Use for Synchronet's JavaScript language and host API — the SpiderMonkey 1.8.5 dialect constraints, the object/class model (MsgBase, FileBase, File, User, system, msg_area/file_area, Socket, MQTT, etc.), how those APIs actually behave (including sharp edges like MsgBase.get_all_msg_headers() lazy fields), writing tests in exec/tests/, and the stock exec/*.js module ecosystem as API references. Trigger when authoring or debugging Synchronet .js/.ssjs/.xjs code, asking "how does the MsgBase/User/FileBase API work", "why is h.to_ext undefined", "why is JSON.parse failing on only some lines of my .jsonl", "what JS can I use in Synchronet", or "is there a stock script that does X". For *running* JS (jsexec flags, invocation, debug builds) see the jsexec skill; for storage-layer SMB repair see smbutils.
Use whenever you need to RUN Synchronet JavaScript — executing inline JS expressions, running scripts from the install's exec/ directory, testing JS modules, or validating changes to .js/.ssjs/.xjs files against a live install. This skill covers the jsexec runner itself: invocation modes, flags, output capture, crash tracing, and (on Windows) running a freshly-built debug binary. Trigger on "run a Synchronet script", "test this JS against Synchronet", "check what jsexec does", or any one-off JavaScript probe of a live install. For the JavaScript LANGUAGE and host API (how MsgBase/User/FileBase behave, SpiderMonkey dialect, the object model, writing tests, stock exec/*.js) see the javascript skill.
Use when inspecting, validating, repairing, importing into, or maintaining a Synchronet Message Base (SMB) file — mail (mail.shd), message sub-boards (data/subs/<code>.shd), or file bases (data/file/<code>.shd) — via the smbutil, chksmb, or fixsmb command-line tools. Trigger whenever the user mentions smbutil, chksmb, fixsmb, SMB files, .shd / .sdt / .sid / .sha files, "the mail base", "rebuild/renumber the message base", "pack the sub", "check the message base for corruption", "repair an SMB", "dump a hash file", "view headers", "import a message", or any low-level inspection, validation, or repair of a Synchronet messaging file that isn't doable from inside the BBS or MsgBase JS API. Prefer this skill over guessing flags or shelling out blind.
Use when working with Synchronet's MQTT integration — discovering whether MQTT is enabled (the `[MQTT]` section of `ctrl/main.ini`, **not** `sbbs.ini`), reading broker address/port/credentials/TLS settings, connecting with `mosquitto_sub`/`mosquitto_pub` (anonymous, user+pass, or one of four TLS modes: CA, mTLS, PSK, SBBS-internal-CA), or interacting with the topic tree for **monitoring** (server/node status, node-output spying, `action/#`, retained `login_attempts/<IP>` and `max_concurrent/<IP>`, log streams `…/log[/<N>]`) or **controlling** the BBS (production-impacting topics that recycle/pause/resume servers, clear failed-login lists, set node flags, inject input or messages into a node — plus the local-filesystem equivalents in `ctrl/`). Trigger on "is MQTT enabled", "what's the broker address", "subscribe to all sbbs logs", "pause/recycle via MQTT", "inject a message into node N", "clear failed-login for an IP", or "spy on a node remotely".
Use when locating the right Synchronet log file or stream for a given question on Windows or *nix — the per-category files in `data/` (error/hack/spam/guru/hungup/crash/events/sbbsecho/sendmail/logon/csts.tab), the per-day Terminal Server logs in `data/logs/<date>.log`, the Web Server's HTTP access log, the server console (lprintf) stream and its routing to syslog/journalctl/console depending on daemon mode and init system, the sbbsctrl-on-Windows-only `data/logs/{TS,WS,MS,FS}*.LOG` trap, MQTT log subscription, multi-instance traps when sibling BBSes share `text/*.can`, and the `ip.can`/`ip-silent.can` field format. Trigger on "did the auto-filter fire?", "tail the web server log", "where do hack attempts go?", "subscribe to all logs across hosts", "decode an ip.can line", or "why doesn't WS<date>.LOG update on Linux?"
Use when authoring or modifying Synchronet Terminal Server display/menu files — anything in `text/`, `text/menu/`, `mods/text/`, `mods/text/menu/`, `data/subs/<code>.*`, `data/dirs/<code>.*`. Covers Ctrl-A (^A) attribute codes, @-code message variables, the file-extension priority by terminal type (rip/ans/mon/asc/msg/seq/utf8), .Xcol/.cX width variants, language overlays, security gating, mouse hotspots, and the C++/JS/Baja entry points that render these files. For the runtime string database (`ctrl/text.dat`, `ctrl/text.ini`, `ctrl/text.<lang>.ini`) see the `text` skill. Trigger on tasks like "add help menu file", "fix CGA brown color", "show this only to sysops", "make this prompt work on PETSCII", "what @-codes are available in this context", "why isn't my .ans file being picked up", "wire @SHOW:LEVEL40@", or any work that touches the look/content of what a remote BBS user sees.
Use when a sysop wants to customize the text strings/prompts Synchronet sends to remote users — the runtime `text[]` string database. Covers `ctrl/text.dat` syntax (Ctrl-A codes, @-codes, %-specifiers, mnemonics, the decimal-`\NNN`-vs-hex-`\xNN` trap, multi-line continuation, %-vs-@-code mutual exclusion, missing-line fallback to compiled default), `ctrl/text.ini` override file (three sections: by-ID overrides, `[substr]` global substitution, `[JS]` for `gettext()` strings), `ctrl/text.<lang>.ini` per-language overlays, and the recycle-required consequence. For display files see `menus`; for `gettext()`/`js.load_text()` see `javascript`; for recycling see `control`. Trigger on "change a BBS prompt", "translate strings", "override text.dat without editing it", "what's text.ini", "retheme the BBS colors", "replace \1g with \1m everywhere" (or any global Ctrl-A code substitution), or "why didn't my text.dat change take effect".
Use when controlling a running Synchronet instance — recycling/reloading, shutdown, pause, clearing the failed-login list, or forcing a timed event. Covers cross-platform **semaphore files** in `ctrl/`/`data/` (`recycle`/`shutdown`/`pause`/`clear` with per-server `.<service>` and per-host `.<hostname>` suffix variants for shared-`ctrl/` setups), POSIX signals to `sbbscon` (SIGTERM/etc. = quit, SIGHUP = recycle-all), OS service managers (systemctl, service, launchctl, sc.exe), Windows front-ends (sbbsctrl, sbbsNTsvcs), the `node rerun` utility, the "won't recycle while in use" gotcha, and the `NO_RECYCLE` flag. For control via MQTT — often preferred even on the same host — see the `mqtt` skill. Trigger on "recycle the web server", "restart sbbs", "pause connections", "clear failed-login list", "send a signal to sbbs", "force a timed event", or "remove an IP ban".