When to Use
User needs Texas-specific guidance that generic U.S. advice usually gets wrong: choosing a metro, moving, driving, taxes, weather prep, family logistics, small business setup, or road trip execution.
This skill should activate for four modes: visiting, moving to Texas, living in Texas, and operating a Texas-based business.
Architecture
This skill works statelessly for one-off Texas questions. If the user wants continuity across sessions, memory lives in ~/texas/. If ~/texas/ does not exist, read setup.md, explain planned local storage in plain language, and ask for confirmation before creating files. See memory-template.md for structure.
~/texas/
└── memory.md # User context, region, timelines, constraints, and open loops
Quick Reference
| Topic | File |
|---|
| ------- | ------ |
| Setup guide | setup.md |
| Memory template | memory-template.md |
| Region fit and metro tradeoffs | regions.md |
| Move-in sequence and admin checklist | moving-and-settling.md |
| License, registration, tolls, and vehicles | texas-dmv-and-vehicles.md |
| Renting, buying, property tax, and flood risk | housing-and-property.md |
| Power, water, internet, and recurring bills | utilities-and-bills.md |
| Taxes, insurance pressure, and cost reality | costs-and-taxes.md |
| Heat, storms, freezes, outages, and prep | weather-and-emergencies.md |
| Laws, scams, and practical safety | laws-and-safety.md |
| Schools, childcare, and family planning | family-and-schools.md |
| Health insurance, urgent care, and care access | healthcare-and-insurance.md |
| Jobs, LLC setup, sales tax, and compliance | work-and-business.md |
| Road trips, visiting, and city-hopping | road-trips-and-visiting.md |
| Official sources map | sources.md |
Core Rules
1. Classify the User Before Giving Advice
- Decide which Texas mode applies first: visitor, future resident, current resident, or business operator.
- Then anchor the answer to the user's region, metro, county, ZIP, and school district when those variables change the recommendation.
- If that context is missing, ask for it before pretending Texas is uniform.
2. Separate State Rules from Local Reality
- Texas-level rules are only the first layer. City, county, appraisal district, utility territory, school district, and flood zone often change the real answer.
- Always label which parts are statewide and which parts must be verified locally.
- For address-specific questions, prefer official portals over memory or generic summaries.
3. Distances and Drive Time Beat Map Intuition
- Texas plans fail when users underestimate distance, tolls, fatigue, weather, and event traffic.
- For both relocation and travel, convert geography into realistic drive-time, airport, and corridor tradeoffs.
- Never recommend same-day overstuffed plans just because destinations look close on a map.
4. Texas Cost Reality Is Broader Than "No State Income Tax"
- Include housing, property tax pressure, insurance, toll roads, summer power bills, car dependence, and weather-driven costs.
- For homeowners and businesses, mention appraisal, deductible, flood, hail, and outage exposure when relevant.
- Use
costs-and-taxes.md before saying a place is "cheap."
5. Weather and Grid Risk Change Good Advice
- Heat, flood, hail, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfire smoke, and winter freezes are not edge cases.
- Adjust moving plans, road trips, home choice, and seasonal recommendations around actual hazard exposure.
- When weather is part of the problem, lead with readiness and fallback plans, not brochure copy.
6. Deliver Checklists, Not Tourism Copy
- Texas users usually need deadlines, documents, portals, sequence, and tradeoffs.
- For administrative questions, answer in the form "do this today / this week / later" whenever possible.
- For destination questions, show why one base city or region fits better than another.
- Before creating or changing local files in
~/texas/, explain the planned write and ask for confirmation.
7. Use Official Sources for Unstable Rules
- License rules, registration steps, sales tax, homestead details, district lookups, and emergency guidance can change.
- Verify current information from the official state or local source before giving precise compliance steps.
- If current verification is blocked, say so plainly and avoid false precision.
Common Traps
- Treating Texas like one market instead of multiple different metros and risk zones.
- Recommending a neighborhood or suburb without checking commute shape, flood exposure, and school district.
- Saying "no state income tax" while ignoring property tax, insurance, tolls, and electricity spikes.
- Mixing up Texas DPS, TxDMV, county tax offices, appraisal districts, and city utilities.
- Planning a road trip by miles instead of daylight, heat, event traffic, and fuel gaps.
- Giving housing advice without mentioning HOA, wind or hail exposure, and renter or owner insurance gaps.
- Using U.S.-generic legal guidance for cannabis, DWI, landlord-tenant, or permit questions.
External Endpoints
| Endpoint | Data Sent | Purpose |
|---|
| ---------- | ----------- | --------- |
| https://www.texas.gov | Page requests only unless user explicitly wants form guidance | State service portal and resident tasks |
| https://www.dps.texas.gov | Page requests only unless user explicitly provides personal case details | Driver license and ID rules |
| https://www.txdmv.gov | Page requests only unless user explicitly wants vehicle workflow help | Vehicle title, registration, and county office guidance |
| https://comptroller.texas.gov | Page requests only unless user explicitly wants tax-specific guidance | Sales tax, franchise tax, property tax resources |
| https://tea.texas.gov | ZIP, city, district, or school references if the user asks for school matching | School district and education framework |
| https://www.texasready.gov | Page requests only | Emergency preparedness and hazard planning |
| https://powertochoose.org | ZIP if the user asks to compare electric plans in deregulated areas | Electricity market lookup |
No other data is sent externally.
Security & Privacy
Data that may leave your machine:
- Public page requests to official Texas or utility-choice sites
- ZIP, city, county, or district data only when the user asks for location-specific guidance
Data that stays local:
- Region preference, move timeline, family constraints, vehicle notes, and open tasks in
~/texas/
This skill does NOT:
- Submit government forms on the user's behalf without explicit instruction
- Store credentials, SSNs, or payment information in local memory
- Assume local rules when the answer depends on a city, county, or district
Trust
By using this skill, location details such as ZIP, county, or district may be checked against official Texas or local-government websites when the user asks for precise guidance.
Only install if you trust those public services with that lookup context.
Related Skills
Install with clawhub install if user confirms:
travel — General itinerary design and travel planning structurecar-rental — Rental car, pickup, and handoff decisions for Texas tripsbooking — Reservation workflows for flights, hotels, and schedule holdsbusiness — Broader business operations guidance beyond Texas-specific ruleshealth-insurance — Deeper insurance-plan comparison and terminology support
Feedback
- If useful:
clawhub star texas - Stay updated:
clawhub sync