Composability

Deep dive into how skills compose using the SIP Framework.

Core Concepts

Domains

Every skill owns exactly one domain:

• Voice — tone, personality, vocabulary
• Density — token count, verbosity
• Craft — visual design, code quality
• Process — workflow steps, templates
• Content — substance being produced

Composition Modes

Layered — simultaneous application:

/blog + /caveman

Pipeline — sequential processing:

/postmortem → /compress

Handoff — skill delegates to another:

Postmortem detects UI issue → invokes painter

Advisory — skill references another's principles:

Blogger writing about UI → references painter's heuristics

Precedence Rules

When skills conflict, resolution follows this order:

Priority Order

1. Safety/Accuracy — always wins (implicit)
2. User's explicit instruction — second priority
3. Domain owner — authoritative in its domain
4. Most recently invoked — last one wins
5. Specificity — narrow scope beats broad scope

The Composition Contract

Every SIP-compliant skill must follow these rules:

Composition Contract

1. Input Agnosticism — operate on any input
2. Domain Respect — don't modify other domains
3. Marker Preservation — keep structure intact
4. Signal Emission — state what you're handling
5. Graceful Degradation — defer when conflicting

Examples

Example 1: Voice + Density

User: "Write a blog, make it terse"

Skills: Blogger (voice) + Caveman (density)

Resolution: Caveman density wins. Blogger's voice preserved in fewer words.

Example 2: Process + Density

User: "Run postmortem, then compress it"

Skills: Postmortem (process) → Compress (density)

Resolution: Pipeline. Postmortem structure preserved, content compressed.

Example 3: Craft + Voice

User: "Blog about UI decisions"

Skills: Blogger (voice) + Painter (craft, advisory)

Resolution: Blogger owns voice. Painter validates technical claims.

Conflict Resolution Matrix

Skill A	Skill B	Resolution
Blogger (voice)	Caveman (density)	Caveman wins, blogger voice preserved
Postmortem (process)	Compress (density)	Pipeline: structure preserved, content compressed
Painter (craft)	Blogger (voice)	Painter advisory, blogger owns voice

Best Practices

1. Declare domain clearly — don't try to own multiple
2. Yield to process — structure is sacred
3. Preserve upstream work — keep structure intact
4. Signal boundaries — state what you handle
5. Test composition — ensure works with other skills

Resources

• SIP Framework — full specification
• Creating Skills — build SIP-compliant skills
• PROTOCOL.md — source