diff --git a/loopx/capabilities/manager_context/skills/loopx-manager/SKILL.md b/loopx/capabilities/manager_context/skills/loopx-manager/SKILL.md
index 800b81bf7c..2b911ec641 100644
--- a/loopx/capabilities/manager_context/skills/loopx-manager/SKILL.md
+++ b/loopx/capabilities/manager_context/skills/loopx-manager/SKILL.md
@@ -94,6 +94,25 @@ or an explicit reason for deferral/rejection. A plan is not the execution result
 of an implementation request. Only use `handoffs` for troubleshooting or an
 explicit follow-up; the original exchange must not depend on a second question.
 
+When one owner sentence asks for a team rather than a single task, answer with
+one plan preview before anything is created. The preview names, in this order:
+the lanes and the Agent each one runs on; the first bounded Todo per lane with
+its declared priority; the quota or cadence envelope that bounds them; the
+acceptance signal that ends each lane; and the stop condition that ends the
+team. Build every lane from Agents and Todos Core already knows, and from the
+capabilities the current profile actually grants. Name a requested lane you
+cannot staff as a gap, with the missing registration or grant, instead of
+inventing a lane, an Agent, or a capability.
+
+A team preview is a proposal, never an effect. Do not create Todos, register
+Agents, set quota, or start work until the owner confirms that exact preview;
+state what will be created and which canonical owner creates it — Agent
+registration, Todo creation, quota or goal policy — so the owner sees where
+each effect lands. After confirmation, apply through those owners only, reuse
+the Agent and Todo identities the preview named, and report one readback of
+what now exists. Never widen the confirmed scope while applying it, and never
+charge quota for the preview itself.
+
 Core owns truth and permissions. This skill supplies reasoning guidance, not
 new authority. Keep front-end and group answers within their respective scopes;
 give concise, concrete answers with source and coverage notes where they matter.
diff --git a/tests/test_manager_team_plan_guidance.py b/tests/test_manager_team_plan_guidance.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9dd6c01e3b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_manager_team_plan_guidance.py
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+"""The steward's shipped guidance owns the one-sentence team plan contract."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from loopx.chat_manager import manager_skill_text
+
+
+def test_manager_guidance_orders_one_team_preview_before_any_effect() -> None:
+    """A team request is answered with one preview, never with silent creates."""
+
+    text = manager_skill_text()
+
+    ordered = [
+        "the lanes and the Agent each one runs on",
+        "the first bounded Todo per lane",
+        "quota or cadence envelope",
+        "acceptance signal",
+        "stop condition",
+    ]
+    positions = [text.index(marker) for marker in ordered]
+    assert positions == sorted(positions), ordered
+
+    # The preview gates every effect, and the effects keep their canonical owners.
+    assert "proposal, never an effect" in text
+    assert "until the owner confirms that exact preview" in text
+    assert "Agent\nregistration, Todo creation, quota or goal policy" in text
+    assert "charge quota for the preview itself" in text
+    # An unstaffable lane is named as a gap rather than invented.
+    assert "as a gap, with the missing registration or grant" in text
+    assert "inventing a lane, an Agent, or a capability" in text