diff --git a/gitnexus/src/cli/ai-context.ts b/gitnexus/src/cli/ai-context.ts
index f65a91284..8e18fed7d 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/cli/ai-context.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/cli/ai-context.ts
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ function generateGitNexusContent(
   generatedSkills?: GeneratedSkillInfo[],
   groupNames?: string[],
   noStats?: boolean,
+  skipSkills?: boolean,
 ): string {
   const generatedRows =
     generatedSkills && generatedSkills.length > 0
@@ -106,14 +107,26 @@ function generateGitNexusContent(
           .join('\n')
       : '';
 
-  const skillsTable = `| Task | Read this skill file |
-|------|---------------------|
-| Understand architecture / "How does X work?" | \`.claude/skills/gitnexus/gitnexus-exploring/SKILL.md\` |
+  // Standard skill rows reference files installed by installSkills(). When
+  // --skip-skills suppresses that install, these rows must be omitted — else
+  // AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md would direct agents to read files that don't exist.
+  // Community skills (generatedRows) live in .claude/skills/generated/ and
+  // are independent of --skip-skills, so they remain when present.
+  const standardSkillsRows = skipSkills
+    ? ''
+    : `| Understand architecture / "How does X work?" | \`.claude/skills/gitnexus/gitnexus-exploring/SKILL.md\` |
 | Blast radius / "What breaks if I change X?" | \`.claude/skills/gitnexus/gitnexus-impact-analysis/SKILL.md\` |
 | Trace bugs / "Why is X failing?" | \`.claude/skills/gitnexus/gitnexus-debugging/SKILL.md\` |
 | Rename / extract / split / refactor | \`.claude/skills/gitnexus/gitnexus-refactoring/SKILL.md\` |
 | Tools, resources, schema reference | \`.claude/skills/gitnexus/gitnexus-guide/SKILL.md\` |
-| Index, status, clean, wiki CLI commands | \`.claude/skills/gitnexus/gitnexus-cli/SKILL.md\` |${generatedRows ? '\n' + generatedRows : ''}`;
+| Index, status, clean, wiki CLI commands | \`.claude/skills/gitnexus/gitnexus-cli/SKILL.md\` |`;
+
+  const tableBody = [standardSkillsRows, generatedRows].filter(Boolean).join('\n');
+  const skillsTable = tableBody
+    ? `| Task | Read this skill file |
+|------|---------------------|
+${tableBody}`
+    : '';
 
   return `${GITNEXUS_START_MARKER}
 # GitNexus — Code Intelligence
@@ -154,11 +167,15 @@ This repository is listed under GitNexus **group(s): ${groupNames.join(', ')}**
 
 `
     : ''
-}## CLI
+}${
+    skillsTable
+      ? `## CLI
 
 ${skillsTable}
 
-${GITNEXUS_END_MARKER}`;
+`
+      : ''
+  }${GITNEXUS_END_MARKER}`;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -320,6 +337,7 @@ export async function generateAIContextFiles(
     generatedSkills,
     groupNames,
     options?.noStats,
+    options?.skipSkills,
   );
   const createdFiles: string[] = [];
 
diff --git a/gitnexus/src/cli/analyze.ts b/gitnexus/src/cli/analyze.ts
index d22592141..e7deb0add 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/cli/analyze.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/cli/analyze.ts
@@ -464,8 +464,11 @@ export const analyzeCommand = async (inputPath?: string, options?: AnalyzeOption
     // a healthy index.
     await assertAnalysisFinalized(repoPath);
 
