What problem does it solve? Paid MCP servers, connectors, and generative APIs burn credits on unnecessary calls, blind retries, and weak prompts. This Skill enforces a necessity gate before any external tool call and structures prompts so paid generative calls succeed on the first attempt. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Necessity Gate: A six-point checklist that prefers native tools and keyless fallbacks over MCPs, checks credit balances before credit-gated calls, and applies least-privilege scoping to connectors like Composio. - Prompt Craft for Generative Media: A slot-based prompt structure (subject, composition, style, palette, negatives, quality params) for image tools like Ideogram and Higgsfield, plus storyboard-first discipline for video and audio. - Sub-Agent and LLM API Prompting: Rules for scoping sub-agent tasks with sharp briefs, right model tiers, and report contracts, plus structured-output and validation patterns for LLM APIs embedded in products. - Use Case: Before generating a hero image with Higgsfield, check the credit balance, build the prompt from the six slots with hard text negatives, and generate at the target aspect ratio so one paid call lands the asset. ## Quick Start Before calling any generative MCP or paid API, ask the agent to run the necessity gate and craft a first-try prompt using the mcp-and-prompt-craft checklist.
