Skill Router
Select, order, and combine skills. Resolve overlaps so the user does not have to choose between similar skills.
Routing Rules
Honor explicit user choice first.
- If the user names a skill or plugin and it is available, use it unless it is clearly unsafe, unavailable, or irrelevant.
- If the named skill is not available, say so briefly and choose the closest available fallback.
Prefer the narrowest skill that directly matches the task.
- Use artifact-specific skills for file formats and tools:
pdf, pptx, xlsx, docx, figma, browser, github, vercel.
- Use domain-specific skills for subject matter:
academic-pptx, security-review, contract-reviewer, bio-research.
- Use generic skills only when no narrower skill fits.
Separate "what" from "how".
- Content/domain skills decide substance and standards.
- Tool/file skills perform the technical work.
- Example: an academic slide deck uses
academic-pptx for structure and pptx for file generation.
Use one primary skill by default.
- Pick one primary skill that owns the main workflow.
- Add supporting skills only when they cover different responsibilities.
- Avoid loading multiple similar skills that give duplicate guidance for the same responsibility.
Combine skills only when responsibilities are complementary.
- Good:
figma-implement-design plus a project frontend skill.
- Good:
security-review plus dependency-security-audit.
- Good:
workflow-orchestrator plus one specialist per phase.
- Bad: several broad frontend design skills all trying to control the same UI decisions.
Resolve conflicts by this priority order:
- Current system/developer instructions.
- Explicit user instruction in the current turn.
- Project-local files and conventions.
- Narrow, task-specific skill.
- Plugin/tool-specific skill for the active platform.
- Broad workflow or generic quality skill.
Ask only when the conflict changes the outcome.
- If one choice is clearly safer and reversible, proceed and mention the choice.
- If two skills imply incompatible behavior, ask a concise clarification before changing files or committing to a direction.
Keep meta-skills contained.
skill-updater may diagnose and propose skill edits, but should not edit skills without explicit approval for the exact change.
continuous-learning-v2 may propose learning artifacts, but should not evolve or write durable skills automatically.
Known Conflict Table
Debugging
| Situation |
Prefer |
Avoid |
| General bug or broken build |
debugging-and-error-recovery |
Tiny generic debuggers |
| Polling, race conditions, or browser timing issues |
systematic-debugging |
Generic debuggers |
Security
| Situation |
Prefer |
Avoid |
| Security while implementing a feature |
security-and-hardening |
Generic security auditors |
| Auth or API endpoint review |
security-review |
Generic security auditors |
Code Quality
| Situation |
Prefer |
Avoid |
| Comprehensive review |
code-review-and-quality |
Narrow review helpers |
| Ultra-short PR comment review |
caveman-review |
Broad quality workflows |
Frontend and UI
| Situation |
Prefer |
Avoid |
| Build a component or page from scratch |
frontend-ui-engineering |
Broad visual-only skills |
| Improve visual quality |
high-end-visual-design |
Multiple broad frontend style skills together |
| Redesign an existing project |
redesign-existing-projects |
Starting over with a generic frontend skill |
| UX rules and patterns |
ui-ux-pro-max |
Overlapping taste guides |
| Tailwind rule checking |
baseline-ui |
Broad design skills |
Testing and Browser Work
| Situation |
Prefer |
Avoid |
| General Playwright work |
playwright-skill |
Unfocused webapp testing helpers |
| Complex test architecture or CI |
playwright-best-practices |
Simple Playwright helper only |
| Live browser debugging |
browser-testing-with-devtools |
Static-only inspection |
Web Research
| Situation |
Prefer |
Avoid |
| Broad search and scraping |
firecrawl |
Redundant single-purpose search helpers |
| Multi-source research |
deep-research |
quick-research for deep work |
| Fast summary |
quick-research |
Deep research workflows |
| Library documentation lookup |
find-docs |
General web scraping first |
Common Pipelines
New Feature to Production
spec-driven-development
-> incremental-implementation
-> security-and-hardening when auth or input handling is involved
-> code-review-and-quality
-> playwright-skill when UI is involved
-> verification-before-completion
-> finishing-a-development-branch
-> shipping-and-launch
Existing Code Is Broken
debugging-and-error-recovery -> refactor -> verification-before-completion
Web Research to Report
deep-research -> content-research-writer
UI Design to Code
high-end-visual-design or ui-ux-pro-max
-> frontend-ui-engineering
-> baseline-ui when Tailwind is used
-> browser-testing-with-devtools
User-Facing Note
When the routing choice matters, state it briefly:
I am using `academic-pptx` as the primary skill and `pptx` as the supporting file-generation skill.
Do not narrate every skill selection for small tasks. Use this note only when it prevents confusion or explains a tradeoff.
Anti-Patterns
- Do not activate every skill that might be related.
- Do not let broad workflow skills override a narrower specialist.
- Do not use two similar skills in parallel unless comparing alternatives is the task.
- Do not use skill routing as permission to edit skill files.
- Do not ask the user to choose between skills when one choice is obvious from the request.
Changelog
- [2026-05-11] Converted all Turkish routing text to English.
- [2026-05-10] Initial version: added skill selection, overlap resolution, coordination patterns, and safeguards for updater/learning skills.
