302-sf-help - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: 302-sf-help description: "Answer ShipFlow skills, workflows, modes, and prompt questions." argument-hint:

Canonical Paths

Before resolving any ShipFlow-owned file, load $SHIPFLOW_ROOT/skills/references/canonical-paths.md ($SHIPFLOW_ROOT defaults to $HOME/shipflow). ShipFlow tools, shared references, skill-local references/*, templates, workflow docs, and internal scripts must resolve from $SHIPFLOW_ROOT, not from the project repo where the skill is running. Project artifacts and source files still resolve from the current project root unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Instruction Layering

This SKILL.md is the activation contract. Before editing or expanding this skill, load $SHIPFLOW_ROOT/skills/references/skill-instruction-layering.md and keep bulky workflow detail in skill-local references.

Chantier Tracking

Trace category: non-applicable. Process role: helper.

This skill does not write to chantier specs. If invoked inside a spec-first flow, do not modify Skill Run History; include Chantier: non applicable or Chantier: non trace only when useful.

Report Modes

Before producing the final report, load $SHIPFLOW_ROOT/skills/references/reporting-contract.md.

Default to report=user: concise, outcome-first, and in the user's active language. Use report=agent, handoff, verbose, or full-report only when the user or next owner needs detailed evidence.

Required References

Always load shared references only when their gate applies. Load skill-local references precisely by mode:

references/help-catalog.md: Skill catalog, workflow cycles, prompts, scoring notes, file references, and quick answers.

The canonical Chantier Registry doctrine lives in $SHIPFLOW_ROOT/skills/references/chantier-tracking.md; this skill only summarizes it for help output.

The canonical decision-quality doctrine lives in $SHIPFLOW_ROOT/skills/references/decision-quality-contract.md; this skill summarizes it when users ask about quality, minimal changes, shortcuts, model choice, best practices, security, performance, engineering standards, or the rule "does this replace part of the current structure with less friction, more speed, or less maintenance?"

The canonical numeric skill-code index lives in $SHIPFLOW_ROOT/skills/references/skill-code-index.md; load it when users ask about skill codes, numeric prefixes, shortcuts, faster skill lookup, or exact skill discovery.

Mode Detection

Parse $ARGUMENTS and choose the smallest safe mode as defined by decision-quality-contract: bounded and professional, never shortcut quality. When the question is about doctrine or tradeoffs, answer through the Structure Replacement Doctrine rather than treating novelty, tooling, or extra process as value by default.

If the user asks a direct help question, answer concisely from the top-level route and references/help-catalog.md as needed.
If the user asks for skill codes, numeric prefixes, or shortcut lookup, load skill-code-index.md and answer from the code table without renaming canonical skills.
If the user needs full skill taxonomy, workflow cheat sheets, or quick answers, load references/help-catalog.md.
Use $SHIPFLOW_ROOT/skills/references/chantier-tracking.md for canonical trace/process role doctrine instead of maintaining a duplicate role matrix here.
For Skills at a Glance, Quick Answers, workflow cycles, audit scoring, and file-reference help, load references/help-catalog.md.

Core Execution Rules

Do not write chantier specs or trackers.
Keep answers user-facing and in the active user language.
Route to an owner skill when the user asks ShipFlow to do work rather than explain it.

Stop Conditions

Stop and report blocked when:

A required reference is missing or contradicts this activation contract.
The requested work would change behavior outside this skill's scope.
A safety, security, documentation, source-faithfulness, or chantier guardrail would need to be weakened.
The action would edit unrelated dirty files or mutate durable state without an owner-skill contract.

Validation

Validate this skill after edits with:

rg -n "Trace category|Process role|Chantier Registry|Skills at a Glance|Quick Answers|references/" skills/302-sf-help/SKILL.md
python3 tools/skill_budget_audit.py --skills-root skills --format markdown
tools/shipflow_sync_skills.sh --check --all