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github-actions[bot] 914d9b2808 chore: version skills 2026-08-19 13:09:35 +00:00
21 changed files with 34 additions and 165 deletions
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---
"mattpocock-skills": patch
---
Add the `implement-spec` skill (in-progress bucket, user-invoked). It takes a spec and its tickets and drives them to a single PR: the tickets are read as a task graph with blocking edges, so implementer subagents run in background worktrees across the ready frontier for concurrency, a merger subagent folds each one back into the PR branch, and the flow closes with `/code-review` before the PR is marked ready.
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---
"mattpocock-skills": patch
---
domain-modeling: trigger on discussing codebase terminology and on writing or editing a CONTEXT.md or an ADR directly, replacing the narrower "pin down domain terminology or a ubiquitous language" / "record an architectural decision" phrasing. Also drops the "another skill needs to maintain the domain model" caveat, since that's the invoking skill's job to state explicitly, not this description's.
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
---
"mattpocock-skills": patch
---
Quote the `description` front matter in `to-spec`, `code-review`, `setup-matt-pocock-skills`, `writing-fragments`, `writing-shape`, and `wait-what`. An unquoted colon-space left over from the em-dash sweep in #905 made each block invalid YAML, so `skills.sh` skipped all six during discovery and they couldn't be listed or installed via `npx skills`.
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---
"mattpocock-skills": patch
---
grilling: update the round template so consecutive questions are separated by a horizontal rule (`---`) instead of running together.
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---
"mattpocock-skills": patch
---
grilling: remove em-dashes from `SKILL.md`, replacing them with colons and semicolons so the instructions read as plain text.
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---
"mattpocock-skills": patch
---
Remove every em-dash from the repo's prose (docs, `SKILL.md` files, ADRs, `README.md`, scripts, JSON/YAML metadata), hand-rewriting each sentence with a comma, colon, period, parentheses, or conjunction rather than mechanically substituting the character. `CLAUDE.md`/`AGENTS.md` now says not to reintroduce them.
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
---
"mattpocock-skills": patch
---
Standardize cross-skill invocation on an explicit "call the Skill tool" instruction instead of bare `/skill`-style prose, across `code-review`, `diagnosing-bugs`, `grill-with-docs`, `grill-me`, `improve-codebase-architecture`, `tdd`, `to-spec`, `to-tickets`, `triage`, and `wayfinder`.
- A skill that names another skill in prose ("run the `/grilling` skill") does not reliably cause it to load. This is the documented rough edge behind `grill-with-docs`'s most-reported problem. Naming the tool directly (`Call the Skill tool with "grilling"`) is intended to raise the hit rate. Dropping the leading `/` also makes the instruction harness-neutral rather than less: it no longer assumes Claude Code's trigger syntax.
- A step needing more than one skill now says so as multiple calls ("Call the Skill tool twice, for `grilling` and `domain-modeling`"), not one call carrying two names.
- Documents the convention in `.agents/invocation.md` for future skills to follow.
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
---
"mattpocock-skills": patch
---
Stop skills from trying to reach user-invoked skills through the Skill tool: fix cross-skill references that violated the "no other skill can call it" invariant in `.agents/invocation.md`, in `to-spec`, `wayfinder`, `to-tickets`, `triage`, `code-review`, and `diagnosing-bugs`.
- `to-spec`, `wayfinder`, `to-tickets`, `triage`, and `code-review` each carried a precondition ("...run `/setup-matt-pocock-skills` if not") that PR #878 rewrote into a literal `Call the Skill tool with "setup-matt-pocock-skills"` instruction. `setup-matt-pocock-skills` is user-invoked, so none of these skills (user-invoked or model-invoked) can call it. Reworded all five as instructions for the agent to tell the human to run it instead.
- `diagnosing-bugs`'s Phase 6 post-mortem hand off to `improve-codebase-architecture` (also user-invoked) the same way, from an autonomous, often-unattended bug-fixing flow with no human in the loop to catch the failed call. Removed the hand-off outright rather than softening it, since it rarely fired in practice. Phase 6 is now "Cleanup" only; the mechanical checklist is untouched.
- Added a carve-out paragraph to `.agents/invocation.md`'s "Dependencies between them" section: the `Call the Skill tool with "name"` convention only applies when the named skill is model-invoked. This is the section PR #878 introduced without reconciling it against the user-invoked/model-invoked invariant stated eight lines above it; the gap is most of why this bug reached six call sites instead of one.
Fixes #453.
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---
"mattpocock-skills": patch
---
wait-what: follow `CONTEXT-MAP.md` to the right `CONTEXT.md` when a repo indexes multiple contexts that way instead of keeping a single root `CONTEXT.md`.
