diff --git a/clickup_runner/claude_runner.py b/clickup_runner/claude_runner.py
index 8fef05c..9bb9fe5 100644
--- a/clickup_runner/claude_runner.py
+++ b/clickup_runner/claude_runner.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 """Claude Code subprocess runner.
-
+NEW WORKING CODE 
 Builds prompts from skill files + task context, runs `claude -p`,
 collects output files, and returns structured results.
 """
@@ -286,9 +286,22 @@ def notify(
         log.warning("Failed to send ntfy notification: %s", e)
 
 
+def _strip_frontmatter(text: str) -> str:
+    """Remove YAML frontmatter (--- ... ---) from a markdown file."""
+    if not text.startswith("---"):
+        return text
+    end = text.find("---", 3)
+    if end == -1:
+        return text
+    return text[end + 3:].lstrip("\r\n")
+
+
 def read_skill_file(route: SkillRoute, skills_dir: Path) -> str:
     """Read a skill .md file and return its content.
 
+    Strips YAML frontmatter (skill registry metadata) since it's not
+    useful as prompt content and the leading --- breaks `claude -p`.
+
     Raises FileNotFoundError if the skill file doesn't exist.
     """
     skill_path = skills_dir / route.skill_file
@@ -296,4 +309,5 @@ def read_skill_file(route: SkillRoute, skills_dir: Path) -> str:
         raise FileNotFoundError(
             "Skill file not found: %s" % skill_path
         )
-    return skill_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    raw = skill_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    return _strip_frontmatter(raw)