Use when a CHEAP/small model (gpt5.4-mini, Claude Haiku, GLM-4.7-Flash, etc.) is the primary worker on a long or multi-step task and should escalate the hard parts to a STRONG senior model instead of guessing; invoke it as "kyl". Fires on OBJECTIVE tripwires, never on "do you feel unsure" (a weak model won't notice it is stuck): escalate at the START of a substantial/risky task to review the plan; when the SAME error survives 2 different fix attempts; before any IRREVERSIBLE or wide-blast action (schema/migration/delete/deploy/auth/new-dep); at a phase boundary; and before proposing done on a large/risky diff. Escalation goes through agent-arena (the mechanism); this skill is the POLICY of WHEN. Budget senior calls (they cost money) and send only a minimal evidence packet; the senior replies in a compact schema the worker can act on. If the senior also can't resolve it, escalate to the HUMAN — do not loop. Not for short tasks where just using the senior outright is cheaper, or trivial reversible steps.
2026-06-24