Replace the per-repo reference files with a template

[jasperboerhof]

Why

The catalog shipped three real repos' house rules as reference files. A public catalog carrying a file named crit.md reads as a dependency, not an example. Readers concluded they need access to the crit repo.

This is also what the repo's own CLAUDE.md already asks for: skills are generalised on lift, "abstracting away project-specific config". These three files were the one place that never happened.

What

Deleted:

• skills/shepard/references/crit.md
• skills/worktree/references/crit.md
• skills/worktree/references/kendo.md

Added: references/_template.md in each skill. It carries the section structure both SKILL.md files already document, says what each section is for, and states in its first line that it is a template, not a dependency. Running on the defaults is the normal path, not a gap.

Pointers updated. shepard/SKILL.md § Adding a repo reference file said "references/crit.md is the model." worktree/SKILL.md said the same of kendo.md, and its frontmatter said "(kendo has one)". All three now point at the template. Both skills' load steps now say the no-file path is the normal one.

Two more crit mentions in shepard/SKILL.md, same defect class:

• The reviewer-resolves row named crit as its example. The row already describes the camp; the parenthetical is gone.
• The town-crier paragraph now leads with the bus surface being optional, and says its env-file default points at one personal checkout as a convenience.

Not changed

pr-watch.sh:84 still defaults TOWN_CRIER_ENV_FILE to $HOME/Code/crit/.env. Changing it would silently break the bus surface for whoever relies on that default, so it is a behaviour decision rather than a docs fix. The paragraph above it now says what it is. Raised separately.

Records under docs/plans/ still name crit.md. They are dated accounts of what was done at the time, not standing guidance, so they are left as history.

Test plan

• pr-watch.test.sh 16/16, ci-failures.test.sh 33/33, verify-citations.test.sh 32/32.
• grep -rniE '\bcrit\b|Code/crit' skills/ --include=*.md returns nothing.
• Both ](references/_template.md) links resolve.
• No pointer to a deleted file remains in skills/ or README.md.
• CI green — this repo has no CI. The three suites above are run by hand.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

https://claude.ai/code/session_01TfPDz4Gk4CcneEykXSKUoa