181 lines
8.9 KiB
Markdown
181 lines
8.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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name: using-agent-skills
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description: Discovers and invokes agent skills. Use when starting a session or when you need to discover which skill applies to the current task. This is the meta-skill that governs how all other skills are discovered and invoked.
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---
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# Using Agent Skills
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## Overview
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Agent Skills is a collection of engineering workflow skills organized by development phase. Each skill encodes a specific process that senior engineers follow. This meta-skill helps you discover and apply the right skill for your current task.
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## Skill Discovery
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When a task arrives, identify the development phase and apply the corresponding skill:
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```
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Task arrives
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│
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├── Don't know what you want yet? ──────→ interview-me
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├── Have a rough concept, need variants? → idea-refine
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├── New project/feature/change? ──→ spec-driven-development
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├── Have a spec, need tasks? ──────→ planning-and-task-breakdown
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├── Implementing code? ────────────→ incremental-implementation
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│ ├── UI work? ─────────────────→ frontend-ui-engineering
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│ ├── API work? ────────────────→ api-and-interface-design
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│ ├── Need better context? ─────→ context-engineering
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│ ├── Need doc-verified code? ───→ source-driven-development
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│ └── Stakes high / unfamiliar code? ──→ doubt-driven-development
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├── Writing/running tests? ────────→ test-driven-development
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│ └── Browser-based? ───────────→ browser-testing-with-devtools
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├── Something broke? ──────────────→ debugging-and-error-recovery
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├── Reviewing code? ───────────────→ code-review-and-quality
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│ ├── Security concerns? ───────→ security-and-hardening
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│ └── Performance concerns? ────→ performance-optimization
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├── Committing/branching? ─────────→ git-workflow-and-versioning
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├── CI/CD pipeline work? ──────────→ ci-cd-and-automation
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├── Writing docs/ADRs? ───────────→ documentation-and-adrs
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└── Deploying/launching? ─────────→ shipping-and-launch
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```
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## Core Operating Behaviors
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These behaviors apply at all times, across all skills. They are non-negotiable.
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### 1. Surface Assumptions
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Before implementing anything non-trivial, explicitly state your assumptions:
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```
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ASSUMPTIONS I'M MAKING:
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1. [assumption about requirements]
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2. [assumption about architecture]
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3. [assumption about scope]
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→ Correct me now or I'll proceed with these.
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```
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Don't silently fill in ambiguous requirements. The most common failure mode is making wrong assumptions and running with them unchecked. Surface uncertainty early — it's cheaper than rework.
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### 2. Manage Confusion Actively
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When you encounter inconsistencies, conflicting requirements, or unclear specifications:
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1. **STOP.** Do not proceed with a guess.
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2. Name the specific confusion.
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3. Present the tradeoff or ask the clarifying question.
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4. Wait for resolution before continuing.
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**Bad:** Silently picking one interpretation and hoping it's right.
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**Good:** "I see X in the spec but Y in the existing code. Which takes precedence?"
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### 3. Push Back When Warranted
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You are not a yes-machine. When an approach has clear problems:
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- Point out the issue directly
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- Explain the concrete downside (quantify when possible — "this adds ~200ms latency" not "this might be slower")
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- Propose an alternative
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- Accept the human's decision if they override with full information
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Sycophancy is a failure mode. "Of course!" followed by implementing a bad idea helps no one. Honest technical disagreement is more valuable than false agreement.
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### 4. Enforce Simplicity
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Your natural tendency is to overcomplicate. Actively resist it.
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Before finishing any implementation, ask:
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- Can this be done in fewer lines?
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- Are these abstractions earning their complexity?
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- Would a staff engineer look at this and say "why didn't you just..."?
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If you build 1000 lines and 100 would suffice, you have failed. Prefer the boring, obvious solution. Cleverness is expensive.
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### 5. Maintain Scope Discipline
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Touch only what you're asked to touch.
