diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
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--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -37,6 +37,28 @@ linkml-validate -s schema.yaml data.yaml \
 
 ---
 
+## Agent skill
+
+Install the [linkml-reference-validator workflow skill](skills/linkml-reference-validator/SKILL.md) with the
+[skills CLI](https://skills.sh/) (requires Node.js). Preview available skills first:
+
+```bash
+npx skills add linkml/linkml-reference-validator --list
+npx skills add linkml/linkml-reference-validator --skill linkml-reference-validator
+```
+
+Installation defaults to the current project. Use `-a codex` or
+`-a claude-code` to select an agent; add `-g` for your user-wide skills directory:
+
+```bash
+npx skills add linkml/linkml-reference-validator --skill linkml-reference-validator -a codex -g
+```
+
+The skill helps agents configure reference QC, interpret failures and coverage,
+and set up repository hooks and CI using bundled reference guides. Install the
+runtime separately as described above; installing the skill does not activate
+hooks or configure CI, credentials, or data sources.
+
 ## Why Use This Tool?
 
 Scientific data often includes claims supported by quotes from publications. But how do you know the quotes are accurate?
diff --git a/skills/linkml-reference-validator/SKILL.md b/skills/linkml-reference-validator/SKILL.md
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@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+---
+name: linkml-reference-validator
+description: Set up, configure, and troubleshoot LinkML Reference Validator (LRV) as deterministic reference QC in repository hooks and CI. Use when interpreting quote or title failures, diagnosing unchecked evidence and cache coverage, or configuring schema extraction, sources, and matching policy.
+---
+
+# Work with reference QC
+
+LRV performs deterministic quote and title checks against retrieved source
+content. Run those checks through repository automation. The agent's role is to
+integrate the checker, explain findings, and make evidence-based corrections.
+Maintainers define required coverage and exception policy; curators decide
+whether the evidence supports the scientific claim. A matching quote settles
+neither its relevance nor the truth of the claim.
+
+A passing automated check needs no agent reenactment. Apply scientific review
+when curating or reviewing evidence, rather than rereading every source on each
+QC run.
+
+## Establish the validation context
+
+Read the project's guidance, validation recipe or wrapper, schema, explicit
+config, dependency lock, and existing hook/CI output. Identify the affected
+files, target class, source cache, and whether this check is blocking or
+advisory. Use the existing project command: a wrapper may encode policy absent
+from a bare CLI invocation. Reproduce a finding on the affected file with the
+same inputs before changing data; avoid repeated whole-corpus retrieval.
+
+- For a new gate or hook/CI changes, read [Guardrail setup](references/guardrails.md).
+- For extraction, retrieval, cache, or matching changes, read
+  [Configuration and targeted diagnosis](references/configuration.md).
+
+Installing this skill supplies instructions; it does not activate a hook,
+install LRV, or establish a required CI check.
+
+## Interpret the result before repairing it
+
+| Finding | Agent's next step |
+| --- | --- |
+| Quote matched | Report source matching as passed. During evidence review, assess the attached claim, population, and direction of effect separately. |
+| Quote did not match | Compare the exact input with the retrieved content. Distinguish paraphrase, wrong citation, normalization, and missing full text. |
+| Title mismatch | Check identifier and source metadata together; changing the title to fit the wrong paper hides the real error. |
+| Source unavailable or prefix skipped | Report evidence as unchecked. Diagnose retrieval or source configuration; do not label the quote fabricated. |
+| Zero comparisons or unexpectedly low coverage | Inspect schema annotations, target class, missing evidence, file selection, and skip policy. Exit 0 does not establish coverage. |
+| Crash or invocation error | Repair the execution/configuration problem before drawing conclusions about the evidence. |
+
+An abstract-only record cannot establish that a quotation is absent from the
+full paper. Keep matched, failed, skipped, and unavailable evidence distinct;
+read coverage diagnostics alongside the exit status. Advisory output from a
+hook is not completion of the repository's required checks.
+
+## Correct the cause and close the loop
+
+When fixing evidence, inspect the source and the intended claim together.
+Transcribe a supported quote accurately; never invent wording or swap citations
+solely to obtain a pass. Preserve the source cache as evidence rather than
+editing it to match the submitted quote. Review any automated repair suggestion
+against the paper and schema before applying it.
+
+For configuration work, explain which records become checked or unchecked and
+demonstrate the intended behavior with representative passing and failing
+examples. Preserve established policy during routine repairs: adding a skipped
+prefix or lowering retrieval severity changes the QC contract.
+
+Rerun the affected check after corrections and the required repository checks
+before delivery. Report the file/field, reference ID, diagnosis, correction,
+command and outcome, source coverage, and any evidence still unchecked. Surface
+unresolved scientific interpretation or policy choices to the human curator.
diff --git a/skills/linkml-reference-validator/references/configuration.md b/skills/linkml-reference-validator/references/configuration.md
new file mode 100644
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@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+# Configure and diagnose reference checks
+
+## Confirm the effective inputs
+
+Use the project's wrapper and locked runtime. The commands below illustrate
+targeted investigation with the nested CLI; substitute real paths and IDs.
