diff --git a/SKILL.md b/SKILL.md
index ec0ed5aa..3d51bd6b 100644
--- a/SKILL.md
+++ b/SKILL.md
@@ -267,28 +267,37 @@ Then write a `## GSTACK REVIEW REPORT` section to the end of the plan file:
 file you are allowed to edit in plan mode. The plan file review report is part of the
 plan's living status.
 
-If `PROACTIVE` is `false`: do NOT proactively suggest other gstack skills during this session.
-Only run skills the user explicitly invokes. This preference persists across sessions via
-`gstack-config`.
+If `PROACTIVE` is `false`: do NOT proactively invoke or suggest other gstack skills during
+this session. Only run skills the user explicitly invokes. This preference persists across
+sessions via `gstack-config`.
 
-If `PROACTIVE` is `true` (default): suggest adjacent gstack skills when relevant to the
-user's workflow stage:
-- Brainstorming → /office-hours
-- Strategy → /plan-ceo-review
-- Architecture → /plan-eng-review
-- Design → /plan-design-review or /design-consultation
-- Auto-review → /autoplan
-- Debugging → /investigate
-- QA → /qa
-- Code review → /review
-- Visual audit → /design-review
-- Shipping → /ship
-- Docs → /document-release
-- Retro → /retro
-- Second opinion → /codex
-- Prod safety → /careful or /guard
-- Scoped edits → /freeze or /unfreeze
-- Upgrades → /gstack-upgrade
+If `PROACTIVE` is `true` (default): **invoke the Skill tool** when the user's request
+matches a skill's purpose. Do NOT answer directly when a skill exists for the task.
+Use the Skill tool to invoke it. The skill has specialized workflows, checklists, and
+quality gates that produce better results than answering inline.
+
+**Routing rules — when you see these patterns, INVOKE the skill via the Skill tool:**
+- User describes a new idea, asks "is this worth building", wants to brainstorm → invoke `/office-hours`
+- User asks about strategy, scope, ambition, "think bigger" → invoke `/plan-ceo-review`
+- User asks to review architecture, lock in the plan → invoke `/plan-eng-review`
+- User asks about design system, brand, visual identity → invoke `/design-consultation`
+- User asks to review design of a plan → invoke `/plan-design-review`
+- User wants all reviews done automatically → invoke `/autoplan`
+- User reports a bug, error, broken behavior, asks "why is this broken" → invoke `/investigate`
+- User asks to test the site, find bugs, QA → invoke `/qa`
+- User asks to review code, check the diff, pre-landing review → invoke `/review`
+- User asks about visual polish, design audit of a live site → invoke `/design-review`
+- User asks to ship, deploy, push, create a PR → invoke `/ship`
+- User asks to update docs after shipping → invoke `/document-release`
+- User asks for a weekly retro, what did we ship → invoke `/retro`
+- User asks for a second opinion, codex review → invoke `/codex`
+- User asks for safety mode, careful mode → invoke `/careful` or `/guard`
+- User asks to restrict edits to a directory → invoke `/freeze` or `/unfreeze`
+- User asks to upgrade gstack → invoke `/gstack-upgrade`
+
+**Do NOT answer the user's question directly when a matching skill exists.** The skill
+provides a structured, multi-step workflow that is always better than an ad-hoc answer.
+Invoke the skill first. If no skill matches, answer directly as usual.
 
 If the user opts out of suggestions, run `gstack-config set proactive false`.
 If they opt back in, run `gstack-config set proactive true`.
diff --git a/SKILL.md.tmpl b/SKILL.md.tmpl
index 39b6873e..e27a32c2 100644
--- a/SKILL.md.tmpl
+++ b/SKILL.md.tmpl
@@ -16,28 +16,37 @@ allowed-tools:
 
 {{PREAMBLE}}
 
-If `PROACTIVE` is `false`: do NOT proactively suggest other gstack skills during this session.
-Only run skills the user explicitly invokes. This preference persists across sessions via
-`gstack-config`.
+If `PROACTIVE` is `false`: do NOT proactively invoke or suggest other gstack skills during
+this session. Only run skills the user explicitly invokes. This preference persists across
+sessions via `gstack-config`.
 
