author-prompt-surface

name	author-prompt-surface
description	Use when creating or editing .claude/agents/*.md, .claude/skills/*/SKILL.md, or .claude/commands/* — apply docs/prompting-standards.md (trigger conditions, model-agnostic bodies, no reasoning-as-text, effort floors).
user-invocable	false

Author Prompt Surface

Claude-only discipline for the harness monorepo (and any plugin that ships agents/skills). Load before writing or rewriting a prompt surface.

Required reading

Read and follow docs/prompting-standards.md in full. That document is the source of truth; this skill is the invocation trigger + checklist.

Surfaces this skill covers

Path	Role
.claude/agents/*.md	Subagent prompts (model: frontmatter only for model pins)
.claude/skills/*/SKILL.md	Skill prompts and stage workflows
.claude/commands/*	Slash-command entrypoints

Checklist (every new or edited prompt)

Copy from docs/prompting-standards.md — fail the edit if any box is open:

• No anti-laziness CRITICAL / MUST / If in doubt left in (true invariants only).
• Every tool/subagent has a use this when … trigger condition.
• Finding/review steps say report everything with severity; gates filter downstream.
• Long-running steps audit progress claims against tool results.
• No "show/echo/transcribe your reasoning as text".
• Distinct blocks in XML tags; examples where behavior is subtle.
• Effort expectation noted for agentic/coding work (open high / xhigh, then measure downward).
• No instruction to verify / re-check / double-check its own work — that causes over-verification; structural verification (independent evaluator, deterministic gates) covers it.
• Nothing restated that the platform's base system prompt already installs (response length, scope discipline, tone, faithful reporting).
• Detail pushed to references/*.md; the always-loaded surface carries only trigger + routing.
• No model named in the prompt body; no directional nudge that assumes one model's default (criterion, not nudge).

Model pins

• Pin models only in agent frontmatter (model:) or the session model.
• Never name a model generation in the prompt body.
• One prompt body must run unchanged if the pin changes.

When not to use this skill

• Product application code under src/ / generated apps.
• Disposable artifacts (mockups, ARB narratives, research) — use the lite lanes.
• Editing deterministic hooks/scripts — use code-gen + tests, not prompting standards.

After editing

If the change is a new control (gate, sensor, reviewer), also follow HARNESS.md / harness-manifest.json registration so the control is not orphaned.