+LRV's `--config` selects a config file; `-c` means **cache directory**, unlike
+LTV. An explicit config avoids depending on the invocation directory's
+`.linkml-reference-validator.yaml` or `.yml` autodiscovery.
+
+The config accepts a `validation` envelope, a legacy `reference_validation`
+envelope, or flat validation fields. Prefer one unambiguous representation:
+
+```yaml
+validation:
+  cache_dir: references_cache
+  unknown_prefix_severity: ERROR
+  skip_prefixes: []
+```
+
+Inspect CLI overrides and project wrappers as well as the file. Check a known
+failure to confirm configuration is being consumed; a misplaced envelope can
+leave defaults in effect. Keep custom source definitions reproducible in the
+project rather than relying on a developer's home-directory configuration.
+
+## Map the schema to the evidence
+
+Plausible field names alone do not establish schema-aware coverage. Excerpt
+slots need `implements` or `slot_uri` identifying `oa:exact`; reference slots
+need `dcterms:references`. Legacy `linkml:excerpt` and
+`linkml:authoritative_reference` are also supported. Check the schema's actual
+nesting and target class, including nested reference objects. Confirm a known
+evidence item contributes a comparison and a bad quote fails.
+
+For plain text, `validate text-file` uses regex extraction: inspect `--help`
+for text/reference capture groups and test the extracted pairs. A regex that
+matches nothing does not validate the document.
+
+## Diagnose retrieval before matching
+
+```bash
+uv run --locked linkml-reference-validator lookup PMID:16888623 \
+  --format json --cache-dir references_cache --config conf/reference-validator.yaml
+```
+
+Lookup can return success when only some supplied identifiers resolve. Inspect
+each record and its `content_type` (for example, `abstract_only` or full text),
+not just the status. Ordinary validation does not read the private research
+library cache. Access to a paper during research does not establish that the
+shared validation cache contains that paper's body.
+
+Unknown-prefix/fetch failures, explicitly skipped prefixes, and quote
+mismatches need different remedies. `skip_prefixes` is case-insensitive and
+bypasses checking those references. `unknown_prefix_severity` changes how
+retrieval failures are reported; it does not supply missing evidence. When
+enabling a new source, populate its cache and assess newly exposed title and
+snippet failures before changing the gate.
+
+`file:` references can support local sources; use absolute paths or configure
+`reference_base_dir` so a temporary hook file or changed working directory does
+not resolve a different source.
+
+## Diagnose matching and configuration policy
+
+For one quote, arguments are **text first, reference second**:
+
+```bash
+uv run --locked linkml-reference-validator validate text \
+  "MUC1 oncoprotein blocks nuclear targeting" PMID:16888623 \
+  --cache-dir references_cache --config conf/reference-validator.yaml
+```
+
+Add `--title` with the supplied title to check metadata too. Quote fragments
+separated by ellipses and bracketed editorial material have normalization
+rules; review the source before treating every substring failure as paraphrase.
+
+`literal_bracket_patterns` preserves bracket contents matching configured
+regexes. This matters when a source itself contains bracketed abbreviations or
+statistics. Choose patterns using actual source/quote pairs and test both
+literal text and editorial glosses. A broad pattern changes which editorial
+material is treated as a verbatim quotation. `min_excerpt_length` can require
+more substantive excerpts, but length alone does not establish evidential
+strength. Explain the corpus impact of either policy change.
+
+## Use repair as a reviewed suggestion
+
+When a repair is appropriate, preview with `repair text "QUOTE" REFERENCE_ID`
+or `repair data ... --dry-run`. Data repair uses a simpler extractor than
+schema-aware validation and expects scalar reference IDs in common evidence
+fields; it does not support every nested layout. For
+`reference: {id: PMID:...}`, use the extracted ID with text repair rather than
+rewriting the dataset to suit the repair command.
+
+Review suggestions for fidelity to the source and the intended claim. When
+applying a data repair, `--no-dry-run --output repaired.yaml` preserves the input;
+otherwise the CLI overwrites it with a backup. Revalidate the result with the
+same schema, config, and source content. Consult the
+[CLI reference](https://linkml.io/linkml-reference-validator/reference/cli/)
+for source-specific options supported by the installed release.
diff --git a/skills/linkml-reference-validator/references/guardrails.md b/skills/linkml-reference-validator/references/guardrails.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ec597b
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+++ b/skills/linkml-reference-validator/references/guardrails.md
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+# Put LRV in repository guardrails
+
+Read this when adding or changing automated validation. Routine evidence
+correction should use the project's existing commands.