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{
"name": "mattpocock-skills",
"version": "1.2.3",
"version": "1.2.4",
"description": "Matt Pocock's agent skills for real engineering: grilling, spec/ticket flows, TDD, code review, domain modelling and more. Plug-and-play, not vibe coding.",
"author": {
"name": "Matt Pocock",
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node_modules
.claude
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# mattpocock-skills
## 1.2.4
### Patch Changes
- [#848](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/pull/848) [`f02e2ed`](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/commit/f02e2ed3624d031272f8547742d23bf6bca8b072) Thanks [@mattpocock](https://github.com/mattpocock)! - domain-modeling: trigger on discussing codebase terminology and on writing or editing a CONTEXT.md or an ADR directly, replacing the narrower "pin down domain terminology or a ubiquitous language" / "record an architectural decision" phrasing. Also drops the "another skill needs to maintain the domain model" caveat, since that's the invoking skill's job to state explicitly, not this description's.
- [#911](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/pull/911) [`4f28947`](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/commit/4f289474bad013fe2be8f8769d733f59d9103d6b) Thanks [@mattpocock](https://github.com/mattpocock)! - Quote the `description` front matter in `to-spec`, `code-review`, `setup-matt-pocock-skills`, `writing-fragments`, `writing-shape`, and `wait-what`. An unquoted colon-space left over from the em-dash sweep in [#905](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/issues/905) made each block invalid YAML, so `skills.sh` skipped all six during discovery and they couldn't be listed or installed via `npx skills`.
- [#879](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/pull/879) [`d419977`](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/commit/d419977fe07d9e1607d3523f3579310bbb076b93) Thanks [@mattpocock](https://github.com/mattpocock)! - grilling: remove em-dashes from `SKILL.md`, replacing them with colons and semicolons so the instructions read as plain text.
- [#905](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/pull/905) [`e6e9577`](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/commit/e6e957797d8cceb5b351c0dc840369523f9fb8fb) Thanks [@mattpocock](https://github.com/mattpocock)! - Remove every em-dash from the repo's prose (docs, `SKILL.md` files, ADRs, `README.md`, scripts, JSON/YAML metadata), hand-rewriting each sentence with a comma, colon, period, parentheses, or conjunction rather than mechanically substituting the character. `CLAUDE.md`/`AGENTS.md` now says not to reintroduce them.
- [#878](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/pull/878) [`e3e547b`](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/commit/e3e547b57d549110a0aa6ff40fd7b871c01c76c9) Thanks [@mattpocock](https://github.com/mattpocock)! - Standardize cross-skill invocation on an explicit "call the Skill tool" instruction instead of bare `/skill`-style prose, across `code-review`, `diagnosing-bugs`, `grill-with-docs`, `grill-me`, `improve-codebase-architecture`, `tdd`, `to-spec`, `to-tickets`, `triage`, and `wayfinder`.
- A skill that names another skill in prose ("run the `/grilling` skill") does not reliably cause it to load. This is the documented rough edge behind `grill-with-docs`'s most-reported problem. Naming the tool directly (`Call the Skill tool with "grilling"`) is intended to raise the hit rate. Dropping the leading `/` also makes the instruction harness-neutral rather than less: it no longer assumes Claude Code's trigger syntax.
- A step needing more than one skill now says so as multiple calls ("Call the Skill tool twice, for `grilling` and `domain-modeling`"), not one call carrying two names.
- Documents the convention in `.agents/invocation.md` for future skills to follow.
- [#880](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/pull/880) [`1dab982`](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/commit/1dab98299c3b81f560026c01b7ebf55ed5d91373) Thanks [@mattpocock](https://github.com/mattpocock)! - Stop skills from trying to reach user-invoked skills through the Skill tool: fix cross-skill references that violated the "no other skill can call it" invariant in `.agents/invocation.md`, in `to-spec`, `wayfinder`, `to-tickets`, `triage`, `code-review`, and `diagnosing-bugs`.
- `to-spec`, `wayfinder`, `to-tickets`, `triage`, and `code-review` each carried a precondition ("...run `/setup-matt-pocock-skills` if not") that PR [#878](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/issues/878) rewrote into a literal `Call the Skill tool with "setup-matt-pocock-skills"` instruction. `setup-matt-pocock-skills` is user-invoked, so none of these skills (user-invoked or model-invoked) can call it. Reworded all five as instructions for the agent to tell the human to run it instead.
- `diagnosing-bugs`'s Phase 6 post-mortem hand off to `improve-codebase-architecture` (also user-invoked) the same way, from an autonomous, often-unattended bug-fixing flow with no human in the loop to catch the failed call. Removed the hand-off outright rather than softening it, since it rarely fired in practice. Phase 6 is now "Cleanup" only; the mechanical checklist is untouched.
