Workflow·Security & Testing·v1.0.0

authorize-protected-effect Agent Skill

Use before any governed effect (push to a protected ref, merge, deploy, history rewrite, d.

Context cost
700 tokensestimated from the bundle, loaded when it triggers
Bundle
1 file · 2.8 kBtext throughout, nothing executable
Licence
MITthe author’s own terms
Last change
10 days agov1.0.0
Servers it uses
Noneruns standalone

What it does

Use before any governed effect (push to a protected ref, merge, deploy, history rewrite, default-branch change, transfer, credential or policy change) when the project binds acp-gateway. Obtains the ACP decision, performs only what it authorizes, and disposes of every other decision without stopping the project.

What this skill changes about the agent has not been set out here as a list. Its SKILL.md, shown below, says it in the author’s own words.

Workflow

Runs a procedure end to end.

The skill itself

A skill is instructions the model reads, and here they are in full: the front matter loads with every session, and the body below it loads when the skill triggers.

SKILL.md2.8 kB
--- name: authorize-protected-effect ---
6# Authorize Protected Effect
7
81. Resolve the operation to an ACP action via contracts/acp-protected-effects.yaml. Not governed → proceed under the work item's own permissions.
92. Identify: repository (from origin), ref, current (old_sha) and intended (new_sha) revision, requested action, work item, claim.
103. Credentials come from the environment or .env.local; scripts/acp.py reads them. Never print, log, or compile them.
114. Report first when reportBeforeProtectedEffect: python3 scripts/acp.py report --event PROTECTED_EFFECT_PENDING --checkpoint PRE_PUSH --action <action> (use the matching PRE_* checkpoint), and python3 scripts/acp.py snapshot --checkpoint PRE_PUSH. Reporting grants nothing.
125. Decide: python3 scripts/acp.py authorize --action <action> [--ref R --old-sha X --new-sha Y] --work-item <id> --record > decision.json. Exit 0 only for ALLOW.
136. Dispose on decision (and reason):
14 - ALLOW → perform exactly authorized_action (same action/ref/SHA), once, within the capability TTL. Where the boundary checks, python3 scripts/acp.py verify-capability --decision decision.json. Then re-read live state.
15 - AUTH_REQUIRED → complete the flow named in auth; retry once.
16 - RECOVERY_AUTHORIZED → perform only the described transition, once; then python3 scripts/acp.py recovery-complete --decision decision.json --result succeeded|failed --observed-sha <sha>.
17 - DENY / REVERIFY_REQUIRED / VERIFY_RECOVERY → do not proceed; record AUTHORITY_MISSING with the reason; release or park the claim; reselect.
18 - QUARANTINE / LOCKED → do not proceed and do not repair; preserve candidate and evidence; global stop for this resource; prepare the decision packet.
19 - synthetic: true → the client refused locally. GATEWAY_UNAVAILABLE: classify once, do not poll. ACP_NOT_GOVERNING: no policy names this repository; a setup blocker for the operator (docs/ACP_INTEGRATION.md § Onboarding), not a reason to proceed. AUTHORIZED_ACTION_MISMATCH: do not perform either action.
207. --record writes decision, reason, request_id, policy_id, policy_version, repository_trust to records/evidence.jsonl; carry the same fields into the work disposition. Never record capability_token.
218. Never delegate a refused action to another agent, tool, clone or client to obtain a different answer.
22
This is the whole of SKILL.md. Install the skill to get it and everything beside it.
In the file
SKILL.md347 words
Files1
LicenceMIT
Why you can read it

Nothing in a skill executes. The client loads the text and the model follows it, so a skill can be audited the way a runbook is — by reading it.

What it costs in context

Skills are not billed by the call. They are paid for in context: every token the instructions occupy is a token your code, your diff and your conversation cannot use. Here is what this one takes and when it takes it.

≈90
always loaded
The name and description, so the model knows the skill exists and when to reach for it.
610
on trigger
The instruction body, read only when the skill fires.
0.35%
of a 200k window
Ten skills this size would take about 4% of the window before you open a file.
050k100k150k200k context window

700 tokens, estimated from the bundle at four bytes to the token, held for the rest of the session once it triggers. Small enough to keep loaded permanently without thinking about it.

Servers bill, skills cost

A server charges by the month. A skill charges once per session, in context, and then keeps charging it for as long as the session lives.

