H4tcher Capability Remove

> Last updated: 2026-06-06

Capability Remove (Maintainer)

Maintainer preset for phasing out a hatch3r artifact. Hardest preset to invoke: a D16.3 gate blocks removal unless three criteria all hold, and migration notes plus reference scrubbing run before the maintainer is allowed to commit.

§0.1: Ambiguity Gate (P8 B1)

Per CONSTITUTION §2 P8 B1: every framework-dev workflow mutating canonical artifacts detects and resolves ambiguity via agents/shared/user-question-protocol.md BEFORE executing — default behavior, not exception-driven. Apply the protocol when any hold: (a) ambiguous scope (which artifact, and remove vs merge-then-deprecate per D16.3 add-vs-remove bias), (b) multiple valid interpretations with materially different migration cost, (c) irreversible action — removal is inherently destructive, so confirm the target id and that no consumer depends on it, or (d) missing acceptance criteria (no migration-note target, no definition of done). Use the platform-native question tool; one question per turn; 2-4 numbered options with one-line trade-offs; declare the default-if-no-response. Do NOT proceed to Step 0 until resolved or the default is confirmed.

Step 0: Triage

Classify the removal target before any work runs.

| Tier | Criteria | Pipeline | |------|----------|----------| | T1 | Leaf artifact with 0 inbound references | Inline; skip Step 4; full Step 6 gates | | T2 | Artifact with 1-3 references requiring migration notes | 1-3 parallel sub-agents; full gates | | T3 | Artifact named in any agentPipeline: array, listed in governance/inventory.json registry, or referenced from governance/CONSTITUTION.md / governance/VISION.md | >=3 parallel sub-agents; full gates + CL-3 flag if D16/AUDIT touched |

Record tier + rationale at the top of the workspace summary.

Step 1: Preflight

1. Confirm clean tree + branch: git status --short empty; git branch --show-current matches an open release/feature branch.
2. Cache lean-threshold limits from governance/CONSTITUTION.md §2 P5.
3. Identify the target artifact type (agent | skill | rule | command | hook | adapter | pipeline module) and its canonical path.
4. Capture baseline wc -l on governance/inventory.json and any governance file likely to be edited.

Step 2: Removal-Qualification Gate (D16.3)

Run the D16.3 removal-threshold check inline (governance/audit/domains/D16-compound-system.md §16.3 "Removal candidate threshold"). Removal qualifies only when ALL three criteria hold:

• (a) Zero unique value beyond an existing artifact (run duplication scan; cite the artifact that subsumes the candidate).
• (b) " agents/ skills/ rules/ commands/ hooks/ checks/ prompts/ github-agents/ src/ governance/ docs/ docs-site/ tests/ CLAUDE.md README.md CHANGELOG.md`; record the count).
• (c) No orchestrator dependency in any commands/hatch3r-*.md agentPipeline: array (grep -l "" commands/hatch3r-*.md; inspect each match).

Cite which criterion is crossed for every failing check. Block immediately on any failure and recommend /h4tcher-capability-refactor (merge) per the D16.3 add-vs-remove bias check.

Step 3: Web Research

Skipped by default. Run only when the removal cites an external "industry has deprecated this" claim. When triggered, follow the rigor contract (agents/shared/rigor-contract.md §"Web Research Mandate"): >=2 independent sources, trust tier (official-docs > peer-reviewed > vendor-note > independent-analysis > blog-post), recency window (=3 on T3 across the migration-notes / refs-canonical / refs-code-docs slots above. Token cost never serializes independent work (.claude/rules/fan-out-discipline.md Cost-dominance clause). Emit sub_agents_spawned: { count, rationale } in your output (the Sub-agents field of the Step 7 summary).

Step 5: Cross-Skill Delegation

None for body authoring during removal. The migration-notes slot may call /h4tcher-content-author only when a brand-new replacement artifact must be authored — rare; document the rationale in the workspace summary when invoked.

Step 6: Governance Gates

Run the full hatch3r gate battery PLUS removal-specific checks. Block commit on any failure.

| Gate | Command | Threshold | |------|---------|-----------| | Validate | npm run validate | 0 errors | | Tests | npm test | 0 failed | | Typecheck | npx tsc --noEmit | 0 errors | | Lint | npm run lint | 0 errors | | Build | npm run build | succeeds; dist/ produced | | Rule parity | npm run validate:rule-parity | 0 mismatches | | Efficiency invariants | npm run validate:efficiency | 0 violations | | Inventory regen | npm run inventory then git diff governance/inventory.json | diff matches the removal exactly; no unexpected drift | | Inventory docs drift | npm run inventory:check-docs | 0 drift | | Reference-orphan check | grep -rn "" agents/ skills/ rules/ commands/ hooks/ checks/ prompts/ github-agents/ src/ governance/ docs/ docs-site/ tests/ CLAUDE.md README.md CHANGELOG.md | 0 hits outside the CHANGELOG migration entry | | CHANGELOG entry | grep -n "" CHANGELOG.md | >=1 line under the active release's ### Removed section | | Anti-slop | grep -nE against .claude/rules/anti-slop-enforcement.md wordlist on every modified .md / .mdc | 0 hits | | Pillar compliance | Apply .claude/rules/pillar-compliance.md to the removal | Removal serves one or more of P1-P8 | | Lean thresholds | wc -l on every modified governance file | Within CONSTITUTION §2 P5 limits |

Step 7: Stop-Before-Commit Summary

Emit the slot-filled template below. Do not commit, branch, push, or merge.

Capability-Remove Summary
-------------------------
Artifact:           
Type:               agent | skill | rule | command | hook | adapter | pipeline-module
Tier:               T1 | T2 | T3
D16.3 criteria:     (a)  (b)  (c) 

Removed paths:      
Migration notes:    CHANGELOG.md (line , ### Removed) [+ docs-site/.md if authored]
agentPipeline diffs:  after, or "none">
Inventory delta:     after in governance/inventory.json>

Gates:
  npm run validate                
  npm test                        
  npx tsc --noEmit                
  npm run lint                    
  npm run build                   
  npm run validate:rule-parity    
  npm run validate:efficiency     
  npm run inventory:check-docs    
  Reference-orphan grep           
  CHANGELOG entry present         
  Anti-slop hits                  

Pillars served:     P, P
Sub-agents:         count==3>, rationale=
Sources (web):      
Confidence:         high | medium | low

Next action (maintainer runs manually):
  git add 
  git commit -s -m "refactor(): remove "
  git push

Constraints

• Block on any D16.3 failure in Step 2; do not proceed without the maintainer's explicit override + recorded rationale.
• Never hand-edit governance/inventory.json — only via npm run inventory.
• Do not skip the reference-orphan grep; one orphan hit blocks commit.
• Do not commit, branch, push, or merge from inside this skill.
• DCO sign-off via git commit -s is required when the maintainer commits.

References

• D16.3 removal-threshold + add-vs-remove bias check: governance/audit/domains/D16-compound-system.md §16.3 "Removal candidate threshold"
• Web research mandate: agents/shared/rigor-contract.md
• Quality charter: agents/shared/quality-charter.md
• Sibling presets: .claude/skills/h4tcher-capability-discover/SKILL.md, .claude/skills/h4tcher-capability-refactor/SKILL.md
• Author skill (replacement artifact, rare): .claude/skills/h4tcher-content-author/SKILL.md

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: hatch3r
• Source: hatch3r/hatch3r
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://docs.hatch3r.com

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.