gate-session

If you were dispatched as a subagent to execute one specific task, ignore this skill and follow your brief. If there is even a 1% chance a skill applies to what you are about to do, you MUST invoke that skill first. This is not a judgment call you get to make per-task. You cannot reason your way out of it.

The Rule

Invoke relevant or requested skills BEFORE any response or action — before clarifying questions, before exploring the codebase, before checking a single file. If the skill turns out not to fit, you may set it aside after reading it.

Announce "Using [skill] to [purpose]", then follow the skill exactly. If it has a checklist, create one todo per item.

Priority: process skills first, then implementation skills. When the entry point is unclear, load docs/guide/process/on-ramps.md — that table is the one home; do not invent a second router. Only auto-invoke model-invocable skills; name a user-invoked one for the user to run.

Participant boundary: never infer skill-set membership from roster, CODEOWNERS, or PR authorship; only skill-mediated actions are enforced or recorded. Treat supplied evidence as supplied — do not invent mediation that did not happen.

Red Flags — you are rationalizing

Thought	Reality
"This is just a quick question"	Questions are tasks. Check for skills.
"Let me look around first"	Skills define HOW to look. Check first.
"This is too small for process"	Small things grow. The tier system handles size — the skill decides, not you.
"I remember what that skill says"	Skills change. Read the current text.
"I'll do this one step, then check"	The check comes before the first step.
"Being helpful means answering fast"	Being helpful means following the process that works.

Precedence

The user's explicit instructions (including CLAUDE.md) override skills; skills override your defaults. Skip a skill's workflow only when the user has explicitly told you to.