rootnode-skills

Detects seven structural anti-patterns in Claude Projects that cause unpredictable output, ignored instructions, and degraded quality. Diagnoses Monolith, Orphan File, Echo Chamber, Phantom Conversation, Kitchen Sink, Misaligned Hierarchy, and Blurred Layers. Use when user says "what's wrong with my project," "Claude ignores my instructions," "diagnose my project," "why is output inconsistent," "review my project setup." Also trigger on symptom-phrased: "Claude doesn't follow my rules," "my instructions keep getting overridden," "my Project isn't behaving as designed." Use alongside rootnode-project-audit if available for deeper structural analysis. Activate whenever the user describes symptoms of unreliable, inconsistent, or degraded Claude Project output, even if they do not name a specific pattern. Do NOT use when the user's primary request is Memory-layer rebalancing (use rootnode-memory-optimization if available) or scoring a single prompt (use rootnode-prompt-validation if available).

Diagnoses and fixes Claude behavioral issues in system prompts and Projects using tested countermeasure templates. Use when "Claude is too verbose," "keeps hedging," "agrees with everything," "claims it did something it didn't," "won't use a tool," "fix Claude's output," "tune Claude's behavior," "Claude ignores my preferences," "adds unsolicited disclaimers," "uses too many lists." Covers ten tendencies: agreeableness (output-content + persistent-preference), hedging, verbosity, list overuse, fabricated precision, over-exploration, tool miscalibration (over- and under-triggering), LaTeX defaulting, editorial drift, self-referential fabrication. Also use when auditing a system prompt for behavioral calibration or recalibrating a pre-4.7 prompt, and when users describe recurring output problems without naming a tendency. Do NOT use for scoring a prompt's overall quality — use rootnode-prompt-validation if available.

Guides selection of identity, reasoning, and output approaches for Claude prompts based on task characteristics. Trigger on: "help me choose an approach," "which approach fits this task," "recommend a prompt pattern," "compare reasoning methods," "map this task to the right approach," "what combination of approaches," "which identity fits," "which reasoning method." Also trigger on symptom-phrased: "my prompt feels generic," "I don't know which approach to use," "my output lacks domain depth." Covers decision-tree logic across 8 identity approaches, 18 reasoning variants, and 10 output formats. After selection, use the relevant catalog skill if available to retrieve full templates. Activate whenever approach-selection across multiple categories is the primary decision. Do NOT use when the user already names a specific approach to retrieve (use the relevant catalog skill directly if available) or for evaluating existing prompts (use rootnode-prompt-validation if available).

Comprehensive audit of a user's entire Claude environment — combines Project audit (six-dimension Project Scorecard, seven anti-patterns) with Global audit (six-dimension Global Layer Scorecard) plus Cross-Layer Alignment Check across all nine layers and Evolutionary Recommendations across four pathways. Produces a unified action plan. Use when user says "full audit of everything," "audit my entire Claude setup," "full stack audit," "comprehensive review of my project and preferences," "check everything," or wants the complete health check of both a specific Project AND their global configuration. Also use when a project audit reveals cross-layer issues that require full-stack visibility. Do NOT use for auditing only a Project (use rootnode-project-audit if available) or only global layers (use rootnode-global-audit if available). Do NOT use for single prompt evaluation (use rootnode-prompt-validation if available). Opus recommended; non-Opus models may produce less complete analysis.

Audits and optimizes the five global Claude layers (User Preferences, Styles, Global Memory, Skills, MCP Connectors) using the Global Layer Scorecard (six dimensions, anchored 1-5 rubrics). Detects eight cross-layer failure modes and produces evolutionary recommendations (Promotion, Demotion, Codification, Skill Extraction). Use when user says "audit my global setup," "optimize my preferences," "review my Claude configuration," "check my cross-project setup," "are my preferences working," "clean up my global memory," or "what should be in my preferences vs my project." Also use when a user has 3+ Projects and wants to improve their shared foundation. Do NOT use for single-Project audits, Project Memory optimization, or full-stack audits (use rootnode-project-audit, rootnode-memory-optimization, or rootnode-full-stack-audit respectively, if available). Opus recommended; non-Opus models may produce less complete analysis.