-If `PROACTIVE` is `true` (default): suggest adjacent gstack skills when relevant to the
-user's workflow stage:
-- Brainstorming → /office-hours
-- Strategy → /plan-ceo-review
-- Architecture → /plan-eng-review
-- Design → /plan-design-review or /design-consultation
-- Auto-review → /autoplan
-- Debugging → /investigate
-- QA → /qa
-- Code review → /review
-- Visual audit → /design-review
-- Shipping → /ship
-- Docs → /document-release
-- Retro → /retro
-- Second opinion → /codex
-- Prod safety → /careful or /guard
-- Scoped edits → /freeze or /unfreeze
-- Upgrades → /gstack-upgrade
+If `PROACTIVE` is `true` (default): **invoke the Skill tool** when the user's request
+matches a skill's purpose. Do NOT answer directly when a skill exists for the task.
+Use the Skill tool to invoke it. The skill has specialized workflows, checklists, and
+quality gates that produce better results than answering inline.
+
+**Routing rules — when you see these patterns, INVOKE the skill via the Skill tool:**
+- User describes a new idea, asks "is this worth building", wants to brainstorm → invoke `/office-hours`
+- User asks about strategy, scope, ambition, "think bigger" → invoke `/plan-ceo-review`
+- User asks to review architecture, lock in the plan → invoke `/plan-eng-review`
+- User asks about design system, brand, visual identity → invoke `/design-consultation`
+- User asks to review design of a plan → invoke `/plan-design-review`
+- User wants all reviews done automatically → invoke `/autoplan`
+- User reports a bug, error, broken behavior, asks "why is this broken" → invoke `/investigate`
+- User asks to test the site, find bugs, QA → invoke `/qa`
+- User asks to review code, check the diff, pre-landing review → invoke `/review`
+- User asks about visual polish, design audit of a live site → invoke `/design-review`
+- User asks to ship, deploy, push, create a PR → invoke `/ship`
+- User asks to update docs after shipping → invoke `/document-release`
+- User asks for a weekly retro, what did we ship → invoke `/retro`
+- User asks for a second opinion, codex review → invoke `/codex`
+- User asks for safety mode, careful mode → invoke `/careful` or `/guard`
+- User asks to restrict edits to a directory → invoke `/freeze` or `/unfreeze`
+- User asks to upgrade gstack → invoke `/gstack-upgrade`
+
+**Do NOT answer the user's question directly when a matching skill exists.** The skill
+provides a structured, multi-step workflow that is always better than an ad-hoc answer.
+Invoke the skill first. If no skill matches, answer directly as usual.
 
 If the user opts out of suggestions, run `gstack-config set proactive false`.
 If they opt back in, run `gstack-config set proactive true`.
diff --git a/investigate/SKILL.md b/investigate/SKILL.md
index 365a9ca9..1423e119 100644
--- a/investigate/SKILL.md
+++ b/investigate/SKILL.md
@@ -7,8 +7,9 @@ description: |
   analyze, hypothesize, implement. Iron Law: no fixes without root cause.
   Use when asked to "debug this", "fix this bug", "why is this broken",
   "investigate this error", or "root cause analysis".
-  Proactively suggest when the user reports errors, unexpected behavior, or
-  is troubleshooting why something stopped working.
+  Proactively invoke this skill (do NOT debug directly) when the user reports
+  errors, 500 errors, stack traces, unexpected behavior, "it was working
+  yesterday", or is troubleshooting why something stopped working.
 allowed-tools:
   - Bash
   - Read
diff --git a/investigate/SKILL.md.tmpl b/investigate/SKILL.md.tmpl
index 8ba17fb8..5dd471fe 100644
--- a/investigate/SKILL.md.tmpl
+++ b/investigate/SKILL.md.tmpl
@@ -7,8 +7,9 @@ description: |
   analyze, hypothesize, implement. Iron Law: no fixes without root cause.
   Use when asked to "debug this", "fix this bug", "why is this broken",
   "investigate this error", or "root cause analysis".
-  Proactively suggest when the user reports errors, unexpected behavior, or
-  is troubleshooting why something stopped working.
+  Proactively invoke this skill (do NOT debug directly) when the user reports
+  errors, 500 errors, stack traces, unexpected behavior, "it was working
+  yesterday", or is troubleshooting why something stopped working.
 allowed-tools:
   - Bash
   - Read
diff --git a/office-hours/SKILL.md b/office-hours/SKILL.md
index d624dc37..7c45583a 100644
--- a/office-hours/SKILL.md
+++ b/office-hours/SKILL.md
@@ -9,8 +9,10 @@ description: |
   hackathons, learning, and open source. Saves a design doc.
   Use when asked to "brainstorm this", "I have an idea", "help me think through
   this", "office hours", or "is this worth building".
-  Proactively suggest when the user describes a new product idea or is exploring
-  whether something is worth building — before any code is written.
+  Proactively invoke this skill (do NOT answer directly) when the user describes
+  a new product idea, asks whether something is worth building, wants to think
+  through design decisions for something that doesn't exist yet, or is exploring
+  a concept before any code is written.
   Use before /plan-ceo-review or /plan-eng-review.
 allowed-tools:
   - Bash
diff --git a/office-hours/SKILL.md.tmpl b/office-hours/SKILL.md.tmpl
index 358f8290..335ea173 100644
--- a/office-hours/SKILL.md.tmpl
+++ b/office-hours/SKILL.md.tmpl
@@ -9,8 +9,10 @@ description: |
   hackathons, learning, and open source. Saves a design doc.
   Use when asked to "brainstorm this", "I have an idea", "help me think through
   this", "office hours", or "is this worth building".
-  Proactively suggest when the user describes a new product idea or is exploring
-  whether something is worth building — before any code is written.
+  Proactively invoke this skill (do NOT answer directly) when the user describes
+  a new product idea, asks whether something is worth building, wants to think
+  through design decisions for something that doesn't exist yet, or is exploring
+  a concept before any code is written.
   Use before /plan-ceo-review or /plan-eng-review.
 allowed-tools:
   - Bash
diff --git a/ship/SKILL.md b/ship/SKILL.md
index f8781721..80835d6a 100644
--- a/ship/SKILL.md
+++ b/ship/SKILL.md
@@ -3,8 +3,11 @@ name: ship
 preamble-tier: 4
 version: 1.0.0
 description: |
-  Ship workflow: detect + merge base branch, run tests, review diff, bump VERSION, update CHANGELOG, commit, push, create PR. Use when asked to "ship", "deploy", "push to main", "create a PR", or "merge and push".
-  Proactively suggest when the user says code is ready or asks about deploying.
+  Ship workflow: detect + merge base branch, run tests, review diff, bump VERSION,
+  update CHANGELOG, commit, push, create PR. Use when asked to "ship", "deploy",
+  "push to main", "create a PR", "merge and push", or "get it deployed".
+  Proactively invoke this skill (do NOT push/PR directly) when the user says code
+  is ready, asks about deploying, wants to push code up, or asks to create a PR.
 allowed-tools:
   - Bash
   - Read
diff --git a/ship/SKILL.md.tmpl b/ship/SKILL.md.tmpl
index e8a17251..dd8d3e1e 100644
--- a/ship/SKILL.md.tmpl
+++ b/ship/SKILL.md.tmpl
@@ -3,8 +3,11 @@ name: ship
 preamble-tier: 4
 version: 1.0.0
 description: |
-  Ship workflow: detect + merge base branch, run tests, review diff, bump VERSION, update CHANGELOG, commit, push, create PR. Use when asked to "ship", "deploy", "push to main", "create a PR", or "merge and push".
-  Proactively suggest when the user says code is ready or asks about deploying.
+  Ship workflow: detect + merge base branch, run tests, review diff, bump VERSION,
+  update CHANGELOG, commit, push, create PR. Use when asked to "ship", "deploy",
+  "push to main", "create a PR", "merge and push", or "get it deployed".
+  Proactively invoke this skill (do NOT push/PR directly) when the user says code
+  is ready, asks about deploying, wants to push code up, or asks to create a PR.
 allowed-tools:
   - Bash
   - Read
diff --git a/test/skill-routing-e2e.test.ts b/test/skill-routing-e2e.test.ts
index b865efb7..d5a48499 100644
--- a/test/skill-routing-e2e.test.ts
+++ b/test/skill-routing-e2e.test.ts
@@ -93,11 +93,30 @@ function installSkills(tmpDir: string) {
     }
   }
 
