| name | review-a-contract |
| title | Review a Contract |
| description | Read a contract someone sent you and tell you what's in it. Pick how deep: a quick verdict on whether it's safe to sign, a fast NDA check, or a clause-by-clause map without a verdict. Every clause that needs attention gets a clear note and, when needed, suggested wording to push back with. |
| author | gethouston |
| author_url | https://github.com/gethouston/houston/tree/main/store/agents/legal/.agents/skills/review-a-contract |
| license | MIT |
| version | 0.1.0 |
| execution_mode | open |
| jurisdiction | general |
| practice | contracts |
| language | en |
Review a Contract
One skill for first-read of counterparty contract. mode pick depth. Structured clause extraction + "never invent clause-standard can't cite" discipline shared.
Parameter: mode
full - full MSA / DPA / order-form review: clause map + Green (accept) / Yellow (pushback OK) / Red (redline required) verdict per clause + plain-English summary + accept / redline / walk rec. Writes to contract-reviews/{counterparty}-{YYYY-MM-DD}.md.nda-traffic-light - fast 6-dimension rubric for inbound NDAs (term, mutuality, confidential-info definition, carve-outs, jurisdiction, non-solicit smuggling, return/destruction). Writes to ndas/{counterparty-slug}-{YYYY-MM-DD}.md with specific redlines on every Red item.clauses-only - structured extraction, no verdict. Reads supplied contract (file / URL / paste), extracts clauses that matter (term, termination, renewal, liability cap, indemnity, IP, governing law, DPA, AI training, data residency, exit rights), writes human-readable map to clause-extracts/{counterparty}-{YYYY-MM-DD}.md, updates counterparty-tracker.json with key fields.
User name mode in plain English ("traffic-light this", "just extract the clauses", "full review with a verdict") → infer. Ambiguous → ask ONE question naming 3 options.
When to use
- Explicit: "review this contract", "traffic-light this NDA", "is this signable?", "what's in this agreement", "extract clauses".
- Plain-English asks map to a
mode: "fully review this customer contract / MSA" / "is this MSA safe to sign" → full; "quick check on this NDA" / "is this NDA OK to sign" → nda-traffic-light; "just lay out the clauses" / "pull out the clauses, no verdict" / "review the IP clause" (run full and lead with the IP section) → clauses-only or full with IP focus.
- Implicit: called by
sort-my-legal-inbox when detects MSA / NDA / DPA and routes to review. Chained into plan-contract-pushback when output has any Red items.
Ledger fields I read
Reads config/context-ledger.json first.
universal.legalContext + context/legal-context.md - required. Provides entity (governing-law compat check), standing agreements (template-vs-market compare), open risks, founder risk posture. If context/legal-context.md missing, run skill first (or ask ONE targeted question to skip ahead).
