diff --git a/.github/skills/new-pull-request/SKILL.md b/.github/skills/new-pull-request/SKILL.md
index f9dad15ff233..ca6a0dda5fb2 100644
--- a/.github/skills/new-pull-request/SKILL.md
+++ b/.github/skills/new-pull-request/SKILL.md
@@ -19,7 +19,13 @@ hand. A hand-modified `uv.lock` makes the `algorithms-keeper` bot close the pull
 request as invalid, and even a repo maintainer cannot undo that.
 
 Always check at least one Markdown checkbox in the pull request description (the "Describe your change" section), or the
-`algorithms-keeper` bot will close the pull request as invalid. Any repo maintainer can undo this if you @mention them on the closed pull request.
+`algorithms-keeper` bot will close the pull request as invalid — and it does
+this *before* a human reads the PR, so a genuinely good change gets closed for a
+formatting reason. This applies to **every** pull request, including CI, docs,
+and tooling changes that are not algorithms: tick the boxes that genuinely apply
+so the body is never submitted with all boxes empty. Any repo maintainer can
+undo this if you @mention them on the closed pull request, but re-opening is
+often unreliable, so it is far better to get it right the first time.
 
 ### 1. Before contributing / Is this an algorithm?
 
@@ -55,3 +61,15 @@ Always check at least one Markdown checkbox in the pull request description (the
 - [ ] At least one **Wikipedia (or equivalent) URL** documenting the algorithm.
 - [ ] Docstring explains what the function does and its parameters/returns.
 - [ ] No unnecessary third-party dependencies.
+
+## Before you click "Create pull request"
+
+This is the final gate. Do not open the pull request until every item here is true:
+
+- [ ] At least one Markdown checkbox in the PR description is checked. **Verify
+      this by re-reading the rendered body** — if every box is still `- [ ]`, the
+      `algorithms-keeper` bot will auto-close the PR before any human sees it.
+      Check the boxes that genuinely apply to this change; never submit an
+      all-empty checklist, even for a CI, docs, or tooling PR.
+- [ ] The branch is not `master`, and `master` is synced with `upstream/master`.
+- [ ] `uv.lock` was not hand-edited.