diff --git a/CONVENTIONS.md b/CONVENTIONS.md
index 74b29957e..ae27176c6 100644
--- a/CONVENTIONS.md
+++ b/CONVENTIONS.md
@@ -692,6 +692,7 @@ Rules:
 - `→ On return, proceed to` is the footer after a Load directive, separated by a blank line — the loaded reference runs to completion (its STOP gates and loops included) before the proceed applies. A bare `→ Proceed to` here reads as the immediate next action and overshoots the reference
 - When a `**STOP.**` gate or a bold conditional sits between the Load directive and the routing line, the routing is keyed to the user's response or the branch, not the return — those use the bare `→ Proceed to`
 - The final step has no routing footer (it's terminal)
+- A footer governs only the reference's bare `→ Return to caller.` exits — never the branches the reference routes itself (see Navigation & Return Patterns → backbone escape). Where every exit routes to a named step, no branch is left for a footer to serve and naming one would name a step that never runs: the footer instead defers, `→ On return, proceed as the reference directed.` A step is never left with no footer at all — silence reads as the end of the step, and the next heading gets treated as the fall-through
 - Within reference files routing to other reference files, use `→` before Load (it IS a routing instruction in that context)
 
 **Parameter passing**: When a shared reference needs context from the caller, append `with` followed by named assignments. String literals and variable values are both backtick-wrapped; variables use curly brace placeholders:
diff --git a/skills/workflow-discovery/SKILL.md b/skills/workflow-discovery/SKILL.md
index dbf61361a..7325fb5e4 100644
--- a/skills/workflow-discovery/SKILL.md
+++ b/skills/workflow-discovery/SKILL.md
@@ -150,6 +150,8 @@ Load **[shape-and-confirm.md](references/shape-and-confirm.md)** and follow its
 
 Load **[confirm-trigger.md](references/confirm-trigger.md)** and follow its instructions as written.
 
+→ On return, proceed as the reference directed.
+
 ---
 
 ## Step 6: Resume Detection