- Added a carve-out paragraph to `.agents/invocation.md`'s "Dependencies between them" section: the `Call the Skill tool with "name"` convention only applies when the named skill is model-invoked. This is the section PR [#878](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/issues/878) introduced without reconciling it against the user-invoked/model-invoked invariant stated eight lines above it; the gap is most of why this bug reached six call sites instead of one.
Fixes [#453](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/issues/453).
- [#904](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/pull/904) [`594f0f8`](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/commit/594f0f83188921a60d45d63d6cdac509de20df2c) Thanks [@mattpocock](https://github.com/mattpocock)! - wait-what: follow `CONTEXT-MAP.md` to the right `CONTEXT.md` when a repo indexes multiple contexts that way instead of keeping a single root `CONTEXT.md`.
## 1.2.3
### Patch Changes
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[`ask-matt`](./skills/engineering/ask-matt/SKILL.md) is the router that maps every user-reachable skill and how they relate. The same trigger that re-syncs a docs page applies to it: whenever you add, rename, remove, or change how a user-reachable skill fits the flows, re-read `ask-matt`'s `SKILL.md` and update it so the map stays accurate: a new skill it never mentions, or a stale one it still routes to, is a router that lies.
To (re)link every skill outside `deprecated/` and `misc/` into the local harness skill directories (`~/.claude/skills`, `~/.agents/skills`), run `scripts/link-skills.sh`. Each entry is a symlink into this repo, so a `git pull` keeps installed skills current; re-run the script after adding, removing, or renaming a skill.
To (re)link every skill into the local harness skill directories (`~/.claude/skills`, `~/.agents/skills`), run `scripts/link-skills.sh`. Each entry is a symlink into this repo, so a `git pull` keeps installed skills current; re-run the script after adding, removing, or renaming a skill.
No em-dashes anywhere in this repo's prose (`SKILL.md` files, docs, `README.md`, `CHANGELOG.md`, ADRs, changesets, code comments). Where a sentence reaches for one, rewrite it instead with a comma, colon, period, parentheses, or a conjunction, whichever the sentence actually wants; never do a blind character substitution.
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{
"name": "mattpocock-skills",
"version": "1.2.3",
"version": "1.2.4",
"private": true,
"description": "Matt Pocock's agent skills for real engineering",
"repository": {
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@@ -15,20 +15,14 @@ set -euo pipefail
REPO="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)"
DESTS=("$HOME/.claude/skills" "$HOME/.agents/skills")
# Collect the repo's skills once, link into every destination. `deprecated/`
# is retired, and `misc/` is kept around but rarely used and not promoted (see
# each bucket's own README): neither belongs in a daily-driver skill
# directory, so both are skipped here, same as everywhere else non-promoted
# skills are kept out. `in-progress/` IS still linked: it's public on purpose,
# feedback wanted, and this local install is exactly where that feedback loop
# runs.
# Collect the repo's skills once, link into every destination.
names=()
srcs=()
while IFS= read -r -d '' skill_md; do
src="$(dirname "$skill_md")"
names+=("$(basename "$src")")
srcs+=("$src")
done < <(find "$REPO/skills" -name SKILL.md -not -path '*/node_modules/*' -not -path '*/deprecated/*' -not -path '*/misc/*' -print0)
done < <(find "$REPO/skills" -name SKILL.md -not -path '*/node_modules/*' -not -path '*/deprecated/*' -print0)
for DEST in "${DESTS[@]}"; do
# If $DEST is a symlink that resolves into this repo, we'd end up writing the
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- **[writing-shape](./writing-shape/SKILL.md)**: Take a markdown file of raw material and shape it into an article paragraph by paragraph, arguing format choices at each step.
- **[claude-handoff](./claude-handoff/SKILL.md)**: Hand the current conversation off to a fresh background agent that picks up the work immediately, seeded with a handoff summary via `claude --bg`. User-invoked.
- **[setup-ts-deep-modules](./setup-ts-deep-modules/SKILL.md)**: Wire dependency-cruiser into a TypeScript repo so each package is a deep module: implementation hidden in subfolders, reachable only through its entry-point files, tests exercising it through those. User-invoked.
- **[implement-spec](./implement-spec/SKILL.md)**: Implement a whole spec on one branch. Works the tickets as a task graph rather than a list, running implementer subagents across the ready frontier for maximum concurrency, and lands the result as a single PR. User-invoked.
- **[retro](./retro/SKILL.md)**: Suggest improvements to the coding agent's environment (steering files, coding standards, automated checks, tooling) after a session. STUB: design notes only, not functional yet. User-invoked.
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
---
name: implement-spec
description: "Implement a specification in code."
disable-model-invocation: true
---
You have been provided a spec. This spec should have tickets associated with it, describing how to implement the spec.
The goal is a PR which implements the entire spec on a single branch.
The tickets are not a list of steps. They are a **task graph** with blocking relationships between them. This means there is always a **frontier** of tickets which are ready to be grabbed.
