diff --git a/claude-plugins/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json b/claude-plugins/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
index 96cec444..24f89143 100644
--- a/claude-plugins/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
+++ b/claude-plugins/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
   "plugins": [
     {
       "name": "base",
-      "description": "hyperhive's base plugin - skills every agent needs, regardless of role. Currently: state-hygiene (read-before-write discipline and dated-archive convention for durable agent notes/state files). Add a new skill here (not a new plugin) if it applies to all agents; give it its own specialized plugin if it doesn't.",
+      "description": "hyperhive's base plugin - skills every agent needs, regardless of role. Currently: state-hygiene (read-before-write discipline and dated-archive convention for durable agent notes/state files) and forge-workflow (safe forge CLI habits - never call the API directly, @-mention subscribes to a thread, ci-rerun not empty commits, verify before claiming ready, never self-merge). Add a new skill here (not a new plugin) if it applies to all agents; give it its own specialized plugin if it doesn't.",
       "source": "./plugins/base",
       "category": "productivity"
     },
diff --git a/claude-plugins/plugins/base/skills/forge-workflow/SKILL.md b/claude-plugins/plugins/base/skills/forge-workflow/SKILL.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f9ba8a93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/claude-plugins/plugins/base/skills/forge-workflow/SKILL.md
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+---
+name: forge-workflow
+description: Enforces safe, low-noise habits when working with a git forge (issues, PRs, comments, reviews) through its CLI wrapper - never call the forge API directly, understand that an @-mention subscribes someone to the whole thread, retrigger CI without empty commits, verify a PR is actually mergeable before claiming it's ready, and never merge your own PR. Use this whenever you are about to comment on, review, or merge a PR/issue, or before telling someone a PR is ready.
+---
+
+# Forge Workflow
+
+Working with a code forge (issues, PRs, reviews, CI) is mostly about not
+generating noise and not skipping steps that look optional but aren't.
+
+## Never call the forge API directly
+
+If your environment provides a CLI wrapper for forge operations, use it for
+every issue/PR/comment/label/review action instead of raw HTTP calls. The
+wrapper is the one place auth, rate limits, and response shape are handled
+correctly - going around it (e.g. hand-rolled requests) is how credentials
+leak into logs and how you silently miss the wrapper's read-tracking or
+retry behavior.
+
+## `@name` subscribes, plain name doesn't
+
+- Writing `@name` in a comment **notifies and subscribes that person to the
+  whole thread** - every future comment on it pings them too. Only do this
+  when you actually want them pulled in: asking them a direct question,
+  requesting review, handing off the next action.
+- Referring to someone in the **third person** - describing what they did,
+  attributing work - use their plain name, no `@`. An unnecessary `@` trains
+  people to skim-ignore mentions, which defeats the point of the ones that
+  matter.
+
+## Retrigger CI without noise commits
+
+Never push an empty commit just to force a CI rerun - it pollutes history
+and doesn't even help if the failure was a real code problem. Use your
+forge tooling's dedicated rerun/re-dispatch verb instead. If CI is failing
+for an infrastructure reason (runner down, flaky network) rather than a
+code problem, say so and wait rather than spamming reruns.
+
+## Verify before claiming "ready"
+
+Before telling anyone a PR is ready to merge, actually check its
+mergeability + CI state + review state through the tooling - don't infer
+readiness from "I pushed and CI looked fine last I saw." State can change
+after your last look (a new commit, a reviewer's request-changes, a rebase
+conflict). A quick status check costs nothing and prevents a false "ready"
+that wastes someone's time acting on it.
+
+## Never self-merge
+
+Merging is the reviewer's/operator's call, not the author's, regardless of
+how confident you are in your own change. Push, open the PR, respond to
+review - then wait. If you have merge access, using it on your own PR is
+out of bounds even when it's "obviously fine."
+
+## Read before you comment
+
+If a thread has activity you haven't read yet, read it first. Commenting
+over something you haven't seen risks repeating a question that was just
+answered, missing new instructions, or talking past a correction. Many
+forge tools enforce this by refusing to post to an unread thread - treat
+that as a feature, not friction to route around.
+
+If your environment ships its own hive-wide/repo-wide forge conventions
+doc (commit style, review checklist, etc.), treat that as the canonical
+source and this skill as a reminder to follow it - don't duplicate its
+rationale into your own notes either.