Rebalances context across Memory, Custom Instructions, knowledge files, and User Preferences in Claude Projects. Audits Memory for redundancy, staleness, and misplacement; prescribes optimization including Codification of stable Memory patterns into explicit User Preferences or Project CI rules. Use when user says "optimize my memory," "what should be in my memory," "trim my knowledge files," "reduce my context usage," "rebalance my project," "what should be in my preferences vs memory," or asks whether something belongs in Memory, a knowledge file, or User Preferences. Also trigger on symptom-phrased: "my project feels bloated," "Claude keeps forgetting things," "my context window keeps hitting limits." Activate whenever Memory-layer balance is the primary concern. Do NOT use for full Project audits (use rootnode-project-audit if available), single-prompt evaluation (use rootnode-prompt-validation if available), or global-layer audits that don't touch Project Memory (use rootnode-global-audit if available).

Audits and scores Claude Projects using a six-dimension Scorecard with anchored 1-5 rubrics and detects seven structural anti-patterns. When global layer info is provided, adds cross-layer alignment findings. Use when user says "audit my project," "review my custom instructions," "score my project," "evaluate my Claude project," "improve my system prompt," "what's wrong with my project," "why is my project underperforming." Also trigger on symptom-phrased: "my project doesn't work right," "Claude is inconsistent in my project," "my Project used to work and now doesn't." Also use when the user pastes Custom Instructions asking why output is poor or generic. Do NOT use when the user's primary request is a global-layer audit (use rootnode-global-audit if available), single-prompt evaluation (use rootnode-prompt-validation if available), or Memory-only optimization (use rootnode-memory-optimization if available). Opus recommended; non-Opus models may produce less complete analysis.

Generates a structured Project Brief — a comprehensive markdown document that extracts goals, architecture, knowledge file inventory, Custom Instructions summary, Memory contents, current state, ecosystem position, and key decisions from a Claude Project. Briefs serve as uploadable context documents: add one to any other Project for immediate deep awareness of the source Project's purpose, architecture, and progress. Use when user says "create a brief," "brief this project," "extract project context," "generate a project summary for another project," "I need to share this project's context," "prepare this project for cross-project reference," or "document this project." Also use when the user is preparing to work across Projects and needs portable context. Do NOT use for session handoffs, project audits, or Memory optimization (use rootnode-session-handoff, rootnode-project-audit, or rootnode-memory-optimization respectively, if available).

Builds complete, optimized Claude prompts and Project scaffolds from task descriptions. Use when building, designing, creating, or structuring a Claude prompt or system prompt. Trigger on: "build me a prompt," "compile a prompt for," "create a system prompt," "write a Claude prompt," "design a prompt for," "help me write a prompt," "scaffold a Claude Project," "design a Project for." Uses a four-stage methodology (Parse, Select, Construct, Validate) and a tested 5-layer architecture (Identity, Objective, Context, Reasoning, Output + Quality Control). In Project Mode, the Compiler is global-layer-aware — checks User Preferences, installed Skills, and MCP Connectors to avoid redundancy and flag gaps. Do NOT use for auditing existing prompts (use rootnode-prompt-validation if available) or diagnosing existing Projects (use rootnode-project-audit if available). Opus recommended; non-Opus models may produce less complete prompt construction.

Evaluates and scores Claude prompts and system prompts using a six-dimension Scorecard with anchored 1-5 rubrics. Trigger on: "review my prompt," "score this prompt," "rate my prompt," "evaluate this prompt," "improve my prompt," "what's wrong with my prompt." Also trigger on: "why isn't my prompt working," "my prompt produces bad output," "help me fix this prompt," "is this prompt any good." Scorecard covers Objective Clarity, Context Specificity, Reasoning Fit, Output Precision, Behavioral Calibration, and Architectural Efficiency, plus a five-question Output Evaluation Rubric for assessing actual output. Also use when the user pastes a system prompt and asks for feedback. Activate whenever structured quality assessment of a single prompt is the primary need. Do NOT use for project-level audits involving Custom Instructions architecture, knowledge file organization, or multi-file Project structure (use rootnode-project-audit if available).

Produces structured markdown session continuation documents for multi-session workflows. Captures active work streams, decisions with rationale, knowledge-file deltas learned during the session, the exact files to load next conversation, ingested content, artifacts, and open items into an ingestion-optimized handoff. Carries pending KF updates and unresolved items forward across handoff chains so context never drops. Generates a closeout checklist and echoes the starter prompt to chat. Use when approaching context limits, wrapping up a session, or managing work across conversations. Trigger on: "create a handoff," "session closeout," "wrap up this session," "build session handoff," "BSH," "continue next session," "we're running out of context," "context is getting long." Do NOT use for Memory optimization, context budget analysis, project audits, deciding whether work is ready for autonomous/Claude Code execution (use rootnode-handoff-trigger-check), or summaries with no continuation intent.