-    // Skill generation (CLI-only, uses pipeline result from analysis)
-    if (options?.skills && result.pipelineResult) {
+    // Skill generation (CLI-only, uses pipeline result from analysis).
+    // Gated by !skipAll so `--index-only --skills` truly skips ALL file
+    // injection — otherwise `generateSkillFiles()` would still write
+    // community-derived skill files to .claude/skills/generated/.
+    if (options?.skills && result.pipelineResult && !skipAll) {
       updateBar(99, 'Generating skill files...');
       try {
         const { generateSkillFiles } = await import('./skill-gen.js');
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/unit/ai-context.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/unit/ai-context.test.ts
index bbaecb932..71d7ddbdc 100644
--- a/gitnexus/test/unit/ai-context.test.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/test/unit/ai-context.test.ts
@@ -137,6 +137,101 @@ describe('generateAIContextFiles', () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it('does not create .claude/skills/gitnexus/ when skipSkills is true (#742)', async () => {
+    // Regression guard for #742. The --skip-skills flag must prevent
+    // installSkills() from writing the 6 standard skill dirs into the
+    // analyzed repo. Per-test tmpdir so we start from a known-clean
+    // slate — the shared tmpDir from beforeAll may already contain
+    // .claude/skills/gitnexus/ from an earlier test.
+    const skipDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'gn-ai-ctx-skip-skills-'));
+    const skipStorage = path.join(skipDir, '.gitnexus');
+    await fs.mkdir(skipStorage, { recursive: true });
+    try {
+      const stats = { nodes: 50, edges: 100, processes: 5 };
+      const result = await generateAIContextFiles(
+        skipDir,
+        skipStorage,
+        'TestProject',
+        stats,
+        undefined,
+        { skipSkills: true },
+      );
+
+      expect(result.files).toContain('.claude/skills/gitnexus/ (skipped via --skip-skills)');
+      await expect(
+        fs.access(path.join(skipDir, '.claude', 'skills', 'gitnexus')),
+      ).rejects.toThrow();
+    } finally {
+      await fs.rm(skipDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('writes nothing when both skipAgentsMd and skipSkills are true (--index-only, #742)', async () => {
+    // Regression guard for #742. analyzeCommand() resolves --index-only
+    // into BOTH skipAgentsMd=true and skipSkills=true. This test pins
+    // the resolved-flag combination so a future regression that drops
+    // either guard fails here. Per-test tmpdir for the same reason as
+    // the skipSkills test above.
+    const idxDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'gn-ai-ctx-index-only-'));
+    const idxStorage = path.join(idxDir, '.gitnexus');
+    await fs.mkdir(idxStorage, { recursive: true });
+    try {
+      const stats = { nodes: 50, edges: 100, processes: 5 };
+      const result = await generateAIContextFiles(
+        idxDir,
+        idxStorage,
+        'TestProject',
+        stats,
+        undefined,
+        { skipAgentsMd: true, skipSkills: true },
+      );
+
+      expect(result.files).toContain('AGENTS.md (skipped via --skip-agents-md)');
+      expect(result.files).toContain('CLAUDE.md (skipped via --skip-agents-md)');
+      expect(result.files).toContain('.claude/skills/gitnexus/ (skipped via --skip-skills)');
+
+      await expect(fs.access(path.join(idxDir, 'AGENTS.md'))).rejects.toThrow();
+      await expect(fs.access(path.join(idxDir, 'CLAUDE.md'))).rejects.toThrow();
+      await expect(fs.access(path.join(idxDir, '.claude', 'skills', 'gitnexus'))).rejects.toThrow();
+    } finally {
+      await fs.rm(idxDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('omits standard skill references from AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md when skipSkills is true (#742)', async () => {
+    // The skills routing table in AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md points agents at
+    // .claude/skills/gitnexus/*/SKILL.md files installed by installSkills().
+    // When --skip-skills suppresses that install but AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md
+    // are still written, the routing table must NOT name files that don't
+    // exist — otherwise every agent load incurs 6 failed reads and the
+    // routing instructions are worthless. Per-test tmpdir so the assertions
+    // are not contaminated by a CLAUDE.md from an earlier test.
+    const noStdDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'gn-ai-ctx-no-std-skills-'));
+    const noStdStorage = path.join(noStdDir, '.gitnexus');
+    await fs.mkdir(noStdStorage, { recursive: true });
+    try {
+      const stats = { nodes: 50, edges: 100, processes: 5 };
+      await generateAIContextFiles(noStdDir, noStdStorage, 'TestProject', stats, undefined, {
+        skipSkills: true,
+      });
+
+      const content = await fs.readFile(path.join(noStdDir, 'CLAUDE.md'), 'utf-8');
+      expect(content).not.toContain('gitnexus-exploring/SKILL.md');
+      expect(content).not.toContain('gitnexus-impact-analysis/SKILL.md');
+      expect(content).not.toContain('gitnexus-debugging/SKILL.md');
+      expect(content).not.toContain('gitnexus-refactoring/SKILL.md');
+      expect(content).not.toContain('gitnexus-guide/SKILL.md');
+      expect(content).not.toContain('gitnexus-cli/SKILL.md');
+      // The load-bearing imperative sections must still ship — only the
+      // routing rows are conditional.
+      expect(content).toContain('## Always Do');
+      expect(content).toContain('## Never Do');
+      expect(content).toContain('gitnexus://repo/TestProject/context');
+    } finally {
+      await fs.rm(noStdDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+
   it('preserves manual AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md edits when skipAgentsMd is enabled', async () => {
     const stats = { nodes: 42, edges: 84, processes: 3 };
     const agentsPath = path.join(tmpDir, 'AGENTS.md');