procurer — Grounded Procurement Research

What this skill is

The procurer skill turns a real-world need into a grounded cost-calibration report with cited alternatives, price bands, confidence, and a recommendation. It is the agent's reflex when the user is about to decide how to spend money or effort on a problem and needs calibration before committing.

Concretely, the output of one procurer pass is:

1. A clear restatement of the need (and the underlying problem if the user named only a symptom).
2. 3–5 ranked alternatives, each placed on a provider-archetype tier (DIY-retail → mid-retail → specialty product → contractor → consultant / turnkey).
3. For each alternative: a cost band (low / typical / high) with the currency normalized to the user's locale, plus cited sources (provider URL + page title + fetched-at timestamp) and a confidence score (0–1).
4. Cross-cutting notes: tax/VAT handling, locale-specific suppliers, lead times, hidden costs, deal-breakers.
5. A recommendation — which alternative(s) to pursue, in what order, with the budget envelope.

The output is decision-shaped: the user should be able to read it and act, not need to do further synthesis.

When to invoke (the reflex)