Designs Claude Code prompts and CC environments. Produces CLAUDE.md drafts, agent topologies, scope-authorization frameworks, halt triggers, Skills/hooks/MCP plans, chat-to-CC handoff specs, and EXECUTION_PLAN.md remediation plans. Five modes: DESIGN (new CC deployments), EVOLVE (updates from friction), RESEARCH (evaluate a CC tool/pattern), TEMPLATE (reusable artifacts), REMEDIATE (consume hygiene findings → produce + execute plan). Use when user says "design CC for X", "build CC environment", "design CLAUDE.md", "build a CC prompt", "design a CC prompt for X", "write a session prompt", "we hit X friction in CC", "should we adopt Y for CC", "give me a CLAUDE.md skeleton", "remediate the hygiene findings". Do NOT use REMEDIATE for direct cleanup (Cat 1–10 — use rootnode-repo-hygiene Phase 2; REMEDIATE handles Cat 11–14 + 7-layer leaks). Do NOT use for hygiene scanning (use rootnode-repo-hygiene). Do NOT use for chat prompts (rootnode-prompt-validation) or chat Projects (rootnode-project-audit).

Analyzes Claude Project context budget using the two-pool architecture: knowledge files (~66,500 token RAG threshold) vs. threshold-exempt overhead. Two modes: Quick Diagnostic and Full Budget Audit. Use when user says "check my context budget," "how much context am I using," "is my project too big," "optimize my token usage," "tier my files," "optimize for RAG," "improve retrieval quality," "should I keep compressing," "am I over-compressing," "should I accept RAG mode." Also trigger on context pressure symptoms: "Claude forgets my instructions," "responses getting generic," "content not found in my knowledge files." Also use when a project audit scores Knowledge Architecture ≤ 3. Do NOT use for content placement decisions (use rootnode-memory-optimization if available), full project audits (use rootnode-project-audit if available), or behavioral tuning (use rootnode-behavioral-tuning if available). Opus recommended; non-Opus models may produce less complete analysis.

Specialized agentic and context engineering prompt methodology for Claude. Use when designing AI agents — system prompts, tool definitions, context window architectures, failure mode planning, multi-agent coordination, agent evaluation. Trigger on: "design an agent," "build a system prompt for an agent," "architect an agent's context," "design tool definitions," "agent system prompt," "context window architecture," "tool interface design," "evaluate agent behavior," "multi-agent coordination," "context engineering for agents," "ACI design." Provides 12 tested approaches for agent architecture (designing agents, not using them). Do NOT use for evaluating or scoring individual non-agent prompts (use rootnode-prompt-validation if available). Do NOT use for general software architecture that hosts agents (use standard technical reasoning for that).

Specialized business strategy prompt methodology for Claude. Provides 11 tested approaches (3 identity, 4 reasoning, 4 output formats) for consulting, M&A, corporate strategy, and strategic planning tasks. Use when building prompts for deal evaluation, due diligence, portfolio strategy, business model analysis, board narratives, investment cases, market entry plans, or strategic options assessments. Trigger on: "build a prompt for M&A analysis," "due diligence prompt," "board narrative," "investment case," "market entry strategy," "strategic options," "portfolio strategy prompt," "business model analysis prompt," "consulting-style analysis." Do NOT use for evaluating or scoring existing prompts (use rootnode-prompt-validation if available) or for auditing Claude Projects (use rootnode-project-audit if available).

Specialized prompt-building methodology for content and communications tasks. Provides 11 tested approaches (3 identity, 4 reasoning, 4 output) for writing, editing, content strategy, copywriting, audience analysis, editorial evaluation, cross-channel adaptation, and persuasion design. Use when building a Claude prompt or system prompt for content creation, editorial workflows, or communications tasks. Trigger on: "build a prompt for writing," "prompt for content strategy," "prompt for copywriting," "prompt for blog posts," "prompt for email sequences," "system prompt for editorial," "prompt for messaging framework," "content brief prompt," "prompt for audience analysis," "prompt that produces better content." Do NOT use for writing content directly — this Skill builds prompts that produce better content. Do NOT use for evaluating or scoring existing prompts — use rootnode-prompt-validation if available. Do NOT use for general prompt compilation — use rootnode-prompt-compilation if available.

