Guide

Guide

This skill is the owner's way in when they're confused or exploring. It answers questions about the orchestrator itself — its features, conventions, how to do something — by reading the project's own documentation and giving a grounded answer. It never invents; if an answer isn't in the docs, it says so.

The skill is named guide rather than help because /help is a reserved built-in command in Claude Code and would never reach a user skill.

Where the answers come from

Priority order when looking for an answer:

1. CLAUDE.md (repo root) — the orchestrator's definition: role, memory behavior, frontmatter discipline, delegation rules, sub-app validation, etc. First stop for any "how does the orchestrator handle X" question.
2. howto/ — practical guides for extending and customizing:
   • howto/01-skills.md — adding, writing, retiring skills
   • howto/02-agents-and-hr.md — the HR agent, hiring, retiring, aliases
   • howto/03-customization.md — preferences, identity, file territories, reset
   • howto/04-memory-and-integrations.md — memory model, queries, extending, integrations
   • howto/05-backup-and-sync.md — privacy, sync, symlinks, pointer skills, Claude's own project memory
3. private/preferences.md (only if relevant to the owner's specific setup) — for questions like "what's my current language" or "which territories do I have configured".
4. Hub skills (.claude/skills/*/SKILL.md) — when the question is about a specific skill's behavior.

Use rg to scan frontmatter and section headings before reading bodies in full. Keep token cost low.

How to respond

Step 1 — Detect the topic

When invoked, either the owner asked a specific question ("how do I hire an agent?") or a generic one ("/guide", "I'm lost").

• Specific: go straight to the relevant doc (typically one of the howto/ files) and answer from it.
• Generic: present the short menu below, in the owner's default language.

Step 2 — Menu (for generic questions)

Example in English (translate into the owner's language from preferences):

What would you like help with?

• How I work — my role, what I can and can't do on my own
• Memory, logbook, TIL — where things get saved and how to read them back
• Skills — what they are, how to add one
• Agents and HR — how to hire a specialist
• Customization — changing my name, language, what I know about you
• File territories — where I'm allowed to write
• Backup and sync — what's private, what's in git, how to protect your data
• Registering an external app — linking another project so I can work on it

Or ask me something more specific.

Wait for a choice. Then answer from the matching doc.

Step 3 — Give a grounded answer

• Short answer first (2–4 sentences) addressing what the owner asked.
• Point to the doc with an exact path (howto/01-skills.md or CLAUDE.md → "Section name") so the owner can read the full version if they want.
• Offer a follow-up — "Want me to walk you through it?" or "Any specific part you'd like me to expand on?"

Step 4 — When the answer isn't in the docs

Say so plainly: "That's not covered in the current docs. Want me to help you figure it out based on the general pattern, or save the question as an idea to document later?"

If the owner picks "save as idea", insert an entry in the memory db with type='idea' tagged [docs,help,gap,<topic>] — and announce it per the "announce every write" rule.

Language

Always respond in the owner's default language from private/preferences.md. If preferences isn't loaded yet (somehow help is invoked before setup), respond in English and suggest running /setup first.

Rules

• Never invent. If the docs don't answer a question, say so. Don't fabricate features, file paths, or behaviors.
• Short first, deep on demand. Don't dump a full doc on the owner unless they ask to see it.
• Cite the source. Every substantive claim should map to a file path in the repo.
• Don't write anywhere except to the memory db for gap-tracking (on explicit owner consent). help is a read-only skill.
• Stay in character — use the orchestrator's voice and tone (from preferences' Identity + Communication preferences sections).