Before and after

The same question, put to the same model twice: once as it comes, and once with these instructions loaded.

No worked example has been published for this skill yet.

The procedure it runs

The procedure has not been set out here step by step. It is in the body of its SKILL.md, shown in full above.

Prose, not code

These steps are written for a model to follow, not executed by a runtime. It can still be told to skip one, and it will say so when it does.

Servers it uses

None. This skill calls no MCP servers at all.

Everything it needs is in the instructions, so it works in a project with nothing connected — the model reads the file and changes how it works with what it can already reach.

Its SKILL.md does not declare which tools it asks the agent for, so what it touches is whatever the instructions themselves ask for — read them before you install it.

What it asks for
Writes filesnot declared
Network accessnot declared

This SKILL.md carries no allowed-tools line, so neither is declared. A skill grants no permissions of its own — it can only ask for tools your client already has.

What it will not do

Every skill is narrow, and the useful ones say where they stop. These are the jobs this one is the wrong tool for.

What this skill is not for has not been published here. Nothing is implied by that: it is a section the author has not filled in.

What is in the bundle

1 file, 2.8 kB on disk. A bundle is text throughout: the instructions the model reads, plus the templates it fills in.

  • SKILL.md2.8 kB
What is not in it

No dependencies and nothing executable: a skill is text the agent reads, so the bundle is 1 file you can review in full before installing. The MIT licence covers the templates and examples as well as the instructions.

Install

Installing copies the bundle into your project. Nothing runs at install time — the files sit on disk until the model reads them.

# authorize-protected-effect · 700 tokens when loaded · macOS, Linux mkdir -p .claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/authorize-protected-effect/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/authorize-protected-effect" ] && { [ ! -e .claude/skills/authorize-protected-effect ] || { mv .claude/skills/authorize-protected-effect "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/authorize-protected-effect" .claude/skills/ && echo "Installed .claude/skills/authorize-protected-effect"
On Windows, or any OS with Node 20+
npx mcprush@latest skill add zachshallbetter/authorize-protected-effect

Windows PowerShell says 'running scripts is disabled on this system'? Run Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned once, or type npx.cmd instead of npx (codex.cmd, gemini.cmd, grok.cmd likewise). PowerShell 7 needs neither. Writes to .claude/skills/authorize-protected-effect/ in the current project. For every project instead, run mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/authorize-protected-effect/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/authorize-protected-effect" ] && { [ ! -e ~/.claude/skills/authorize-protected-effect ] || { mv ~/.claude/skills/authorize-protected-effect "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/authorize-protected-effect" ~/.claude/skills/ && echo "Installed ~/.claude/skills/authorize-protected-effect" (macOS, Linux) — or add --global to the npx line. The curl line replaces .claude/skills/authorize-protected-effect/ only after the download succeeds, so files left there by another skill of the same name, or by an older release, do not mix in. A copy already there is moved aside, not deleted, and the line prints where.

Which clients pick it up on their own

A skill is a folder of text. Most of these read a skills folder and pick it up without being told; the rest take the same folder another way — an upload in the app, a parameter on an API call — and then choose it by its description just the same.

Claude Code.claude/skills/
Claude DesktopCustomize › Skills
ChatGPTSkills › Create › Upload
Cursor.cursor/skills/
VS Code.github/skills/
Codex CLI.agents/skills/
Gemini CLI.gemini/skills/
Grok Build.grok/skills/
Microsoft CopilotSkills › Upload a skill
PerplexityComputer › Skills › Upload a skill
DeepSeek Harness.dsh/skills/
Zed.agents/skills/
Devin Desktop.devin/skills/
Windsurf (legacy).windsurf/skills/
OpenAI Agents SDKInstructions or sandbox Skills
HTTP / APIa request parameter
This release
Version1.0.0
Published10 days ago
PriceFree
Referencezachshallbetter/authorize-protected-effect

Versions

v1.0.0 shipped 10 days ago. Instructions change more often than APIs do — a skill can be rewritten entirely without anything it depends on moving.

v1.0.0
20 Oct 2026
  • The version this listing went live with, after review.
Pinning

The install command always fetches the release that is current the day you run it — v1.0.0 today — and cannot ask for an earlier one. The copy on your disk does not change until you run it again.

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Publisher
Since2026
Servers6