SOP 004: Control Invocation

Fresh

Field	Value
SOP ID	004
Version	1.0
Status	Active
Last Updated	2026-02-14

Purpose

Control who can trigger a skill - you, Claude, or both - and manage context loading behavior.

Decision Flowchart

Invocation Matrix

Frontmatter	You can invoke	Claude can invoke	When loaded into context
(default)	Yes	Yes	Description always in context, full skill loads when invoked
disable-model-invocation: true	Yes	No	Description NOT in context, full skill loads when you invoke
user-invocable: false	No	Yes	Description always in context, full skill loads when invoked

Procedure

Step 1: Identify the Use Case

When to disable model invocation

Use disable-model-invocation: true for workflows with side effects:

• /deploy - you control when to deploy
• /commit - you decide when to commit
• /send-slack-message - you choose when to send

When to hide from users

Use user-invocable: false for background knowledge:

• legacy-system-context - explains old systems
• api-conventions - coding standards
• Claude should know these but /legacy-system-context isn't meaningful as a command

Step 2: Configure Frontmatter

User-only (deploy):

---
name: deploy
description: Deploy the application to production
disable-model-invocation: true
---

Deploy $ARGUMENTS to production:
1. Run the test suite
2. Build the application
3. Push to the deployment target
4. Verify the deployment succeeded

Claude-only (background knowledge):

---
name: legacy-system-context
description: How the legacy billing system works
user-invocable: false
---

The legacy billing system uses...

Step 3: Restrict Skill Access via Permissions

Three levels of control:

Disable all skills:

# Add to deny rules in /permissions:
Skill

Allow/deny specific skills:

# Allow only specific skills
Skill(commit)
Skill(review-pr *)

# Deny specific skills
Skill(deploy *)

Per-skill control:

# In SKILL.md frontmatter
disable-model-invocation: true

Important

user-invocable only controls menu visibility, not Skill tool access. Use disable-model-invocation: true to block programmatic invocation.

Verification Checklist

• [ ] Invocation pattern matches the intended use case
• [ ] Side-effect skills have disable-model-invocation: true
• [ ] Background knowledge skills have user-invocable: false
• [ ] Permission rules configured if additional restrictions needed
• [ ] Tested both automatic and manual invocation patterns

See Also

• SOP 002 - Configure Frontmatter
• Workflow 003 - Permission Management