# skill-scout — commissioning skill extension
# Fetches purpose-specific external skills at commission time.
# Add this capability to the commissioning skill Step 3 (compose path)
# whenever a builder scion is being commissioned.

---

## When to run skill-scout

Run skill-scout before commissioning any builder scion. The sorter scion
and commit-tracker hook do not require external skills — they are covered
by their spore files alone. The builder scion does, because the quality
of its output depends on the aesthetic and technical conventions of the
build type (frontend-design, annotated-writing, etc.).

---

## Skill-scout decision table

| Section being built    | Recommended external skill           | Source                          |
|------------------------|--------------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| Home page (star-map)   | frontend-design + ux-design          | anthropics/skills + wondelai    |
| Writings               | annotated-writing                    | project skills (user-supplied)  |
| Videos                 | frontend-design                      | anthropics/skills               |
| Images (slideshow)     | frontend-design                      | anthropics/skills               |
| Playlists / Watchlists | frontend-design                      | anthropics/skills               |
| Music gallery          | frontend-design                      | anthropics/skills               |
| Creature Playground    | commissioning-skill (recursive)      | this workspace                  |
| Any section (UI/UX)    | ux-design (refactoring-ui + ux-heuristics) | wondelai/skills           |

---

## Skill-scout process

1. Identify the section being built from the ToBuild/{section}/ path
2. Look up the recommended skill from the decision table above
3. Check whether the skill is already present in commissioning-skill/fetched-skills/
4. If absent: fetch from source
   - For GitHub-hosted skills: clone or download the SKILL.md (and references/ if present)
   - Save to commissioning-skill/fetched-skills/{skill-name}/
5. Set SCION_EXTERNAL_SKILL env var to the fetched skill path before spawning builder
6. Include fetched skill contents in the builder scion's commission package

## Fetched skill cache

```
commissioning-skill/
└── fetched-skills/
    ├── frontend-design/
    │   └── SKILL.md
    ├── annotated-writing/
    │   ├── SKILL.md
    │   └── references/
    └── ux-design/
        └── SKILL.md
```

Fetched skills are cached between commission cycles. Do not re-fetch on
every commission — check the cache first. Re-fetch only if the skill file
is older than 7 days or if the parent explicitly requests a refresh.

---

## Skill-scout for Creature Playground

The Creature Playground section is special: scions build there autonomously.
The parent commissions a builder scion with the commissioning-skill itself
bundled (recursive commissioning). The scion can then commission sub-scions
of its own within the Playground scope. Output is for review only — nothing
in Creature Playground is deployed to the live site without explicit parent
review and JL's commit trigger.

---

## Integration point in commissioning skill

Add between Step 3b (reason through decision surface) and Step 3c (write
spore entries) for builder task class:

```
3b-scout: If task-class is builder:
    - Identify section from ToBuild path
    - Run skill-scout to fetch appropriate external skill
    - Set SCION_EXTERNAL_SKILL to fetched skill path
    - Proceed to 3c with external skill context available
```

The external skill content should be appended to the builder scion's spore
file reference list, not embedded inline — keep the spore file itself within
its token budget.
