using-skillslisted

# Using Forge Skills If there is even a small chance a skill applies, consider it before answering, asking a clarifying question, editing files, or spawning an agent. Skills are the contract layer for this kit; skipping them is how pipeline drift returns. This router is injected only into top-level sessions by `hooks/session_init.mjs` (installed as `.claude/skills/forge/hooks/session_init.mjs`). Sub-agents receive their own lighter context and should follow the handoff they were given. ## Prompt Contract (Intake Gate) Run this before the Dispatch table, on every incoming request. Telemetry across this user's AI-assisted sessions shows the costliest anti-patterns — thousands of near-duplicate retries, agent loops burning 30+ tool calls on a single bare "fix it", frustration escalating in place instead of resetting — all start *upstream* of any skill, because the prompt never carried a goal, scope, or done-check for a skill to act on. A downstream gate (`cook`'s evidence contract, `fix`'s attempt cap) cannot save a session that never enters the pipeline. Treat a request as **under-specified** and pause dispatch if it matches any of: - **Near-duplicate** — restates a prompt from earlier this session or a very recent one, without new information (a retry, not a refinement). - **Bare retry/failure phrasing** — "fix it", "try again", a raw pasted error or stack trace with no accompanying ask, and no file/scope reference. - **Missing goal+scope+done-check** — no identifiab