Preamble

Environment Detection

mkdir -p ~/.omni-skills/sessions
_PROACTIVE=$(~/.claude/skills/superomni/bin/config get proactive 2>/dev/null || echo "true")
_BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
_TEL_START=$(date +%s)
echo "Branch: $_BRANCH | PROACTIVE: $_PROACTIVE"

CRITICAL: No EnterPlanMode

When this skill is active, NEVER use Claude Code's built-in EnterPlanMode tool. Use the superomni pipeline skills (brainstorm, writing-plans, executing-plans) instead.

PROACTIVE Mode

If PROACTIVE is false: do NOT proactively suggest skills. Only run skills the user explicitly invokes. If you would have auto-invoked, say: "I think [skill-name] might help here — want me to run it?" and wait.

Completion Status Protocol

Report status using one of these at the end of every skill session:

• DONE — All steps completed. Evidence provided.
• DONE_WITH_CONCERNS — Completed with issues. List each concern explicitly.
• BLOCKED — Cannot proceed. State what blocks you and what was tried.
• NEEDS_CONTEXT — Missing information. State exactly what you need.

Auto-Advance Rule

Pipeline stage order: THINK → PLAN → REVIEW → BUILD → VERIFY → SHIP → REFLECT

REVIEW is the only human gate. All other stages auto-advance on DONE.

Status	At REVIEW stage	At all other stages
DONE	STOP — present review summary, wait for user input (Y / N / revision notes)	Auto-advance — print [STAGE] DONE → advancing to [NEXT-STAGE] and immediately invoke next skill
DONE_WITH_CONCERNS	STOP — present concerns, wait for user decision	STOP — present concerns, wait for user decision
BLOCKED / NEEDS_CONTEXT	STOP — present blocker, wait for user	STOP — present blocker, wait for user

When auto-advancing:

1. Write the session artifact to docs/superomni/
2. Print: [STAGE] DONE → advancing to [NEXT-STAGE] ([skill-name])
3. Immediately invoke the next pipeline skill

Session Continuity

When the user sends a follow-up message after a completed session, before doing anything else:

1. Scan for prior session context:

   ls docs/superomni/specs/spec-*.md docs/superomni/plans/plan-*.md docs/superomni/ .superomni/ 2>/dev/null | head -20
   git log --oneline -3 2>/dev/null
   

   To find the latest spec or plan:

   _LATEST_SPEC=$(ls docs/superomni/specs/spec-*.md 2>/dev/null | sort | tail -1)
   _LATEST_PLAN=$(ls docs/superomni/plans/plan-*.md 2>/dev/null | sort | tail -1)
   

2. If context exists → re-engage the skill framework. Pick the skill that matches the current stage (see workflow skill for stage → skill mapping) and announce: "Continuing in superomni mode — picking up at [stage] using [skill-name]."
3. If no context → treat as a fresh session and offer the relevant skill from the Quick Reference table in using-skills/SKILL.md.

Question Confirmation Protocol

When asking the user a question, match the confirmation requirement to the complexity of the response:

Question type	Confirmation rule
Single-choice — user picks one option (A/B/C, 1/2/3, Yes/No)	The user's selection IS the confirmation. Do NOT ask "Are you sure?" or require a second submission.
Free-text input — user types a value and presses Enter	The submitted text IS the confirmation. No secondary prompt needed.
Multi-choice — user selects multiple items from a list	After the user lists their selections, ask once: "Confirm these selections? (Y to proceed)" before acting.
Complex / open-ended discussion — back-and-forth clarification	Collect all input, then present a summary and ask: "Ready to proceed with the above? (Y/N)" before acting.

Rule: never add a redundant confirmation layer on top of a single-choice or text-input answer.

Custom Input Option Rule: Whenever you present a predefined list of choices (A/B/C, numbered options, etc.), always append a final "Other" option that lets the user describe their own idea:

  [last letter/number + 1]) Other — describe your own idea: ___________

When the user selects "Other" and provides their custom text, treat that text as the chosen option and proceed exactly as you would for any other selection. If the custom text is ambiguous, ask one clarifying question before proceeding.

Context Window Management

Load context progressively — only what is needed for the current phase:

Phase	Load these	Defer these
Planning	Latest docs/superomni/specs/spec-*.md, constraints, prior decisions	Full codebase, test files
Implementation	Latest docs/superomni/plans/plan-*.md, relevant source files	Unrelated modules, docs
Review/Debug	diff, failing test output, minimal repro	Full history, specs

If context pressure is high: summarize prior phases into 3-5 bullet points, then discard raw content.

Output Directory

All skill artifacts are written to docs/superomni/ (relative to project root). See the Document Output Convention in CLAUDE.md for the full directory map.

Feedback Signal Protocol

Agent failures are harness signals — not reasons to retry the same approach:

• 1 failure → retry with a different approach
• 2 failures → surface to user: "Tried [A] and [B], both failed. Recommend [C]."
• 3 consecutive failures → STOP. Report BLOCKED. Treat as a harness deficiency signal. Recommended: invoke harness-engineering skill to update the harness before retrying.
• Uncertain about security → STOP and report NEEDS_CONTEXT
• Scope exceeds verification capacity → STOP and flag blast radius

It is always OK to stop and say "this is too hard for me." Escalation is expected, not penalized.

Performance Checkpoint

After completing any skill session, run a 3-question self-check before writing the final status:

1. Process — Did I follow all defined phases? If any were skipped, state why.
2. Evidence — Is every claim backed by a test result, command output, or file reference? If not, gather the missing evidence now.
3. Scope — Did I stay within the task boundary? If I touched files outside the original scope, flag them explicitly.

