Skills

codexclaw ships its discipline as skills. Eight are implicit-visible; the rest load on demand.

Implicit vs on-demand

Eight skills are implicit. The shipped implicit set is dev, search, interview, pabcd, recall, loop, dev-frontend, and dev-uiux-design. cxc-dev remains the coding work classifier (C0-C5); the others expose current lookup, interview, workflow, recall, work-loop, and design/anti-slop affordances when their triggers match.
Everything else is on-demand. dev-backend, dev-testing, qa, repo-map, ast-grep, and the rest load when the task or you call them.

The skill hub is a catalog, not a runtime loader. It lists what exists; it does not auto-load skills behind your back.

Four names for one skill

Codex exposes the same skill under several forms. Docs and prompts may use any of them:

Form	Example
Directory shorthand	`dev-testing`, `search`, `ast-grep`
Skill name	`$cxc-dev-testing`, `$cxc-search`, `$cxc-ast-grep`
Plugin-native mention	`$codexclaw:cxc-dev-testing`
Source-path fallback	`plugins/codexclaw/skills/dev-testing/SKILL.md`

Subagent attachment (resolvable mentions in the spawn message)

Skill attachment intent travels through the spawn message. Prefer link-form [$cxc-<skill>](skill://<abs SKILL.md path>); when the path is not link-safe, use the plugin-native $codexclaw:cxc-<skill> fallback. V1 parses either form on the child’s first turn and injects the full SKILL.md body. On plaintext V2 provider/proxy paths, the codexclaw spawn hook normalizes mentions and inlines recognized skill bodies. Native ChatGPT-backend V2 gives the hook ciphertext, so both operations are no-ops there. When no body can be inlined, the hook appends a plaintext [CXC-SKILL-AFFORDANCE] block telling the child to self-load any $cxc-<folder> / $codexclaw:cxc-<folder> mention from <skillsDir>/<folder>/SKILL.md; fork inheritance remains a secondary channel. Manual V1 callers may use the stronger structured items channel.

Two layers keep this deterministic:

Name skills explicitly when dispatching: put the matching $codexclaw:cxc-dev-* (and $codexclaw:cxc-search for research lanes) in the spawn message yourself, or use their preferred link forms.
The spawn-attach hook repairs plaintext mentions. The always-on spawn PreToolUse hook normalizes known broken/bare cxc mentions and performs V2 body inlining only when the message reaches it as plaintext. It does not add role baselines or infer missing surface skills; the dispatcher still names those.

dev-* routing

After classifying a task, cxc-dev routes to surface-specific skills. A sample of the routing overlays:

Trigger	Loads	When
`tdd` / `testing`	`dev-testing`	TDD enforced or regression risk
`ddd` / `clean_arch` / `architecture`	`dev-architecture`, `dev-backend`	Boundary pressure at C3/C4
`review` / `code_review`	`dev-code-reviewer`	Review requested or C3/C4
`threat_model` / `security`	`dev-security`	C4 security/data/tooling risk
`debugging` / `debugging_rca`	`dev-debugging`	Repeated failure needs root cause
`devops` / `infra` / `deploy`	`dev-devops`	Container/K8s/IaC/deploy/SRE
`frontend_ui`	`dev-frontend`, `dev-uiux-design`	UI/design intent or prototype work
`crud_fullstack`	`dev-backend`, `dev-frontend`, `dev-testing`	Full-stack slice with coupled UI + API

Search skills

cxc-search is for external / current / public web information. Use it when the answer would change with recent events, versions, or prices.
cxc-recall is for past-session context. Use it before asking the user to repeat earlier work.
cxc-sparksearch is a cheap parallel discovery lane that hands candidates back to cxc-search for proof.
cxc-ultraresearch is the deeper multi-wave research protocol for broad investigations.
cxc-ast-grep is a structural code-search helper. Reach for plain rg first for ordinary text search, and ast-grep when you need syntax-aware matching or rewrites.

Shipped skill inventory

codexclaw currently ships 25 skill directories:

Skill	Folder	Role
`cxc-dev`	`dev`	Always-on development classifier, modularity, verification, and safety.
`cxc-pabcd`	`pabcd`	IPABCD / PABCD workflow discipline.
`cxc-interview`	`interview`	Persistent I-phase requirements discovery and contradiction tracking.
`cxc-orchestrate`	`orchestrate`	Explicit phase-control surface for chat and CLI.
`cxc-loop`	`loop`	Repeated PABCD work-phase continuation policy.
`cxc-goalplan`	`goalplan`	Durable goalplan, checkpoints, and quality gates.
`cxc-dev-architecture`	`dev-architecture`	Module boundaries, circular deps, coupling, validation placement.
`cxc-dev-backend`	`dev-backend`	API, server, database, queues, and backend operations.
`cxc-dev-data`	`dev-data`	Pipelines, ETL/ELT, SQL, schema, backfills, and reports.
`cxc-dev-debugging`	`dev-debugging`	Runtime root-cause debugging method.
`cxc-dev-frontend`	`dev-frontend`	Frontend/UI implementation and responsive layout.
`cxc-dev-uiux-design`	`dev-uiux-design`	UX direction, states, visual judgment, logos, and typography.
`cxc-dev-testing`	`dev-testing`	Test strategy, QA, Playwright, contracts, CI, and coverage.
`cxc-qa`	`qa`	Manual surface-driving QA evidence for web, TUI, CLI, and API surfaces.
`cxc-dev-code-reviewer`	`dev-code-reviewer`	Review verdicts, findings, and risk assessment.
`cxc-dev-security`	`dev-security`	Auth, secrets, validation, supply chain, and threat-model work.
`cxc-dev-devops`	`dev-devops`	Containers, deploy pipelines, IaC, SRE, and release surfaces.
`cxc-dev-scaffolding`	`dev-scaffolding`	Project/module scaffolding and source-of-truth docs.
`cxc-search`	`search`	Current/public lookup ladder and source-proof discipline.
`cxc-recall`	`recall`	Read-only past chat and memory recall before asking the user.
`cxc-skill-hub`	`skill-hub`	On-demand catalog router for non-implicit capabilities.
`cxc-repo-map`	`repo-map`	Tree-sitter/PageRank repository overview for unfamiliar codebase exploration.
`cxc-ast-grep`	`ast-grep`	AST-aware structural search and deterministic codemods.
`cxc-sparksearch`	`sparksearch`	Parallel public-web discovery lane that depends on `cxc-search`.
`cxc-ultraresearch`	`ultraresearch`	Deep multi-source research protocol with journal and claim ledger.