+
+## Establish one repository contract
+
+Inspect existing task runners, dependency locks, schema annotations, wrappers,
+hooks, and CI before adding another entry point. Record the selected files,
+target class, explicit config, cache location, and which findings block each
+stage. Keep these decisions in version control so humans and agents run the
+same checks.
+
+If LRV is absent from a uv project, add it with `uv add linkml-reference-validator`
+and commit the dependency and lockfile changes as part of setup. Skill installation
+alone does not supply the runtime. Check the locked release's subcommand help when
+integrating or upgrading: repository wrappers can target an older release than
+upstream documentation.
+
+For a project with `schema.yaml`, an evidence-bearing class `Statement`, and
+`conf/reference-validator.yaml`, a validation command is:
+
+```bash
+uv run --locked linkml-reference-validator validate data data.yaml \
+  --schema schema.yaml --target-class Statement \
+  --config conf/reference-validator.yaml --cache-dir references_cache
+```
+
+Adapt those paths/class to the actual project and wrap the command in its task
+runner. Use the same wrapper from CI and hooks. Include structural LinkML
+validation separately: source matching is not schema validation. Check that
+file selection and schema extraction actually produce comparisons.
+
+## Separate retrieval from the frequent check
+
+Matching is deterministic for fixed inputs, config, tool version, and source
+content. Live retrieval and changing caches affect what can be compared.
+Define how references enter the cache, how source provenance is retained, and
+how unavailable content is reported. Prepare newly cited references before
+expecting cached checks to cover them.
+
+Keep expensive enrichment and cache normalization out of every edit. Where
+supported, `--no-full-text` disables full-text fetching; it is **not an offline
+switch** and new references may still be fetched and cached. Test both a cache
+hit and a cache miss before describing a hook as offline or non-mutating.
+Do not silently treat unavailable content as verified evidence.
+
+## Add a hook appropriate to the editing stage
+
+Use a command hook that invokes the deterministic checker. Configure the event
+using the installed Claude Code version's
+[hook protocol](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/hooks), preserving existing hooks.
+
+- A `PreToolUse` edit hook must validate the **proposed content** in a temporary
+  file, faithfully implementing the tool's edit semantics, including repeated
+  replacements. Checking the old file cannot reject a bad proposed edit.
+- Resolve paths against the checkout containing the edited file. A hook's
+  script or launch directory can belong to the main checkout while the agent
+  edits a worktree. Preserve the real schema/config/cache context for temporary
+  files, including relative reference paths.
+- Map a blocking validation failure to hook exit 2 with an actionable stderr
+  diagnostic. Do not merely forward CLI exit 1 and assume it blocks. Bound
+  subprocess runtime so the hook can report failure before its own timeout.
+- A `PostToolUse` hook can report on the saved result; it cannot undo the write.
+  A tool-specific hook also misses edits by other tools or humans. CI provides
+  the common check for all changes.
+
+Decide explicitly whether incomplete retrieval should interrupt editing or be
+reported for resolution before merge. Preserve the project's chosen distinction
+between advisory feedback and required validation.
+
+## Wire CI and verify the integration
+
+Install locked dependencies, prepare the intended cache, and call the repository
+recipe. Cover changes to data, schema, validation config, wrappers, dependencies,
+and cache policy. Schema/config changes can affect the whole corpus even when
+no data file changed. Handle deleted files and an intentionally empty selection
+explicitly; accidental selection of zero files must not look like successful QC.
+
+Exercise a matching quote, a mismatch, a wrong title, a missing source, and an
+input with no extractable evidence. Verify the actual wrapper/hook/CI outcomes,
+not just the standalone CLI. Confirm that failures remain failures through
+shell pipelines and that advisory results stay visible. Inspect cache changes
+and runtime on representative files. Retain logs with comparison coverage and
+the source/tool/config versions needed to reproduce findings.
+
+## Example: dismech's two stages
+
+At [dismech's inspected revision](https://github.com/monarch-initiative/dismech/tree/6bd2810f2f896fd9aa05f8223f7f50caebe457b3),
+the [pre-edit hook](https://github.com/monarch-initiative/dismech/blob/6bd2810f2f896fd9aa05f8223f7f50caebe457b3/.claude/hooks/validate_disorder_hook.py)
+finds the edited file's worktree and calls `just validate-pre-edit` on candidate
+content. The [recipes](https://github.com/monarch-initiative/dismech/blob/6bd2810f2f896fd9aa05f8223f7f50caebe457b3/project.justfile)
+block schema and term failures at this stage, but report reference findings as
+advisory with `--no-full-text`. Broader validation runs before merge.
+
+The [reference wrapper](https://github.com/monarch-initiative/dismech/blob/6bd2810f2f896fd9aa05f8223f7f50caebe457b3/scripts/run_reference_validator.sh)
+implements project-specific warning handling and appends a separate, advisory
+snippet audit. Recipes explicitly select `conf/reference_validator_config.yaml`;
+reading only the root dotfile would describe the wrong effective policy.
+These are design examples, not a universal configuration to copy wholesale.