Skill v18.1.1
currentLLM-judged scan90/100name: codex-domain-specialist description: Use when frontend, backend, mobile, data, DevOps, or security work needs domain routing and at most four focused references. load_priority: on-demand version: "18.1.1"
TL;DR
Detect the primary domain, load at most 4 references from references/INDEX.md, and stay inside that domain. Frontend UI goes to codex-frontend-implementation. Do not announce this skill at start. Quality gates are loaded by the gate skills, not here.
Domain Specialist
Activation
- Domain-specific file edits or explicit
$codex-domain-specialist. - Check
.codex/profile.jsonfirst (references/project-profile-spec.md). If missing, use detection inreferences/INDEX.md.
Load budget
- Max 4 references on the first pass. Declare
Loading:andSkipping:. - Frontend/UI/React/Next/CSS/GSAP: load
codex-frontend-implementation, not local frontend catalogs. references/output-quality-gates.mdis owned bycodex-execution-quality-gate/codex-visual-quality-gate. Do not bulk-load it here.
Routing
Use references/INDEX.md for the decision table, signal maps, combos, and starters. Compact detection:
| Signal | Domain | |
|---|---|---|
.tsx / components / styling | Frontend → implementation skill | |
routes/, services/, api/ | Backend API | |
| schema, migration, query | Database | |
| auth, secrets, attack surface | Security | |
| Docker, CI/CD, deploy | DevOps | |
| prompt, RAG, embeddings | AI/LLM |
Scope-fit enforcement
Prefer the smallest change that satisfies the task, tests, and existing project patterns. Do not add a new dependency, service, worker, cache, queue, design system, or abstraction unless repo evidence shows the simpler path fails. If adding complexity, state: Why simpler option fails, What this complexity buys, and How we will verify it.
Tool-Aware Routing Overlay
Use this overlay after domain detection. It does not replace references/INDEX.md.
Tool selection matrix
| Task Signal | Tool Action | Evidence To Record | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown repo structure | Targeted rg and focused reads | Files inspected and why they matter | |
| Helper script involved | Run --help first | CLI contract and limits | |
| Auth, secrets, upload, deploy | Apply the Security overlay | Attacker-controlled input and closest control |
Rules:
- Record explicit tool evidence when it affects the decision.
- Pick the smallest tool that proves the routing decision.
- Tool usage does not require full compliance unless the task or repo evidence calls for it.
Security overlay
Apply when attacker-controlled input, secrets, auth, public APIs, uploads, or trust boundaries change. Name the closest existing control and choose proportional defenses.
Implementation ticket trigger
Create tickets when more than one AC, domain, or phase is involved. Include TICKET-###, owner, linked AC, likely files, dependencies, security notes, and a validation check.
Operating rules
Never bulk-load all references. Keep solutions project-specific. Frontend craft lives in codex-frontend-implementation/craft/.