bates

Operates under retriever:routing. If the user's intent actually fits a different tier — another retriever:* skill, a Tier 2 slash, a Tier 3 tools.py subcommand, or (last resort) direct DB access — stop and re-route against the ladder before continuing.

Retriever /bates

Use this skill for /bates, /bates <token-or-range>, and /bates clear.

Read-only fast path

For the exact read-only form /bates:

• Do not read ../search/SKILL.md.
• Do not read schema docs.
• Run exactly one Bash command from the workspace root:
  • /bates: python3 skills/tool-template/tools.py slash . /bates
• If canonical tool auto-discovery fails, retry once with RETRIEVER_CANONICAL_TOOL_PATH pointed at ../tool-template/tools.py.
• Return stdout exactly as the entire response. No preamble. No commentary. No reformatting.

Other forms

For /bates <token-or-range> and /bates clear:

1. Read ../search/SKILL.md.
2. Read ../schema/schema.md only if Bates-like identifier semantics are unclear.
3. Treat this skill as the slash command /bates.
4. Prefer the Bates-aware path over plain keyword FTS when the user provides a single control token or a Bates range.
5. Return only the resulting Retriever state or table output. Do not add a preamble, trailing summary, or follow-up suggestion.