·· | Excel / CSV / spreadsheets | | `pptx` | L | · | PowerPoint slide generation | | `docx` | L | · | Word doc generation | | `pdf` | L | · | PDF manipulation | ### Harness, config, workflow | Skill | P | W | Activate when | | ------------------------------ | ----- | ---- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | `update-config` | C | · | Edit settings.json, hooks, permissions | | `fewer-permission-prompts` | C | · | Prune permission prompts from transcripts | | `keybindings-help` | C | · | Rebind Claude Code keys / chords | | `loop` / `schedule` | C | · | Recurring tasks, cron, polling | | `find-skills` | any | · | User asks "is there a skill for X" | | `init` | C | · | Initialize a new CLAUDE.md | ### GSD (Get-Shit-Done) family — decimal phases, UAT, milestones Activate only when the user is clearly inside a GSD workflow (you'll see a `.planning/` directory, a phase number, or explicit GSD vocabulary). Map 1:1 to the slash command: `gsd:do`, `gsd:next`, `gsd:progress`, `gsd:plan-phase`, `gsd:execute-phase`, `gsd:verify-work`, `gsd:add-tests`, `gsd:debug`, `gsd:ship`, `gsd:review`, `gsd:audit-uat`, `gsd:add-backlog`, `gsd:new-milestone`, `gsd:complete-milestone`, `gsd:cleanup`, `gsd:health`, etc. > Rule: never pre-emptively open a GSD command outside a GSD project. --- ## Matching heuristics — fast patterns The table above is authoritative. This list is a quick regex-ish cheatsheet for the first pass: - `\bcommit\b|\bcommita\b|git add` → `git-commit` - `\bpr\b|pull request|merge request` → `git-pr-create` - `\breview(ing)?\b|audit diff` → `git-review` or `security-review` - `\bbranch\b|checkout|switch` → `git-branch` - `changelog|release notes` → `git-changelog` - `design|redesign|landing|hero|figma` → `frontend-design` or `ui-ux-pro-max` - `accessibility|a11y|wcag|contrast|keyboard nav` → `ui-ux-pro-max` - `polish|micro(-| )interaction|spacing` → `ui-polisher` - `react native|expo|android|ios\b` → `react-native` + possibly `vercel-react-native-skills` - `mcp server|fastmcp|mcp tool` → `mcp-builder` / `create-mcp` - `new skill|create a skill|skill md` → `skill-creator` - `prompt cach(e|ing)|anthropic sdk|claude api` → `claude-api` - `e2e|playwright|cypress` → `webapp-testing` - `unit test|tdd|vitest|jest|bun test` → `testing` / `backend-testing` - `\bapi-test-loop\b|validate api|test backend api|curl api` → `api-test-loop` - `\bpostman-generator\b|postman|newman|collection|env|validate postman|valide` → `postman-generator` - `bug|error|stack trace|regression` → `auto-fix` first, escalate to `systematic-debugging` - `pod install.*error|NitroModules|Unable to find a specification|BUILD FAILED|update rules|update docs` → `error-fix-loop` - `deploy|docker|k8s|pipeline|ci/cd` → `devops` - `landing copy|headline|cta|pitch` → `copywriting` - `linkedin|tweet|instagram|post` → `social-content` - `xlsx|excel|spreadsheet` → `xlsx` - `settings\.json|hook|permission|keybind` → `update-config` / `keybindings-help` - `loop|every \d+ (min|hour)|cron` → `loop` / `schedule` - `\bgsd\b|\.planning|phase \d+\.\d+` → GSD family - `architecture|how does .* relate|understand the codebase` + `graphify-out/` exists → `graphify` (query mode) Multiple matches? Apply step 3 (rank & prune) before emitting. --- ## Examples **Trivial Q&A** User: "what's the file that sets our default theme?" → `SKILLS: []` — answer inline with a grep. No skill earns its keep here. **Clear single-skill match** User: "open a PR with the staged changes" → `SKILLS: [git-pr-create]` | INTENT: git-op | REASON: direct PR request | BUDGET: low | NEXT: run git status + git diff. **Conflict, pick narrower** User: "create the commit" → `SKILLS: [git-commit]` (not `git-master`) | INTENT: git-op | REASON: narrow beats broad | BUDGET: low. **Design: light vs heavy** User: "adjust header spacing" → `SKILLS: [ui-polisher]`. User: "redesign the landing with a bolder identity" → `SKILLS: [frontend-design]` (or `ui-ux-pro-max` if a system-level sweep is asked). **Planning + build — do NOT chain** User: "plan and implement watchlist feature X" → First turn: `SKILLS: [smart-dispatch]` | REASON: multi-model plan. Let it emit the dispatch table, then the user confirms before building. **Bug report** User: "breaking with TS2322 in agent.ts:210" → `SKILLS: [auto-fix]` — pattern-matched, cheap. If 2 fix attempts fail, escalate to `systematic-debugging`. **New skill** User: "create a skill to review SQL" → `SKILLS: [skills-selector, skill-creator]`? **No** — skills-selector is already running. Emit `SKILLS: [skill-creator]`. --- ## Rules & guardrails 1. **Self-recursion is forbidden.** Never put `skills-selector` in the `SKILLS:` list. You are the chooser, not the choice. 2. **No silent escalation.** If you picked a heavy skill, your `REASON` must name the signal that justified it. 3. **Announce before you invoke.** Always emit the block. Never call a skill without emitting the plan first — the block is the audit trail. 4. **Respect user overrides.** If the user explicitly names a skill ("use ui-ux-pro-max for this"), pass it through — your job is scoping, not vetoing. 5. **Language stays with the user.** Keep the selection block in the user's language if non-English (US English/pt-BR OK). Identifiers (skill names, `SKILLS:` key) stay in English. 6. **Portability.** If the selected skill doesn't exist on the current platform, downgrade to the closest match on the same row of the catalog; note the substitution in `REASON`. 7. **Stop at selection.** After the block, hand off. Do not continue executing the selected skill's body — invoke it via the platform's Skill mechanism. 8. **If nothing fits, emit `[]`.** No-skill is a valid, often correct, answer. The default is to do the work inline with the base tools. --- ## Output template (copy exactly) ``` SKILLS: [] INTENT: REASON: <≤15 words> BUDGET: MAP: NEXT: ``` That block — or silence plus inline work — is the entire surface of this skill. Depth belongs to the skills you dispatch, not here.