project-skill-creator-governance

name	project-skill-creator-governance
description	Use before creating, copying, adapting, or updating project skills so new skills stay concise, non-overlapping, source-grounded, and compatible with the research agent rule stack; use with the system skill-creator when authoring SKILL.md files.

Project Skill Creator Governance

Use this skill before creating or updating any project-level skill in .agents/skills/.

Purpose

Make sure new skills improve the research-agent system instead of adding duplicated, stale, or unsafe instructions.

This project can use the global skill-creator skill for SKILL.md authoring. This governance skill adds research-agent-specific rules.

Required Checks

Before adding or editing a skill:

1. Identify the user problem the skill solves.
2. Check whether an existing project skill already covers it.
3. Decide whether to:
   • create a new skill;
   • update an existing skill;
   • add a wrapper around a global skill;
   • leave it as a preference/rule instead of a skill.
4. Keep SKILL.md concise.
5. Do not include extra README, changelog, or install guide files inside the skill folder.
6. Add safety gates if the skill can affect formal documents, institution requirements, participant data, GitHub sharing, browser automation, or external tools.
7. Update AGENTS.md, PROJECT_AGENT_PREFERENCES.md, and research-wiki/TASK_STATE.md when the new skill changes routing.

Skill Or Rule Decision

Create or update a skill when the behaviour is repeated, easy to forget, high-risk if skipped, and needs a clear trigger.

Prefer documentation, templates, scripts, or project preferences when the issue is one-time setup, user onboarding, or a deterministic helper.

Examples:

• Obsidian vault entry confusion is best handled by setup docs, a clean vault template, and .obsidian boundaries. It should not become a skill unless the agent repeatedly maintains or audits Obsidian state.
• External-review fallback is best handled by a local review-bundle script and reusable prompt. It should not become a separate skill unless agent behaviour around reviewer routing becomes unreliable.
• Public release visible-surface verification should become a skill because the agent can easily mistake commits, tags, or local files for a completed GitHub release page, About sidebar, rendered README, or public documentation update.

When To Use Global skill-creator

Use the global skill-creator when:

• writing a new SKILL.md;
• revising a skill's frontmatter;
• designing concise trigger descriptions;
• deciding whether references/scripts/assets are needed.

Do not copy the global skill-creator into this project unless the user explicitly asks for a frozen local copy.

Skill Acceptance Checklist

Skill check:
- Unique purpose:
- Trigger clear:
- Existing overlap checked:
- Safety boundary present:
- Source-first needed:
- Document-quality needed:
- External tool/install boundary:
- AGENTS.md updated:
- TASK_STATE.md updated: