sidecar-skill-governance

name	Sidecar Skill Governance
description	Architectural rules and standards for creating Sidecar Skills to support Workflows.
source	catalog

Sidecar Skill Governance

Version: 1.0.0 | Type: Governance Skill

This skill defines the structural standards and OSS compliance rules for creating Sidecar Skills. A Sidecar Skill is a data companion to a Workflow of the same name. It offloads static data (templates, checklists) and complex scripts from the workflow file, keeping the workflow "Zero-fluff" and strictly focused on process logic.

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1. Core Principles

1. Workflow = Process Logic: The .agents/workflows/<name>.md file must only contain sequential steps and router calls. It should not contain heavy text blocks or large bash scripts.
2. Skill = Data Companion: The .agents/skills/<name>/SKILL.md file serves as the index and router for data, templates, and scripts.
3. Lazy Loading (Just-In-Time): Data is only read by the workflow when a specific step requires it (e.g., using cat).
4. Graceful Degradation: A workflow should still function (or fail gracefully with a warning) if its sidecar skill or specific templates are missing.

2. OSS English-First Governance (CRITICAL)

All Sidecar Skills must comply with the English-First rule for Open Source Repositories:

• All internal files within .agents/skills/ (including SKILL.md, templates in references/, and scripts in scripts/) MUST be written in English.
• This rule ensures the workspace structure can be shared, reviewed, and extended by global open-source contributors, regardless of the end-user's localized preferred language for code generation.

3. Directory Structure

A compliant Sidecar Skill must follow this exact structure:

.agents/skills/[workflow-name]/
├── SKILL.md              ← Router & Governance Index (Required)
├── scripts/              ← Bash scripts to offload CLI logic (Optional)
│   └── example.sh
└── references/           ← Static data, markdown templates, checklists (Optional)
    └── example-template.md

4. Extraction Thresholds (When to use a Sidecar)

When designing or updating a workflow, extract content to a Sidecar Skill if:

1. Templates > 20 lines: Any markdown template, prompt skeleton, or formatted output block should be placed in references/.
2. Scripts > 10 lines: Any complex bash logic (loops, jq parsing, heavy sed/awk replacements) must be extracted to an .sh file in scripts/.
3. Checklists: QA or code review checklists should be maintained in the skill, not embedded in the workflow.

5. Implementation Guide

Defining the Router Table (SKILL.md)

The SKILL.md must contain a "Router" table so the Agent knows what files are available:

## Resource Router

| Resource | Relative Path | Description |
| :-- | :-- | :-- |
| Main Template | `references/main-template.md` | Used in step 3 to format the output |
| Build Script | `scripts/build.sh` | Executed to compile assets |

Invoking from Workflow

Inside the workflow file, use // turbo bash blocks to invoke scripts or load templates:

# Example: Loading a template safely
cat .agents/skills/[workflow-name]/references/template.md 2>/dev/null || echo "⚠️ Template not found"

# Example: Executing a script
bash .agents/skills/[workflow-name]/scripts/build.sh

6. Resource Router

This skill provides ready-to-use boilerplate templates to quickly scaffold new sidecar skills:

Resource	Relative Path	Description
Workflow Sidecar Template	references/workflow-sidecar-template.md	Boilerplate for creating a sidecar skill attached to a global workflow.
Project Sidecar Template	references/project-sidecar-template.md	Boilerplate for creating a domain-specific context skill for a project.