Specialized research and analysis prompt methodology for Claude. Provides 11 tested approaches (3 identity, 4 reasoning, 4 output) for data analysis, policy research, systematic evidence review, investigative research, and research-specific deliverables. Use when building prompts for quantitative data interpretation, evidence-based policy recommendations, literature reviews, causal analysis, hypothesis-driven investigation, or briefing documents. Trigger on: "prompt for data analysis," "research prompt," "policy brief prompt," "literature review prompt," "prompt for investigating," "systematic review prompt," "build a prompt for evidence synthesis," "causal analysis prompt," "briefing document prompt." Also use when user describes a research or analytical task and needs a structured Claude prompt for it. Do NOT use for evaluating existing prompts (use rootnode-prompt-validation if available) or auditing Claude Projects (use rootnode-project-audit if available).

Specialized software engineering prompt methodology for Claude. Use when building prompts for system design, code review, incident response, security analysis, API design, architecture decisions, RFCs, ADRs, runbooks, or technical leadership. Trigger on: "build a prompt for code review," "system design prompt," "SRE prompt," "security review prompt," "incident response prompt," "API design prompt," "architecture decision prompt," "RFC prompt," "runbook prompt." Provides 11 tested approaches across identity, reasoning, and output for engineering analysis. Do NOT use for general coding help, writing code, or debugging — this builds prompts that shape engineering analysis, not code itself. Do NOT use for evaluating existing prompts (use rootnode-prompt-validation if available).

Eight tested identity approaches for Claude prompts, each shaping depth, vocabulary, reasoning style, and what Claude treats as obvious vs. requiring explanation. Use when the user wants a specific identity template — retrieving, reviewing, customizing, or building a role definition. Trigger on: "give me the Strategic Advisor identity," "show me the identity template for," "I need a Technical Architect role," "build a custom role for," "show me all available identities." Also use when reviewing a prompt's identity layer or when output lacks domain-appropriate depth. Provides 8 tested approaches across strategy, technical, research, communications, and operations domains plus a template for building custom identities. If the user is unsure which identity fits their task, use rootnode-block-selection first if available. Do NOT use for evaluating complete prompts — use rootnode-prompt-validation if available. Do NOT use for full prompt assembly — use rootnode-prompt-compilation if available.

Tested output format specifications for Claude prompts. Use when the user wants a specific deliverable structure — retrieving, reviewing, customizing, or building output formatting. Trigger on: "give me the Executive Brief format," "show me the output template for," "I need the Decision Matrix structure," "show me available output formats," "build a custom output format for." Provides 10 ready-to-use structures (executive briefs, technical designs, research summaries, implementation plans, decision matrices, competitive analyses, post-mortems, stakeholder updates, strategic memos, process documentation) plus a custom template, with per-section length guidance and format constraints tested against Claude formatting defaults. If unsure which format fits, use rootnode-block-selection first if available. Do NOT use for evaluating existing prompts (use rootnode-prompt-validation if available) or choosing reasoning/identity approaches (use rootnode-block-selection if available).

Tested reasoning approaches for Claude prompts — 18 variants across 6 categories (Analytical, Strategic, Creative, Technical, Research, Comparative). Use when the user wants a specific reasoning template — retrieving, reviewing, customizing, or combining reasoning instructions for a prompt. Trigger on: "give me the Root Cause Diagnosis approach," "show me the reasoning template for," "I need the Evidence Synthesis method," "show me analytical reasoning options," "combine reasoning approaches for," "show me all reasoning variants." Also use when a prompt produces shallow output and the fix is a reasoning upgrade. Provides 18 tested approaches for analytical, strategic, creative, technical, research, and comparison tasks. If the user is unsure which reasoning method fits, use rootnode-block-selection first if available. Do NOT use for evaluating existing prompts — use rootnode-prompt-validation if available. Do NOT use for project-level audits — use rootnode-project-audit if available.

Audits Claude Code repositories. Two-phase workflow — Phase 1 sweeps 14 hygiene categories (permissions, hooks, CLAUDE.md bloat, Skills hygiene, process-abstraction, plus structural) and an optional 7-layer leak check. Phase 2 executes [APPROVED] markers from the report file. Use for repo cleanup, pre-distribution sanity, post-feature hygiene, environment audit, process-abstraction discovery. Trigger on "audit my CC repo," "sweep my repository for hygiene," "check this CC environment," "find process abstraction candidates," "review my CLAUDE.md," "clean up my .claude directory," "pre-distribution hygiene check," "find layer leaks in my CC setup." Routes structural findings to rootnode-cc-design REMEDIATE. Composes with rootnode-critic-gate. CC-only — does not scan Claude Projects. Do NOT use for building a Skill (use rootnode-skill-builder), compiling a prompt (use rootnode-prompt-compilation), scoring a single prompt (use rootnode-prompt-validation), or auditing a Project (use rootnode-project-audit).

