Skill invocation contexts

2 min readReferenceUpdated 2026-05-19

What you'll find here

The auditable boundary for one skill run — what was handed in, what came back, and what was intentionally or accidentally left out.

Context ≠ package.

The package describes reusable entrypoints and docs. The invocation context describes what one task actually handed to the skill, what came back, and what was omitted.

What it records

The craik.skill_invocation_context contract records:

Task · skill package · policy envelope · optional handoff

Input contracts

Supplied to the skill, with trust boundary metadata.

Output contracts

Expected or produced.

Omitted context

Reason · impact · severity · mitigation.

Evidence and receipt links

Redaction status

For persisted context.

Boundaries

Policy-linked, redacted, or rejected.

Craik rejects records without inputs, records with neither outputs nor omissions, and records that claim unredacted persisted context.

Missing required outputs are represented as omissions. This makes failed or partial skill runs reviewable instead of silently treating absent context as irrelevant.

Package requirements

craik.skill_package declares context_requirements for each expected input schema. Each requirement names the schema, whether the input is required, the trust boundary where it is acceptable, and the missing-context behavior:

reject

Do not invoke the skill without that context.

record_omission

Allow the run only when the missing input is recorded as an omission.

degrade

Allow a partial run while keeping the missing input visible to reviewers.

Runtime callers can validate a SkillInvocationContext against its SkillPackage before execution. That check rejects package mismatches, missing required inputs, and missing omission records for requirements that explicitly demand them.

Skill registry entries must point at confined relative source paths. Absolute paths and .. traversal are rejected before an entry can be persisted, keeping project-local and global skill discovery auditable without allowing registry records to escape their declared boundary.

What's next

ReferenceSkill telemetryInvocation outcomes, durations, validation signals.ReferenceSkill packagesThe reusable package contract this context invokes.GuideCommunity skillsAuthor expectations.