diff --git a/gitnexus/src/cli/analyze.ts b/gitnexus/src/cli/analyze.ts
index e7deb0add..da67eda69 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/cli/analyze.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/cli/analyze.ts
@@ -154,6 +154,16 @@ export interface AnalyzeOptions {
   embeddingDevice?: string;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Whether community skill files (`--skills`) should run after indexing.
+ * Kept as a pure helper so the `--index-only --skills` contract is unit-tested
+ * without booting the full analyze pipeline (#742 review).
+ */
+export const shouldGenerateCommunitySkillFiles = (
+  options: Pick<AnalyzeOptions, 'skills' | 'indexOnly'> | undefined,
+  pipelineResult: unknown,
+): boolean => Boolean(options?.skills && pipelineResult && !options?.indexOnly);
+
 export const analyzeCommand = async (inputPath?: string, options?: AnalyzeOptions) => {
   if (ensureHeap()) return;
 
@@ -465,10 +475,9 @@ export const analyzeCommand = async (inputPath?: string, options?: AnalyzeOption
     await assertAnalysisFinalized(repoPath);
 
     // 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) {
+    // Gated so `--index-only --skills` skips community skill writes too
+    // (`shouldGenerateCommunitySkillFiles` — see unit test).
+    if (shouldGenerateCommunitySkillFiles(options, result.pipelineResult)) {
       updateBar(99, 'Generating skill files...');
       try {
         const { generateSkillFiles } = await import('./skill-gen.js');
diff --git a/gitnexus/src/cli/index.ts b/gitnexus/src/cli/index.ts
index 47d933c21..c8f3e9464 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/cli/index.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/cli/index.ts
@@ -38,7 +38,9 @@ program
   .option('--no-stats', 'Omit volatile file/symbol counts from AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md')
   .option(
     '--skip-skills',
-    'Skip installing standard GitNexus skill files to .claude/skills/gitnexus/',
+    'Skip installing standard GitNexus skill files under .claude/skills/gitnexus/. ' +
+      'Does not suppress community skills from --skills (those use .claude/skills/generated/). ' +
+      'Use --index-only to skip all AI-context file injection.',
   )
   .option('--index-only', 'Pure index mode: skip all file injection (AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, skills)')
   .option(
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/unit/analyze-community-skills-gate.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/unit/analyze-community-skills-gate.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..35eaa5c77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gitnexus/test/unit/analyze-community-skills-gate.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { shouldGenerateCommunitySkillFiles } from '../../src/cli/analyze.js';
+
+describe('shouldGenerateCommunitySkillFiles (#742 / PR 1485)', () => {
+  it('is false when --index-only is set even if --skills and pipelineResult are present', () => {
+    expect(shouldGenerateCommunitySkillFiles({ skills: true, indexOnly: true }, { ok: true })).toBe(
+      false,
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('is false when pipelineResult is missing', () => {
+    expect(shouldGenerateCommunitySkillFiles({ skills: true, indexOnly: false }, null)).toBe(false);
+    expect(shouldGenerateCommunitySkillFiles({ skills: true }, undefined)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('is true when --skills is set, pipeline exists, and not index-only', () => {
+    expect(
+      shouldGenerateCommunitySkillFiles({ skills: true, indexOnly: false }, { communities: [] }),
+    ).toBe(true);
+    expect(shouldGenerateCommunitySkillFiles({ skills: true }, { x: 1 })).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('is false when --skills is omitted', () => {
+    expect(shouldGenerateCommunitySkillFiles({ indexOnly: false }, { x: 1 })).toBe(false);
+    expect(shouldGenerateCommunitySkillFiles(undefined, { x: 1 })).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/unit/skip-git-cli.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/unit/skip-git-cli.test.ts
index 069a9686f..6bb9e28cc 100644
--- a/gitnexus/test/unit/skip-git-cli.test.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/test/unit/skip-git-cli.test.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ describe('--skip-git CLI flag', () => {
 
     expect(helpOutput).toContain('--skip-git');
     expect(helpOutput).toContain('--skip-agents-md');
+    expect(helpOutput).toContain('--skip-skills');
+    expect(helpOutput).toContain('--index-only');
     expect(helpOutput).not.toContain('--no-git');
   });