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Do NOT:
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- Remove comments you don't understand
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- "Clean up" code orthogonal to the task
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- Refactor adjacent systems as a side effect
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- Delete code that seems unused without explicit approval
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- Add features not in the spec because they "seem useful"
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Your job is surgical precision, not unsolicited renovation.
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### 6. Verify, Don't Assume
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Every skill includes a verification step. A task is not complete until verification passes. "Seems right" is never sufficient — there must be evidence (passing tests, build output, runtime data).
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## Failure Modes to Avoid
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These are the subtle errors that look like productivity but create problems:
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1. Making wrong assumptions without checking
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2. Not managing your own confusion — plowing ahead when lost
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3. Not surfacing inconsistencies you notice
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4. Not presenting tradeoffs on non-obvious decisions
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5. Being sycophantic ("Of course!") to approaches with clear problems
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6. Overcomplicating code and APIs
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7. Modifying code or comments orthogonal to the task
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8. Removing things you don't fully understand
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9. Building without a spec because "it's obvious"
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10. Skipping verification because "it looks right"
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## Skill Rules
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1. **Check for an applicable skill before starting work.** Skills encode processes that prevent common mistakes.
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2. **Skills are workflows, not suggestions.** Follow the steps in order. Don't skip verification steps.
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3. **Multiple skills can apply.** A feature implementation might involve `idea-refine` → `spec-driven-development` → `planning-and-task-breakdown` → `incremental-implementation` → `test-driven-development` → `code-review-and-quality` → `shipping-and-launch` in sequence.
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4. **When in doubt, start with a spec.** If the task is non-trivial and there's no spec, begin with `spec-driven-development`.
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## Lifecycle Sequence
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For a complete feature, the typical skill sequence is:
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```
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1. interview-me → Extract what the user actually wants
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2. idea-refine → Refine vague ideas
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3. spec-driven-development → Define what we're building
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4. planning-and-task-breakdown → Break into verifiable chunks
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5. context-engineering → Load the right context
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6. source-driven-development → Verify against official docs
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7. incremental-implementation → Build slice by slice
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8. doubt-driven-development → Cross-examine non-trivial decisions in-flight
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9. test-driven-development → Prove each slice works
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10. code-review-and-quality → Review before merge
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11. git-workflow-and-versioning → Clean commit history
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12. documentation-and-adrs → Document decisions
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13. shipping-and-launch → Deploy safely
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```
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Not every task needs every skill. A bug fix might only need: `debugging-and-error-recovery` → `test-driven-development` → `code-review-and-quality`.
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## Quick Reference
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| Phase | Skill | One-Line Summary |
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|-------|-------|-----------------|
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| Define | interview-me | Surface what the user actually wants before any plan, spec, or code exists |
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| Define | idea-refine | Refine ideas through structured divergent and convergent thinking |
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| Define | spec-driven-development | Requirements and acceptance criteria before code |
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| Plan | planning-and-task-breakdown | Decompose into small, verifiable tasks |
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| Build | incremental-implementation | Thin vertical slices, test each before expanding |
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| Build | source-driven-development | Verify against official docs before implementing |
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| Build | doubt-driven-development | Adversarial fresh-context review of every non-trivial decision |
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| Build | context-engineering | Right context at the right time |
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| Build | frontend-ui-engineering | Production-quality UI with accessibility |
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| Build | api-and-interface-design | Stable interfaces with clear contracts |
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| Verify | test-driven-development | Failing test first, then make it pass |
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| Verify | browser-testing-with-devtools | Chrome DevTools MCP for runtime verification |
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| Verify | debugging-and-error-recovery | Reproduce → localize → fix → guard |
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| Review | code-review-and-quality | Five-axis review with quality gates |
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| Review | security-and-hardening | OWASP prevention, input validation, least privilege |
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| Review | performance-optimization | Measure first, optimize only what matters |
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| Ship | git-workflow-and-versioning | Atomic commits, clean history |
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| Ship | ci-cd-and-automation | Automated quality gates on every change |
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| Ship | documentation-and-adrs | Document the why, not just the what |
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| Ship | shipping-and-launch | Pre-launch checklist, monitoring, rollback plan |
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