diff --git a/pstack/README.md b/pstack/README.md
index 5e34dbff9..0cbacc1e2 100644
--- a/pstack/README.md
+++ b/pstack/README.md
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ to keep [`/poteto-mode`](./skills/poteto-mode/SKILL.md) on across turns, pick it
 |---|---|
 | [`/poteto-mode`](./skills/poteto-mode/SKILL.md) | default entry point for any non-trivial task. |
 | [`/poteto-help`](./skills/poteto-help/SKILL.md) | you're new to pstack, or unsure which skill, playbook, or principle fits. finds out what you're trying to do, answers that part, and hands you a prompt to type. runs only when you type `/poteto-help`. |
+| [`/in-your-own-words`](./skills/in-your-own-words/SKILL.md) | you want the agent to play back your goal and the problem before it starts. runs only when you type `/in-your-own-words`. |
 | [`/how`](./skills/how/SKILL.md) | you want a walkthrough of how a subsystem works. |
 | [`/why`](./skills/why/SKILL.md) | you want to know why something was built this way. discovers available MCPs at run time and queries each evidence category in parallel (source control, issue tracker, long-form docs, real-time chat, infra observability, error tracking, analytics warehouse). |
 | [`/recall`](./skills/recall/SKILL.md) | you're starting or resuming work and want your recent context on a topic rebuilt from your own chat history and the shared record, handed back as a tight current-state brief. |
diff --git a/pstack/skills/in-your-own-words/SKILL.md b/pstack/skills/in-your-own-words/SKILL.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f30d03e29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pstack/skills/in-your-own-words/SKILL.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+name: in-your-own-words
+description: "Restate the user's goal and intent in your own words before starting. Use for /in-your-own-words."
+disable-model-invocation: true
+---
+
+Restate the user's goal and intent in your own words, then wait for them to confirm before you start.
diff --git a/pstack/skills/poteto-help/SKILL.md b/pstack/skills/poteto-help/SKILL.md
index 575d80fbf..d2b377941 100644
--- a/pstack/skills/poteto-help/SKILL.md
+++ b/pstack/skills/poteto-help/SKILL.md
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ The default answer is `/poteto-mode`, which runs most of the others when its ste
 | The user wants to | Skill |
 |---|---|
 | Do any non-trivial task with rigor | [`/poteto-mode`](../poteto-mode/SKILL.md) |
+| Check that the agent understood their goal and the problem before it starts | [`/in-your-own-words`](../in-your-own-words/SKILL.md) |
 | Know how code works now, or where new code should live | [`/how`](../how/SKILL.md) |
 | Know why code is shaped this way, or where a number came from | [`/why`](../why/SKILL.md) |
 | Understand a change or subsystem, explained plainly | [`/teach`](../teach/SKILL.md) |
diff --git a/pstack/skills/poteto-help/references/recipes.md b/pstack/skills/poteto-help/references/recipes.md
index 73118e2a2..a78942c78 100644
--- a/pstack/skills/poteto-help/references/recipes.md
+++ b/pstack/skills/poteto-help/references/recipes.md
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Swap in the real paths, skills, and done checks. Informal wording works.
 ## Understand
 
 - `/poteto-mode read <thread>. restate the underlying issue in your own words, in plain english.`
+- `/in-your-own-words <long or messy ask>`
 - `/poteto-mode investigate why <symptom>. give me what we know, what data you used, and your best hypotheses. don't change any code yet.`
 - `use /how to understand <subsystem>. then use /why to find out why it broke recently.`
 - `/recall my work on <topic> from last week, then read <issue>.`