Communication to and from subagents should be sparse. Communicate primarily through **context pointers**: to the spec, tickets, research notes, and previous commits. Don't duplicate information already available via pointers.
**Implementer subagents** should be run in the background where possible for **maximum concurrency**.
## Steps
1. Read the spec and tickets. Read enough to understand the task graph.
2. (optional) Use an **exploration subagent** to conduct any exploration required by the tickets - relevant codebase files or external documentation. Ensure the exploration subagent can save files - it should save its markdown notes in a directory outside the repo, accessible by all future subagents. This lets **implementer subagents** focus on implementation rather than exploration.
3. Create a branch, and a draft PR. The PR should be marked as 'closing' the spec issue and tickets.
4. Use **implementer subagents** to implement each ticket. Each implementer subagent should work in its own worktree, on its own branch.
5. Once an **implementer subagent** completes, merge its work to the PR branch with a **merger subagent**.
6. If this changes the **frontier** of available tickets, kick off more **implementer subagents** to work on the new tickets. This allows for maximum concurrency.
7. Once all tickets are complete, run /code-review on the PR branch. Fix all issues raised by the code review in a single **implementer subagent**.
8. Mark the PR as ready for review.
9. Clean up all **implementer subagent** worktrees.
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interface:
display_name: "Implement Spec"
short_description: "Implement a whole spec as one PR"
policy:
allow_implicit_invocation: false
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---
name: retro
description: "Conduct a retrospective on a coding session."
disable-model-invocation: true
---
The user has asked for a **retrospective**. You are suggesting improvements to the coding agent's **environment** to improve future runs.
## Steps
1. Call the Skill tool with `writing-for-agents` for the writing style guide.
2. Read the primary sources for the session the user specifies. This may mean searching through session logs on this machine. If the user doesn't specify a session, default to the current one.
3. Look for candidates for improvement in these categories.
- **Navigation**: how easy was it for the agent to find the right files? Are there hidden dependencies between files? Would a **navigation pointer** make it easier? _Use when_ the session took a long time to find a piece of information.
- **Automated checks**: are there automated checks that could catch errors the agent made? Linting, typing, tests, filesystem linters? _Use when_ the agent made a mistake that could have been caught by an automated check.
- **Coding standards**: should the **reviewer agent** be given a new rule to enforce? Should an existing rule be removed or clarified? _Use when_ the reviewer agent failed to catch a mistake.
- **Global AGENTS.md**: are there any steering instructions that should be moved to coding standards (or automated checks) instead? _Use when_ the AGENTS.md file is particularly large - in the repo OR the user's global scope.
- **Tool economy**: did the agent make expensive tool calls that could be streamlined? Is there any custom tooling (CLI's, MCP's) that is particularly token-inefficient? _Use when_ the agent made an expensive tool call.
- **No-ops**: look for instructions in steering files that don't modify the agent's behavior. _Use when_ the steering files are large and unwieldy.
- **Information access**: look for opportunities to increase the agent's access to information. Teeing dev server logs, readonly access to third-party services. _Use when_ a crucial piece of information was not available to the agent.
4. Present these candidates to the user, in order of severity.
## Reference
### Implementation vs Review
Remember that all work goes through two stages: implementation and review. The implementation agent has the most **context pressure**. They are responsible for exploration, writing code, and debugging failures.
The review agent has the least context pressure - it receives a diff, so no exploration needed. It often does not need to write code or debug.
This means that the review agent should be responsible for imposing coding standards, not the implementation agent.
### Files
You have access to several files in the repo:
- `CLAUDE.md`/`AGENTS.md`: these files are pushed to the context window of any agent working in this repo. They should be used incredibly sparingly, usually only for **navigation pointers** to other files.
- `CODING_STANDARDS.md`: this file is read during review, not implementation. Add **navigation pointers** to docs folders if the standards file gets more than 1,000 lines long.
- Docs: use docs as references files, pointed to by other files. Look for existing docs before writing new ones.
- Skills: use skills for docs (since their description goes into the agent's context window), or for user-invoked commands. Follow the advice in the `writing-for-agents` skill.
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
interface:
display_name: "Retro"
short_description: "Conduct a retrospective on a coding session."
policy:
allow_implicit_invocation: false
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Work the tree in **rounds**. The **frontier** is every decision whose prerequisites are already settled: the questions you can ask _now_ without guessing at answers you haven't heard yet. Ask the whole frontier in one round: number each question and give your recommended answer. Then wait for the user's answers before the next round.
Format a round like so:
Each question should be formatted like so:
```
❓ **Q1** - **<question title>**: <question body, might be multiple paragraphs, including multiple choices>
➡️ <your recommended answer>
---
❓ **Q2** - **<question title>**: <question body, might be multiple paragraphs, including multiple choices>
➡️ <your recommended answer>
```