skill-orchestrator

name	skill-orchestrator
description	Orchestrate skill-based work by deciding whether to reuse, combine, extend, or create skills for a task. Use when a request spans multiple skills, when you are planning a new skill or workflow, when existing skills may already cover parts of the work, or when a project needs a repeatable skill stack instead of ad hoc prompting. Prefer this skill before creating new skills from scratch.

Skill Orchestrator

Coordinate skill-based execution as a system, not as isolated one-off triggers.

Core rule

Follow this decision order:

1. Reuse an existing skill.
2. Combine multiple existing skills.
3. Extend an existing skill or wrapper workflow.
4. Create a new skill only if a real gap remains.

Do not skip directly to new-skill creation unless earlier options have been checked.

Main workflow

Step 1 — Break the task down

Identify the task's subproblems, outputs, tools, and recurring parts.

Step 2 — Search existing skills

Check local skills first. If appropriate, also check external sources such as ClawHub.

Step 3 — Evaluate coverage

For each subproblem, decide whether coverage is:

• full
• partial
• absent

Step 4 — Choose the orchestration path

Pick one:

• Reuse: one existing skill covers the work.
• Combine: multiple existing skills cover the work together.
• Extend: an existing skill is close, but needs added references, rules, or wrapper logic.
• Create: no acceptable coverage exists; build a new skill.

Step 5 — Produce a clear execution plan

State:

1. chosen path
2. skills involved
3. role of each skill
4. gaps or risks
5. final artifact to create, if any

Skill composition model

Treat multi-skill work as explicit composition.

Relationship types

• Prerequisite: a skill that should run first
• Companion: a skill that strengthens another skill during the same task
• Escalation: a stronger or deeper skill used when the first path is insufficient
• Builder: a skill used to create or improve another skill

Skill stack guidance

For complex recurring work, define a lightweight skill stack with ordered roles.

Example patterns:

• discovery → install/evaluate → build
• governance → workspace cleanup → skill refinement
• research → synthesis → automation

Keep the stack explicit. Do not rely on vague intuition about which skill should come next.

Conversational skill generation

When a new skill may be needed, do not jump straight into writing SKILL.md.

Use this sequence:

1. decompose the task
2. inspect existing skills
3. identify the true gap
4. decide whether to extend or create
5. create the smallest sufficient skill
6. test on a real use case
7. refine from actual failure or friction

Hard constraints

• Prefer reuse over reinvention.
• Prefer composition over proliferation.
• Prefer extending an existing good skill over cloning it.
• Create a new skill only when the gap is stable, recurring, and not better solved by project files or workflow templates.
• Keep routing logic explicit and auditable.

Outputs

When orchestrating skill work, produce a concise decision with:

• recommended path: reuse / combine / extend / create
• skills selected
• why this path is best
• missing pieces
• next implementation action

References

Read these references as needed:

• references/skill-stack-patterns.md for general stack design and routing patterns
• references/real-skill-stack-examples.md for stack examples that map onto existing skills
• references/extend-vs-create-and-conflicts.md for extend-vs-create decisions and multi-skill conflict handling
• references/fallback-and-degradation.md for stack fallback rules when preferred skills are unavailable, too risky, or too heavy