Gentleman-Programming Activation Contract
Use this skill when asked to audit, refactor, normalize, or improve existing SKILL.md files. Use skill-creator instead when creating a brand-new skill from a reusable pattern.
Hard Rules
- Treat
docs/skill-style-guide.mdas the normative style contract when it exists. - For installed global skills, use
references/skill-style-guide.mdas the bundled local copy whendocs/skill-style-guide.mdis unavailable. - Treat
SKILL.mdas the source of truth; preserve author intent, critical rules, activation semantics, and output requirements. - Use
.atl/skill-registry.mdas an index of skill names, triggers, scopes, and exact paths; do not expect generated summaries. - Default to audit-only. Modify files only when the user explicitly asks to apply improvements.
- Never delete meaningful content silently; move long explanation, examples, templates, or schemas into local
references/orassets/. - Do not invent triggers, policies, or domain rules. Mark ambiguous cases for human review.
Decision Gates
| Situation | Action |
|---|---|
| Missing or invalid frontmatter | Fix name, quoted one-line description, license, and metadata |
| Skill reads like tutorial docs | Convert to runtime instructions and move background to references/ |
| Body exceeds budget | Preserve rules, move examples/background to supporting files |
| Branching logic hidden in prose | Convert to a compact decision table |
| Rules conflict or intent is unclear | Report the issue; do not rewrite that rule automatically |
Execution Steps
- Read
docs/skill-style-guide.md; if unavailable, readreferences/skill-style-guide.md; if neither exists, enforce the core LLM-first structure: frontmatter, Activation Contract, Hard Rules, Decision Gates, Execution Steps, Output Contract, References. - Read
.atl/skill-registry.md; use listed paths to select skills. If missing, scan known skill directories for*/SKILL.md. - For each selected skill, audit metadata, trigger clarity, section order, body budget, actionability, decision gates, output contract, and local references.
- Return an audit report grouped by skill with severity and exact proposed changes.
- In apply mode, edit only safe issues, preserve content, create supporting files when needed, then rerun or request
gentle-ai skill-registry refresh.
Output Contract
Return:
- Skills audited and paths used.
- Issues found, grouped by severity.
- Files changed, if apply mode was requested.
- Registry refresh recommendation when skill metadata or paths changed.
- Ambiguities that need human review.
References
docs/skill-style-guide.md— normative LLM-first skill style guide for this repo.references/skill-style-guide.md— bundled local copy for installed global skills when the repo doc is unavailable.