diff --git a/.agentv/targets.yaml b/.agentv/targets.yaml
index bc7b85d2..14e4b9ac 100644
--- a/.agentv/targets.yaml
+++ b/.agentv/targets.yaml
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ targets:
 
   - name: pi-cli
     provider: pi-cli
+    subprovider: openrouter
     grader_target: gemini-flash
 
   - name: pi-coding-agent
diff --git a/evals/agentic-engineering/workspace-template/scripts/setup.mjs b/evals/agentic-engineering/workspace-template/scripts/setup.mjs
index bfeddcf6..afdd10da 100644
--- a/evals/agentic-engineering/workspace-template/scripts/setup.mjs
+++ b/evals/agentic-engineering/workspace-template/scripts/setup.mjs
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@
  * Runs with cwd = eval file directory (which is inside the repo).
  */
 
-import { cpSync, mkdirSync, readdirSync, readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
-import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import { cpSync, mkdirSync, readFileSync, readdirSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
 
 // Read workspace_path from stdin (provided by AgentV orchestrator)
 let workspacePath;
@@ -32,10 +32,7 @@ console.log(`Workspace: ${workspacePath}`);
 console.log(`Repo root: ${repoRoot}`);
 
 // Copy to skill discovery directories in the workspace
-const skillDirs = [
-  join(workspacePath, '.agents', 'skills'),
-  join(workspacePath, '.pi', 'skills'),
-];
+const skillDirs = [join(workspacePath, '.agents', 'skills'), join(workspacePath, '.pi', 'skills')];
 for (const dir of skillDirs) {
   mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
 }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/evaluation/providers/pi-cli.ts b/packages/core/src/evaluation/providers/pi-cli.ts
index c182f85a..7c0dc25e 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/evaluation/providers/pi-cli.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/evaluation/providers/pi-cli.ts
@@ -259,6 +259,28 @@ export class PiCliProvider implements Provider {
       }
     }
 
+    // When a subprovider is explicitly configured, remove ambient env vars from
+    // other providers that pi-cli auto-detects (e.g., AZURE_OPENAI_* vars override
+    // --provider flags). This ensures the configured subprovider is actually used.
+    if (this.config.subprovider) {
+      const provider = this.config.subprovider.toLowerCase();
+      const PROVIDER_ENV_PREFIXES: Record<string, readonly string[]> = {
+        openrouter: ['AZURE_OPENAI_', 'ANTHROPIC_API_KEY', 'GEMINI_API_KEY'],
+        anthropic: ['AZURE_OPENAI_', 'OPENROUTER_API_KEY', 'GEMINI_API_KEY'],
+        openai: ['AZURE_OPENAI_', 'OPENROUTER_API_KEY', 'GEMINI_API_KEY', 'ANTHROPIC_API_KEY'],
+        google: ['AZURE_OPENAI_', 'OPENROUTER_API_KEY', 'ANTHROPIC_API_KEY'],
+        gemini: ['AZURE_OPENAI_', 'OPENROUTER_API_KEY', 'ANTHROPIC_API_KEY'],
+      };
+      const prefixesToRemove = PROVIDER_ENV_PREFIXES[provider];
+      if (prefixesToRemove) {
+        for (const key of Object.keys(env)) {
+          if (prefixesToRemove.some((prefix) => key.startsWith(prefix))) {
+            delete env[key];
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
     return env;
   }
 
diff --git a/plugins/agentic-engineering/skills/agent-plugin-review/SKILL.md b/plugins/agentic-engineering/skills/agent-plugin-review/SKILL.md
index 9ba106df..b98a3f50 100644
--- a/plugins/agentic-engineering/skills/agent-plugin-review/SKILL.md
+++ b/plugins/agentic-engineering/skills/agent-plugin-review/SKILL.md
@@ -38,6 +38,11 @@ Report findings grouped by severity (error > warning > info).
 
 If the PR includes eval files, invoke `agentv-eval-review` for AgentV-specific eval quality checks.
 
+Additionally, check each eval YAML for these structural patterns:
+
+- **File path format**: Every `type: file` input value MUST start with a leading `/` (workspace-root-relative). Paths like `plugins/foo/SKILL.md` are wrong — correct form is `/plugins/foo/SKILL.md`. Scan every `type: file` entry and flag any missing leading slash, showing the corrected path.
+- **Repeated inputs**: If the same file input (same `type: file` + `value`) appears identically in every test case, recommend extracting it to the top-level `input` field. AgentV eval files support a top-level `input` section that applies to all tests, eliminating per-test duplication.
+
 ### Step 3: Skill quality review (LLM judgment)
 
 For each SKILL.md, check against `references/skill-quality-checklist.md`:
@@ -69,6 +74,11 @@ For plugins with multi-phase workflows, check against `references/workflow-check
 - Artifact self-correction with corrections log
 - Learning loop mechanism
 
+**Hard gate detection recipe** — For each phase skill after the first:
+1. Read the SKILL.md body
+2. Check whether it verifies that the previous phase's output artifact exists before doing any work
+3. If no such check exists, flag it as a missing hard gate. Recommend adding a gate at the top of the skill that checks for the prerequisite artifact (e.g., `deploy-plan.md`) and stops with a clear message telling the user which skill to run first if the artifact is missing
+
 ### Step 5: Post review
 
 Post findings as inline PR comments at specific line numbers. Group by severity:
diff --git a/plugins/agentic-engineering/skills/agent-plugin-review/references/workflow-checklist.md b/plugins/agentic-engineering/skills/agent-plugin-review/references/workflow-checklist.md
index c5f3fa1f..7fed797b 100644
--- a/plugins/agentic-engineering/skills/agent-plugin-review/references/workflow-checklist.md
+++ b/plugins/agentic-engineering/skills/agent-plugin-review/references/workflow-checklist.md
@@ -28,10 +28,12 @@ From [Superpowers](https://github.com/obra/superpowers/) `<HARD-GATE>` pattern:
 - [ ] Gates cannot be silently bypassed
 - [ ] Gate checks happen at the start of the skill, before any work
 
+**How to detect missing hard gates:** For each phase skill beyond the first, read the SKILL.md and check whether it verifies the previous phase's output artifact exists (e.g., `deploy-plan.md`, `design.md`) before starting work. If a skill jumps straight into execution without checking prerequisites, it is missing a hard gate.
+
 Example gate:
 ```
-HARD GATE: `hld-review.md` MUST exist in {output_dir}/.
-If missing, inform the user: "Run the design-review skill first." STOP.
+HARD GATE: `deploy-plan.md` MUST exist in {output_dir}/.
+If missing, inform the user: "Run the deploy-plan skill first to generate a deployment plan." STOP.
 ```
 
 ## Artifact Contracts