Use whenever a board-superpowers molecular SKILL is about to invoke a sibling plugin SKILL from `gstack:*` or `superpowers:*` namespaces. Callers: all four Producer routines (`briefing-daily`, `intaking-requirement`, `reviewing-pr-queue`, `triaging-board`), `consuming-card`, and `decomposing-into-milestones`. Apply at every cross-plugin handoff point — this skill is the single source of truth for namespace prefix rules and Mode-2 max_depth=1 compatibility decisions. Do NOT use for: (a) board-superpowers internal SKILL calls (governed by `SKILLS.md` topology); (b) user-facing direct invocations of sibling skills (route directly per `using-board-superpowers/references/routing.md`).
Use whenever any board operation in board-superpowers needs the canonical contract — the 6-state machine, the Card body schema, the branch-naming convention (claim/<kanban-id>-<key-slug>-<title-slug>), or the WIP counting formula. This is the read-only source of truth that every other board-superpowers skill consults before transitioning a card, validating a claim, or checking WIP. Use it even when the user doesn't say "schema" or "state machine" — any time card, branch, Status, or WIP comes up, this is what defines the rules.
Use when board-superpowers needs to run setup stages — first session, plugin upgrade with new stages, interrupted session resume, or explicit architect request. Triggers automatically when SessionStart hook emits `INVOKE: bootstrapping-repo`. Also triggers on: "set up board-superpowers", "bootstrap this repo", "first time on this repo", "configure the plugin", "run setup stages". Apply whenever plugin setup or reconfiguration is wanted, even without the word "bootstrap". Do NOT use once all stages are applied with no upgrade pending.
Use when a board-superpowers SKILL is about to perform a mutating action — changing card status, editing card body, pushing a claim branch, opening or merging a PR, writing project config, writing host-local credentials, deleting a worktree, deleting a branch — and needs to know whether the action proceeds automatically or waits for architect approval. Apply at every mutating-action decision point inside any board-superpowers skill (briefing-daily / intaking-requirement / reviewing-pr-queue / triaging-board / consuming-card / bootstrapping-repo). Apply even when the action looks obviously safe; the decision table is the source of truth, not intuition. Do NOT use for read-only actions or for queries that surface information without changing state. Do NOT invoke for the audit-row write step that follows the decision — that is `board-superpowers:auditing-actions`.
Use when the user has a design artifact (brainstorming output, eng-review notes, requirements doc, intake batch) and asks for cards / milestones / a slice plan, OR when the intake routine triggers a handoff. Typical phrasings include "decompose this feature", "split into cards", "break this into milestones", "拆解这个 feature", "拆成卡", "拆里程碑", "intake 后落卡", "decompose the eng-review output". Apply this skill even when the user does NOT say "decompose" — any message that brings a multi-card-shaped requirement routes here. Do NOT use this skill for single-card edits, refactors with no new capability, or already-decomposed batches that just need creation — use `intaking-requirement` for those.
Use whenever a PR is being authored from a board-superpowers card claim, OR a PR is being reviewed against the board's contract. Enforces the three-part PR contract — Contract A (PR body sections: Automated Verification + Human Verification TODO + Retro Notes), Contract B (linked card body acceptance criteria all in terminal state), Contract C (PR body contains `Closes|Fixes|Resolves #<N>` auto-close keyword at PR-OPEN time) — and rejects filler. Apply on the Consumer side at PR submission AND on the Producer side during review-queue triage. Apply even when the user doesn't explicitly mention "PR contract" — any time a PR body is being drafted, edited, or reviewed in this plugin's loop, this skill governs.
Use when an agent needs to perform any of the eight Kanban Protocol actions on the active backend — read_board, read_card, create_card, transition_card, claim_card, release_claim, link_pr_to_card, comment_on_card (OPTIONAL). Routes through the active projection's reference file (Form A bash CLI / Form B plugin-shipped MCP server / Form C REST/GraphQL) per the kanban entry recorded in this repo's settings. Also owns the bootstrap-side setup-capability registry that bootstrap stage predicates consume. Use even when the molecular skill body just says "read the board" or "transition card N to In Review" — that is a protocol action and dispatch goes through this skill. Do NOT use this skill for backend-agnostic schema questions ("what states does a card have", "what is the canonical Card body shape", "how is WIP counted") — that is the board-canon skill.
Use as the FIRST skill in any board-superpowers session AND as the plugin's manual page. Read this skill (body + references/) for a complete, self-contained orientation — what the plugin is, the 14-skill catalog, the 6-state Card lifecycle, on-disk state, and dispatch routing. Routes ambiguous sessions into the correct Producer routine (briefing-daily / intaking-requirement / reviewing-pr-queue / triaging-board) or Consumer mode (consuming-card, for claiming card N). Skip when the message clearly matches a downstream skill directly (e.g., "[board-card:#12]" → consuming-card).