using-cohesive

name

using-cohesive

description

Use when starting work in a codebase where substrate-first thinking applies — designing a feature, refactor, or architecture change that touches behavior or invariants; extending an existing concept (add a leaf to an enum, a row to a matrix, a sibling case); reviewing for cohesion; auditing what memory is missing; rewriting specs or behavior matrices to a chosen end state; or implementing against an approved spec rewrite. Establishes when Cohesive's substrate-first methodology is the right framing (versus Superpowers' implementation discipline) and routes substrate-shaped requests to the cohesively router. Triggers on "design substrate-first", "review for cohesion", "audit substrate", "rewrite the specs cohesively", "what invariants are missing", "is the architecture coherent for cohesion", "implement against the rewrite", "extend the existing concept", or any request naming specs, named invariants, behavior matrices, gotchas, or cohesion explicitly as the change surface. Do NOT trigger when the request is implementation-discipline-shaped (writing tests, executing a plan, finishing a branch, debugging a specific bug) — defer to Superpowers.

using-cohesive

What this skill does

Establishes when Cohesive's substrate-first methodology is the right framing for the user's request, and routes substrate-shaped work to the canonical entry point (cohesive:cohesively). The skill carries no artifact, persists no file, and runs no workflow — its job is the orientation message and the routing nudge.

Substrate-first work is what Cohesive optimizes for; implementation-discipline work is what Superpowers optimizes for. This skill picks between them at session start (or whenever its frontmatter trigger matches a user request mid-session). When Cohesive applies, the skill renders a 1–2 sentence orientation naming cohesive:cohesively as the next step. When the request is implementation-discipline-shaped, the skill stays silent — Superpowers' bootstrap (superpowers:using-superpowers) handles that framing on its own.

The seam this skill closes is the trigger competition between Cohesive and Superpowers entry points. Without , first-time users who type "what's wrong with this codebase?" land in description-match-level competition between Cohesive's / and Superpowers' research/exploration skills; with it, the substrate-first framing has a session-start surface.