canopy

Runtime required. This skill uses Canopy tree notation; canopy-runtime must be active.

Detect canopy-runtime — present if either:

• canopy-runtime/SKILL.md exists under .claude/skills/, .github/skills/, or .agents/skills/, OR
• a canopy-runtime marker block exists in CLAUDE.md or .github/copilot-instructions.md.

If neither is present — install canopy-runtime first (see the compatibility field for the source and install options), then re-invoke this skill.

Do not interpret the ## Tree without canopy-runtime active.

$ARGUMENTS

Agent

explore — execute FETCH_DISPATCH_CONTEXT. Output contract: assets/schemas/dispatch-schema.json.

Tree

• canopy
  • EXPLORE >> context
  • IF << context.operation requires an explicit skill name (IMPROVE, MODIFY, VALIDATE, SCAFFOLD, CONVERT_TO_CANOPY, CONVERT_TO_REGULAR) AND context.target_skill is null
    • ASK << Which skill should I {context.operation}? Please name it explicitly.
  • IF << context.platform == "claude"
    • Read ../canopy-runtime/SKILL.md for the canopy execution engine overview
    • Read ../canopy-runtime/references/runtime-claude.md for Claude Code runtime rules
    • Read ../canopy-runtime/references/ops.md for the primitive-slice index (load specific slices on demand from individual ops)
    • Read ../canopy-runtime/references/skill-resources.md for category semantics, op lookup chain, tree format, manifest, subagent contract
  • ELSE
    • Read ../canopy-runtime/SKILL.md for the canopy execution engine overview
    • Read ../canopy-runtime/references/runtime-copilot.md for Copilot runtime rules
    • Read ../canopy-runtime/references/ops.md for the primitive-slice index (load specific slices on demand from individual ops)
    • Read ../canopy-runtime/references/skill-resources.md for category semantics, op lookup chain, tree format, manifest, subagent contract
  • SWITCH << context.operation
    • CASE << "CREATE"
      • Read references/ops/create.md and execute the CREATE procedure
    • CASE << "MODIFY"
      • Read references/ops/modify.md and execute the MODIFY procedure
    • CASE << "SCAFFOLD"
      • Read references/ops/scaffold.md and execute the SCAFFOLD procedure
    • CASE << "CONVERT_TO_CANOPY"
      • Read references/ops/convert-to-canopy.md and execute the CONVERT_TO_CANOPY procedure
    • CASE << "VALIDATE"
      • Read references/ops/validate.md and execute the VALIDATE procedure
    • CASE << "IMPROVE"
      • Read references/ops/improve.md and execute the IMPROVE procedure
    • CASE << "ADVISE"
      • Read references/ops/advise.md and execute the ADVISE procedure
    • CASE << "REFACTOR_SKILLS"
      • Read references/ops/refactor-skills.md and execute the REFACTOR_SKILLS procedure
    • CASE << "CONVERT_TO_REGULAR"
      • Read references/ops/convert-to-regular.md and execute the CONVERT_TO_REGULAR procedure
    • CASE << "ACTIVATE"
      • Read references/ops/activate.md and execute the ACTIVATE procedure
    • CASE << "MEASURE_CONTEXT"
      • Read references/ops/measure-context.md and execute the MEASURE_CONTEXT procedure
    • CASE << "HELP"
      • Read references/ops/help.md and execute the HELP procedure
    • DEFAULT
      • ASK << Could not determine the operation. What would you like to do? | Create a skill | Modify a skill | Scaffold a skill | Validate a skill | Improve a skill | Advise | Refactor skills | Convert to regular | Activate runtime | Measure context | Help

Rules

• Never overwrite existing files without confirmation
• For ops that target a specific skill (IMPROVE, MODIFY, VALIDATE, SCAFFOLD, CONVERT_TO_CANOPY, CONVERT_TO_REGULAR): if the skill name is not stated explicitly, ASK before proceeding — never infer from natural language descriptions or loop over multiple skills
• Always show a plan before making any changes
• Preserve the skill's existing tree syntax style (markdown list vs box-drawing) unless the user asks to switch
• Preserve the skill's existing directory layout (legacy flat vs. standard scripts//references//assets/) during MODIFY — IMPROVE may migrate it on user opt-in
• Do not change a skill's logic or intent during CONVERT_TO_CANOPY, MODIFY, or VALIDATE
• SKILL.md must contain only orchestration — no inline JSON, YAML, tables, scripts, or templates
• Skill files must be exactly SKILL.md (uppercase) — case-sensitive filesystems require this
• Skills with ## Tree must have a compatibility field declaring canopy-runtime requirement and a safety preamble guard block at the top of the body
• Frontmatter root contains only spec-allowed fields (name, description, license, compatibility, metadata, allowed-tools); argument-hint and user-invocable go inside metadata
• Framework primitives (IF, ELSE_IF, ELSE, SWITCH, CASE, DEFAULT, FOR_EACH, PARALLEL, BREAK, END, ASK, SHOW_PLAN, EXPLORE, VERIFY_EXPECTED) are never defined in skill or project ops — they live in canopy-runtime's primitive slices (indexed by ../canopy-runtime/references/ops.md; per-slice files under ../canopy-runtime/references/ops/)
• Before creating any op or resource file, consult the slice index ../canopy-runtime/references/ops.md (loaded up-front) and any existing project-wide ops the consumer has defined — reference shared content, never duplicate it
• After any change to a skill or agent file, verify every Read \<category-path>/<file>`` reference and every op procedure path still resolves to an existing file
• The platform runtime spec (../canopy-runtime/references/runtime-claude.md or ../canopy-runtime/references/runtime-copilot.md) is loaded up-front by this skill's tree and is in context for every op procedure

Response: operation | platform | target_skill | outcome