| name | cortex-laws |
| description | Surface active laws in the current scope (repo + topics). Returns law id, severity, title, and detector for each rule that applies. Use this when the user asks "what laws apply here?", "is X allowed?", "any rules I should know?", or before suggesting an action that might trip a critical law. |
cortex-laws
Use this skill to enumerate the laws that govern the current scope.
A law is a codified rule with an enforcement tier (info /
notable / critical); critical laws are blocking when invoked
through the spec-10 pre-tool hook.
When to use
- The user asks "what laws apply?" / "any rules in this repo?".
- The user asks "can I do X?" / "is Y allowed?" — pair with a
cortex-lawkeeper sub-agent invocation if you want the laws
plus a verdict.
- You're about to suggest a
Bash invocation, a destructive op,
or a settings change and want to confirm no critical law fires.
Do NOT use this skill to:
- Look up a specific law id — query the dashboard at
/laws/<id> instead.
- Author a new law — that's a
/cortex-laws-author flow (not in
this plugin yet; lands with the dashboard authoring surface).
How to invoke
Call cortex_query with intent=law_check:
{
"intent": "law_check",
"query": "<short description of the action you're considering>",
"scope": {
"repo": "<repo from cwd>",
"topics": ["<optional topic chips>"]
},
"include": ["violations"],
"budget_ms": 300
}
intent=law_check returns only the violations field by default
(spec 11 §Acceptance criteria). The laws_active overlay carries
the laws that match scope; surface those when the user asks for
a positive listing.
How to use the response
For each law in laws_active:
- Cite the
id (LAW-007).
- Cite the
severity and a one-line summary of the title.
- If
severity = critical, surface the law BEFORE proposing the
action — the spec-10 hook will block the model otherwise, and
it's better to discuss in plain language than to surprise the
user with a permissionDecision: deny.
If the response also carries violations (recent violations of
the same law), mention them as evidence.
Empty result
No active laws → laws_active: []. Tell the user:
"No laws codified for this scope yet." Don't invent rules.
