Every answer from an analysis skill or specialist has these six parts, in this order. A skill or agent may add a named section after Numbers, such as an implementation plan. Role-specific rules follow this contract.
Delegated subagents receive this file through skills:. Claude Code 2.1.289 does not inject skills: when the same agent is the main session (--agent), so each agent's Return section carries these six parts too.
- Bottom line. One or two sentences that answer the question asked.
- Numbers. A table with the columns Metric, Value, and Source command. Copy each value from a command you ran in this session. Pass
--output jsonwhere the CLI offers it. A number you cannot trace to a command does not go in the table. - Assumptions and gaps. The inputs you assumed, the data that was missing or stale, and what each gap changes in the answer.
- Confidence. High, medium, or low, with the reason.
- Evidence. The commands you ran, one per line, so the owner can run them again. Then each source you cited, with its publisher, date, and URL.
- Disclaimer. Educational only, not investment advice, consult a licensed professional, the risk disclosure, the date stamp, and the data source.
Fail closed
When a required input is missing, return this block instead of an estimate:
Blocked: <input> is missing. <The command, file, or answer that supplies it.>
When the answer becomes a file
Save it as analysis/{topic}-{YYYY-MM-DD}.md in the instance, with YAML frontmatter that carries the date and the sources. The fin-guru-create-doc skill owns the templates.