-  // Copy CLAUDE.md so Claude has project context for skill routing.
-  const claudeMdSrc = path.join(ROOT, 'CLAUDE.md');
-  if (fs.existsSync(claudeMdSrc)) {
-    fs.copyFileSync(claudeMdSrc, path.join(tmpDir, 'CLAUDE.md'));
-  }
+  // Write a CLAUDE.md with explicit routing instructions.
+  // The skill descriptions in system-reminder aren't strong enough to override
+  // Claude's default behavior of answering directly. A CLAUDE.md instruction
+  // puts routing rules in project context which Claude weighs more heavily.
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(tmpDir, 'CLAUDE.md'), `# Project Instructions
+
+## Skill routing
+
+When the user's request matches an available skill, ALWAYS invoke it using the Skill
+tool as your FIRST action. Do NOT answer directly, do NOT use other tools first.
+The skill has specialized workflows that produce better results than ad-hoc answers.
+
+Key routing rules:
+- Product ideas, "is this worth building", brainstorming → invoke office-hours
+- Bugs, errors, "why is this broken", 500 errors → invoke investigate
+- Ship, deploy, push, create PR → invoke ship
+- QA, test the site, find bugs → invoke qa
+- Code review, check my diff → invoke review
+- Update docs after shipping → invoke document-release
+- Weekly retro → invoke retro
+- Design system, brand → invoke design-consultation
+- Visual audit, design polish → invoke design-review
+- Architecture review → invoke plan-eng-review
+`);
 }
 
 /** Init a git repo with config */
diff --git a/test/skill-validation.test.ts b/test/skill-validation.test.ts
index 7bb163d8..206534a3 100644
--- a/test/skill-validation.test.ts
+++ b/test/skill-validation.test.ts
@@ -1409,13 +1409,13 @@ describe('Skill trigger phrases', () => {
   ];
 
   for (const skill of SKILLS_REQUIRING_PROACTIVE) {
-    test(`${skill}/SKILL.md has "Proactively suggest" phrase`, () => {
+    test(`${skill}/SKILL.md has proactive routing phrase`, () => {
       const skillPath = path.join(ROOT, skill, 'SKILL.md');
       if (!fs.existsSync(skillPath)) return;
       const content = fs.readFileSync(skillPath, 'utf-8');
       const frontmatterEnd = content.indexOf('---', 4);
       const frontmatter = content.slice(0, frontmatterEnd);
-      expect(frontmatter).toMatch(/Proactively suggest/i);
+      expect(frontmatter).toMatch(/Proactively (suggest|invoke)/i);
     });
   }
 });