1---2name: skill-router3description: Select and coordinate Codex skills when several skills, plugins, agents, or workflows could apply to the same user request. Use when there is skill overlap.4---56# Skill Router78Select, order, and combine skills. Resolve overlaps so the user does not have to choose between similar skills.910## Routing Rules11121. Honor explicit user choice first.13 - If the user names a skill or plugin and it is available, use it unless it is clearly unsafe, unavailable, or irrelevant.14 - If the named skill is not available, say so briefly and choose the closest available fallback.15162. Prefer the narrowest skill that directly matches the task.17 - Use artifact-specific skills for file formats and tools: `pdf`, `pptx`, `xlsx`, `docx`, `figma`, `browser`, `github`, `vercel`.18 - Use domain-specific skills for subject matter: `academic-pptx`, `security-review`, `contract-reviewer`, `bio-research`.19 - Use generic skills only when no narrower skill fits.20213. Separate "what" from "how".22 - Content/domain skills decide substance and standards.23 - Tool/file skills perform the technical work.24 - Example: an academic slide deck uses `academic-pptx` for structure and `pptx` for file generation.25264. Use one primary skill by default.27 - Pick one primary skill that owns the main workflow.28 - Add supporting skills only when they cover different responsibilities.29 - Avoid loading multiple similar skills that give duplicate guidance for the same responsibility.30315. Combine skills only when responsibilities are complementary.32 - Good: `figma-implement-design` plus a project frontend skill.33 - Good: `security-review` plus `dependency-security-audit`.34 - Good: `workflow-orchestrator` plus one specialist per phase.35 - Bad: several broad frontend design skills all trying to control the same UI decisions.36376. Resolve conflicts by this priority order:38 - Current system/developer instructions.39 - Explicit user instruction in the current turn.40 - Project-local files and conventions.41 - Narrow, task-specific skill.42 - Plugin/tool-specific skill for the active platform.43 - Broad workflow or generic quality skill.44457. Ask only when the conflict changes the outcome.46 - If one choice is clearly safer and reversible, proceed and mention the choice.47 - If two skills imply incompatible behavior, ask a concise clarification before changing files or committing to a direction.48498. Keep meta-skills contained.50 - `skill-updater` may diagnose and propose skill edits, but should not edit skills without explicit approval for the exact change.51 - `continuous-learning-v2` may propose learning artifacts, but should not evolve or write durable skills automatically.5253## Known Conflict Table5455### Debugging5657| Situation | Prefer | Avoid |58|---|---|---|59| General bug or broken build | `debugging-and-error-recovery` | Tiny generic debuggers |60| Polling, race conditions, or browser timing issues | `systematic-debugging` | Generic debuggers |6162### Security6364| Situation | Prefer | Avoid |65|---|---|---|66| Security while implementing a feature | `security-and-hardening` | Generic security auditors |67| Auth or API endpoint review | `security-review` | Generic security auditors |6869### Code Quality7071| Situation | Prefer | Avoid |72|---|---|---|73| Comprehensive review | `code-review-and-quality` | Narrow review helpers |74| Ultra-short PR comment review | `caveman-review` | Broad quality workflows |7576### Frontend and UI7778| Situation | Prefer | Avoid |79|---|---|---|80| Build a component or page from scratch | `frontend-ui-engineering` | Broad visual-only skills |81| Improve visual quality | `high-end-visual-design` | Multiple broad frontend style skills together |82| Redesign an existing project | `redesign-existing-projects` | Starting over with a generic frontend skill |83| UX rules and patterns | `ui-ux-pro-max` | Overlapping taste guides |84| Tailwind rule checking | `baseline-ui` | Broad design skills |8586### Testing and Browser Work8788| Situation | Prefer | Avoid |89|---|---|---|90| General Playwright work | `playwright-skill` | Unfocused webapp testing helpers |91| Complex test architecture or CI | `playwright-best-practices` | Simple Playwright helper only |92| Live browser debugging | `browser-testing-with-devtools` | Static-only inspection |9394### Web Research9596| Situation | Prefer | Avoid |97|---|---|---|98| Broad search and scraping | `firecrawl` | Redundant single-purpose search helpers |99| Multi-source research | `deep-research` | `quick-research` for deep work |100| Fast summary | `quick-research` | Deep research workflows |101| Library documentation lookup | `find-docs` | General web scraping first |102103## Common Pipelines104105### New Feature to Production106107```text108spec-driven-development109-> incremental-implementation110-> security-and-hardening when auth or input handling is involved111-> code-review-and-quality112-> playwright-skill when UI is involved113-> verification-before-completion114-> finishing-a-development-branch115-> shipping-and-launch116```117118### Existing Code Is Broken119120```text121debugging-and-error-recovery -> refactor -> verification-before-completion122```123124### Web Research to Report125126```text127deep-research -> content-research-writer128```129130### UI Design to Code131132```text133high-end-visual-design or ui-ux-pro-max134-> frontend-ui-engineering135-> baseline-ui when Tailwind is used136-> browser-testing-with-devtools137```138139## User-Facing Note140141When the routing choice matters, state it briefly:142143```text144I am using `academic-pptx` as the primary skill and `pptx` as the supporting file-generation skill.145```146147Do not narrate every skill selection for small tasks. Use this note only when it prevents confusion or explains a tradeoff.148149## Anti-Patterns150151- Do not activate every skill that might be related.152- Do not let broad workflow skills override a narrower specialist.153- Do not use two similar skills in parallel unless comparing alternatives is the task.154- Do not use skill routing as permission to edit skill files.155- Do not ask the user to choose between skills when one choice is obvious from the request.156157## Changelog158159- [2026-05-11] Converted all Turkish routing text to English.160- [2026-05-10] Initial version: added skill selection, overlap resolution, coordination patterns, and safeguards for updater/learning skills.