Builds, validates, packages, tests, and optimizes deployment-ready Skill files (SKILL.md + references/ + scripts/ + agents/) from design specifications. Three pre-build gates + 9-dimension quality gate (with D9a/b/c empirical evidence tiers) + behavioral iteration loop + automated description optimizer + blind version comparator. Use for building, reviewing, revising, testing, or optimizing Skills. Trigger on: "build this Skill," "review this Skill," "test my Skill," "optimize the description," "compare these Skill versions," "should this be a hook instead," "build a template first." Also: "my Skill doesn't activate," "my description truncates," "my SKILL.md is too long," "my Skill is overtriggering." Do NOT use when designing Skill methodology — that's design work, not packaging. Do NOT use for prompt compilation, project auditing, or prompt scoring (use rootnode-prompt-compilation, rootnode-project-audit, or rootnode-prompt-validation if available).

Independent re-derivation gate for proposed changes during autonomous execution. Evaluates a change (code diff, config edit, engine evolution, schema change) against the work's authority matrix and a 4-check protocol: invariant compliance, scope authorization, detection narrowness, and regression risk. Returns structured JSON with pass/fail per check, an overall verdict (APPROVE / REQUEST_CHANGES / REJECT), and blockers. Profile-driven thresholds (strict for unattended runs, lenient for desk supervision). Use when an autonomous agent proposes an engine change, when reviewing a Claude Code-authored modification before merge, or when an unattended profile requires independent re-derivation. Trigger on: "review/approve this proposed change," "critic-gate this," "is this change safe," "is this safe to merge," "should I let this land," "run the critic." Do NOT use for handoff-readiness checks (use rootnode-handoff-trigger-check), general code review, or design-time correctness. Authority matrix required.

Evaluates whether work-in-design is ready to hand off from a chat design conversation to autonomous execution (Claude Code, n8n, agent runtime). Runs a 7-condition gate: spec stability, verification surface, invariants, pump-primer, work decomposition, rollback cost, token budget headroom. Three invocation modes — deliberate (caller provides work_context, returns JSON verdict), proactive sensing (Claude detects handoff signals in design conversation and offers the check), conversational walkthrough (Claude walks the 7 conditions as discussion topics). Returns structured JSON in all modes. Use when designing a Claude Code deployment, scoping an autonomous run, or deciding next move. Trigger on: "ready to hand off," "ready for execution," "is this CC-ready," "handoff check," "walk me through readiness," "are we ready to ship this," "should I just hand this off," or proactive detection. Do NOT use for evaluating completed work, runtime selection, or prompt quality. Profile-agnostic.

Selects the active profile from triggering context. Evaluates a rule set against inputs (current time, calendar state, geofence, manual command, custom signals) and returns the profile name that consuming Skills (handoff-trigger-check, critic-gate, future Skills) should apply. Configuration-driven; rule set lives in a router config file conforming to the included schema. Deterministic precedence — manual override beats calendar beats time-window beats default. Required default profile guarantees a routing decision always exists. Use when an orchestrator needs to pick a profile automatically rather than having the caller specify one, when wiring calendar/time/Telegram triggers to gate behavior, or when a Skill's behavior should change with availability mode. Trigger on: "what profile should I use," "route to a profile," "which mode am I in," "auto-select profile," "active mode," "current profile." Do NOT use to evaluate work readiness or review proposed changes. Always returns a profile name.

Conversational profile builder. Produces validated JSON config files for any rootnode Skill that consumes profile-shaped configuration (handoff trigger check, mode router, critic gate, future Skills). Reads a target JSON Schema (draft-07), conducts a progressive-depth interview using plain-language questions, validates answers, and writes the resulting JSON to a destination path. Schema-agnostic — works with any profile schema conforming to draft-07. Use when a user needs to create, clone, or revise a profile and you do not want them hand-editing JSON. Trigger on: "build me a profile," "create a profile," "I need a profile for X," "set up my profile," "edit my profile," "clone the X profile," "walk me through making a profile." Do NOT use when the user already has a working profile and only wants to invoke the consuming Skill, when the schema cannot be located, or for non-profile JSON config work. Always validate before writing.