Process for changes with a large blast radius — files with many callers or repo-p95 complexity, and actions that are destructive, hard to reverse, or visible outside the repo. TRIGGER before editing a file whose enrichment context shows callers ≥ 20 or complexity at the repo p95, and before any delete, force-push, schema drop, process kill, push, pull-request operation, shared-infrastructure change, or third-party upload.
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---
name: critical-path
description: Process for changes with a large blast radius — files with many callers or repo-p95 complexity, and actions that are destructive, hard to reverse, or visible outside the repo. TRIGGER before editing a file whose enrichment context shows callers ≥ 20 or complexity at the repo p95, and before any delete, force-push, schema drop, process kill, push, pull-request operation, shared-infrastructure change, or third-party upload.
---
# Critical Path
- Mistakes here lose Users and revenue directly.
- One Process: measure blast radius, get Architect approval for dangerous actions, then verify the dependent Capability still holds.
## 1. Measure the blast radius
Use /trace to measure callers and complexity for what you are changing. Read the nearest Claude.md for the boundary it protects.
### Treat high caller count and repo-p95 complexity as Critical Path
A file with at least 20 callers or repo-p95 complexity requires this Skill before editing.
## 2. Confirm with the Architect before dangerous actions
Approval in one Context never extends to another.
IF the action is destructive, hard to reverse, visible outside the repo, or a third-party upload:
### Wait for Architect approval before acting
Destructive means delete, drop, kill, or overwrite. Hard to reverse means force-push, `git reset --hard`, package removal, or continuous integration change. Visible outside the repo means push, pull request, or shared-infrastructure change.
### Never bypass safety checks
Do not use `--no-verify` or `--no-gpg-sign` to get past a guard.
### Root-cause obstacles instead of clearing them destructively
Do not solve an obstacle with a destructive operation.
IF state is unexpected:
### Treat it as another Agent's in-progress work until traced
Unexpected state includes unfamiliar files, branches, and locks.
## 3. Verify the Capability held
Exercise what depends on the change and show the observed output.
### Verification is observed behavior
The Skill is not complete until the dependent Capability ran and the output is captured.