If any answer is NO, address it before reporting DONE. If it cannot be addressed, report DONE_WITH_CONCERNS and name the gap.

For a full performance evaluation spanning the entire sprint, use the self-improvement skill.

Telemetry (Local Only)

_TEL_END=$(date +%s)
_TEL_DUR=$(( _TEL_END - _TEL_START ))
~/.claude/skills/superomni/bin/analytics-log "SKILL_NAME" "$_TEL_DUR" "OUTCOME" 2>/dev/null || true

Nothing is sent to external servers. Data is stored only in ~/.omni-skills/analytics/.

Writing Skills (Meta-Skill)

Goal: Create a new, well-designed skill that integrates cleanly into the superomni framework.

What Makes a Good Skill

A skill is good when:

1. Triggers are clear — there's no ambiguity about when to use it
2. Protocol is executable — an agent can follow it without interpretation
3. Output is defined — there's a defined output format/artifact
4. It doesn't duplicate — it doesn't overlap significantly with existing skills
5. It uses the preamble — via {{PREAMBLE}} for consistency

Selection Flow

Always follow this order before writing a new skill from scratch:

1. Check project built-ins     →  ls skills/ && bin/skill-manager list
2. Search the network          →  bin/skill-manager search <query>
3. Install from URL            →  bin/skill-manager install <url>
4. Write from scratch          →  follow steps below

Never write a new skill without first completing steps 1–3.

Step 1: Check Existing Skills

Before writing anything, verify no existing skill already covers your need:

# Check built-in skills for overlap
bin/skill-manager list
grep -rn "name:" skills/*/SKILL.md.tmpl | head -20

Gate: If an existing skill fits → use or extend it. Stop here. If none fits → proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: Search the Network

If no built-in skill covers your need, search GitHub and known registries:

# Search GitHub for matching skills
bin/skill-manager search <your-query>

Check known registries:

• obra/superpowers: https://github.com/obra/superpowers/tree/main/skills
• garrytan/gstack: https://github.com/garrytan/gstack/tree/main/skills

Gate: If a suitable skill is found online → install it:

bin/skill-manager install <raw-url>

Stop here. If nothing suitable → proceed to Step 3.

Step 3: Define the New Skill

Answer these questions before writing:

1. Name — short, verb-noun format (e.g., systematic-debugging, writing-plans)
2. Trigger conditions — when should this skill activate automatically?
3. What does it do? — describe in 2 sentences max
4. What is the output? — file, report, code change, recommendation?
5. What skills are similar? — how does this differ from existing skills?

Step 4: Create the Skill Directory

SKILL_NAME="your-skill-name"
mkdir -p "skills/${SKILL_NAME}"

Step 5: Write the Skill Template

Create skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md.tmpl:

Required Sections

---
name: <skill-name>
description: |
  [2-3 sentence description]
  Triggers: [comma-separated trigger phrases]
allowed-tools: [Bash, Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob]
---

{{PREAMBLE}}

# <Skill Title>

**Goal:** [One sentence: what does this skill accomplish?]

## Iron Law (if applicable)
[Absolute rule that must never be violated]

## Phase 1: [First Phase Name]
[Steps, commands, outputs]

## Phase N: [Last Phase Name]
[...]

## Status Report
[Required output format for this skill]

Checklist for Quality

• {{PREAMBLE}} is included
• YAML frontmatter has name, description, allowed-tools
• Description includes trigger phrases
• At least one "Iron Law" or governing principle
• Clear output format defined
• Status report uses DONE/DONE_WITH_CONCERNS/BLOCKED/NEEDS_CONTEXT

Step 6: Generate the SKILL.md

bash lib/gen-skill-docs.sh "skills/${SKILL_NAME}/SKILL.md.tmpl"

Verify the output:

cat "skills/${SKILL_NAME}/SKILL.md"
head -5 "skills/${SKILL_NAME}/SKILL.md"  # confirm preamble was expanded

Step 7: Register in CLAUDE.md

Add the new skill to the Skills Quick Reference in CLAUDE.md:

| <skill-name> | [trigger phrases] | P[0-2] |

Step 8: Test the Skill

Write a brief test scenario:

1. Describe a situation that should trigger this skill
2. Manually verify the skill protocol is clear and executable
3. Ensure the output format matches what the skill claims to produce

Skill Design Principles

Do

• Keep phases short and numbered
• Use code blocks for all commands
• Define explicit output formats
• Include at least one verification step
• Use the status protocol (DONE/BLOCKED/etc.)

Don't

• Don't duplicate logic from existing skills (link to them instead)
• Don't make phases so long they require scrolling
• Don't leave trigger conditions ambiguous
• Don't omit the preamble ({{PREAMBLE}})
• Don't create skills for one-time tasks

Example: Minimal Skill Template

---
name: my-skill
description: |
  Use when [trigger condition].
  Triggers: "keyword 1", "keyword 2".
allowed-tools: [Bash, Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob]
---

{{PREAMBLE}}

# My Skill

**Goal:** [What this accomplishes.]

## Iron Law
[Non-negotiable rule]

## Phase 1: [Name]
[Steps]

## Phase 2: [Name]
[Steps]

## Report

\`\`\`
MY SKILL REPORT
════════════════
Status: DONE | DONE_WITH_CONCERNS | BLOCKED
[Key output]
════════════════
\`\`\`