int2t05 Using Skills
A router. Identify the SDLC phase of the incoming work, then activate the matching
skill. Skills live under nine SDLC phases, plus a meta group for this router and
skill-authoring.
When to use
- Start of a session, before any response or action.
- Unsure which skill fits the task at hand.
- A task spans multiple phases and you need to sequence them.
Not for: mid-task when a skill is already active — don't re-route. For any new task, route even if it seems obvious; the skill may enforce discipline the shortcut skips.
Rationalizations that skip routing — resist them:
| Excuse | Reality |
|---|---|
| "This is just a simple question." | Questions are tasks. A skill may structure the answer. |
| "I already know how to do this." | Knowing how ≠ following the discipline. The skill enforces the steps. |
| "It's faster to just do it." | A skipped test-first or review is a bug shipped faster. |
| "The skill is obvious here." | Obvious to route ≠ obvious to follow. Invoke it; let it run. |
| "This is too small for a skill." | Small tasks are where discipline slips. tdd/debugging scale down. |
| "I'll route after I start." | Starting unrouted biases you against the skill's process. Route first. |
Steps
Pick the phase, then activate the entry-point skill it lists.
- meta —
using-skills(this router) ·skill-authoring(author + eval skills) - 01-product —
brainstorm·spec·oss-strategy - 02-research —
research(general / market / tech-selection modes) - 03-design —
architecture·domain-modeling·api-design·codebase-design·frontend-design·image-to-code·imagegen·design-research·schema-design·prompt-engineering·prototype - 04-develop —
implement·multi-agent-orchestration·breakdown·context-engineering·i18n·auth-implementation·error-handling - 05-tune —
cost-optimization·performance·simplify·refactoring - 06-test —
tdd·test-generation·api-testing·e2e-testing·load-testing - 07-verify —
a11y-review·code-review·debugging·security-review·linting - 08-ship —
shipping·git-workflow·ci-cd·deprecation-migration·oss-polish - 09-operate —
observability·documentation-audit·purity-audit·handoff·incident-response
- meta —
Disambiguate with three questions:
- Building new, or fixing what exists? New → start at
01-product(brainstorm/spec), not04-develop. Fixing →07-verify(debugging), then06-test(tdd) to lock the fix. - Process question or implementation question? Process skills (
brainstorm,debugging,code-review) run before implementation skills (frontend-design,api-design). - About to ship? Run
08-shipin order:git-workflow→ci-cd→shipping.
- Building new, or fixing what exists? New → start at
Sequence multi-phase work in phase order; finish one skill before starting the next. A full feature may run product → design → develop → test → verify → ship. A bug fix may be just
debugging→tdd→code-review→git-workflow.Skills are rigid (TDD, debugging — follow exactly) or flexible (patterns — adapt to context). The skill's own body tells you which.
For the full decision tree — every branch routed to its skill — see
references/phase-tree.md.
Verify
The routed skill's ## When to use matches the task, and the skill activates via the Skill tool without a mismatch signal. If the skill's triggers don't fit the work, re-route — don't force-fit.
If no skill fits after disambiguation — don't force a poor match:
- Say so — name the gap explicitly rather than silently improvising.
- Use general engineering ability to help directly (the principles are always loaded).
- If the gap is recurring, suggest the user invoke
skill-authoring— the pack grows by filling real needs, not speculative ones.
References
- ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/engineering-principles.md — discipline shared by every skill in this collection.
- references/phase-tree.md — full ASCII decision tree by phase and task shape.
External skill discovery (npx skills find/add) is out of scope — this router maps tasks to this collection's 47 internal skills only.