improve-codebase-architecture: scope the scan to where change is landing (YAGNI)

Before scanning, decide where to look. If the user named a direction, take it; otherwise read the last ~20 commit messages to bias exploration toward actively-developed paths. A deepening opportunity in code nobody touches is a refactor you'll never cash in — leverage only pays off where you keep editing. Syncs the docs page and adds a changeset. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-29 02:52:42 +07:00 · 2026-07-13 11:01:18 +01:00
9 changed files with 13 additions and 111 deletions
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
 # Ship the skill set as a native Claude Code plugin; defer a native Codex plugin
 These skills have always been installable via [skills.sh](https://skills.sh/mattpocock/skills) (`npx skills add mattpocock/skills`), which copies editable skill files into a user's project across Claude Code, Codex, and other Agent-Skills-standard harnesses. A recurring request is a **plug-and-play** distribution: subscribe to the set as a read-only, always-current bundle you don't edit, rather than a fork you own. That is exactly what native plugin systems provide.
 We ship a native **Claude Code plugin** and, for now, **defer** a native **Codex plugin**. The split is forced by how each ecosystem's plugin manifest selects skills, against this repo's bucketed layout.
 ## The constraint: bucketed skills vs. single-path selection
 Skills live in bucket folders under `skills/` — `engineering/` and `productivity/` are **promoted** (shipped); `misc/`, `personal/`, `in-progress/`, and `deprecated/` are **not**. A plugin must expose only the promoted set, which spans two of those bucket folders.
 - **Claude Code** — `.claude-plugin/plugin.json` accepts `skills` as an **array of explicit skill-directory paths**. We list the promoted skills one by one, exclude everything else with zero ambiguity, and add `.claude-plugin/marketplace.json` so the repo is its own single-plugin marketplace. Verified end to end: `claude plugin validate . --strict` passes, and `marketplace add` → `install` resolves all promoted skills.
 - **Codex** — `.codex-plugin/plugin.json` accepts `skills` only as a **single path string** (arrays are rejected with `missing or invalid plugin.json`), and Codex discovers `SKILL.md` files recursively under it. There is no way to name two bucket folders, or to curate a subset, from one path. Two escape hatches were tested and rejected:
  - Pointing at `./skills/` would also ship `deprecated/`, `in-progress/`, `personal/`, and `misc/` — retired, draft, and personal skills we deliberately don't promote.
  - A curated flat directory of **symlinks** into the buckets does not survive install: Codex copies the plugin tree into its cache and **drops symlinks**, so the skills arrive empty.
 The only robust ways to give Codex a single promoted-only path are (a) **restructure** so `skills/` contains only promoted skills (moving the non-promoted buckets out — a large blast radius across `CLAUDE.md`, `scripts/link-skills.sh`, the bucket READMEs, and the local dev workflow that relies on `in-progress/` and `personal/`), or (b) **commit duplicate copies** of promoted skills into a flat directory (a sync burden and a second source of truth). Both are structural decisions, not something to bundle into shipping the Claude plugin. This is very likely the original, half-remembered reason a plugin wasn't shipped earlier: the manifest formats didn't cleanly express a curated subset of a bucketed repo.
 ## Decision
 - Ship the **Claude Code plugin** now (`.claude-plugin/plugin.json` + `.claude-plugin/marketplace.json`), curated to the promoted set, as the headline v1.2 deliverable.
 - Keep **skills.sh** as the universal installer — it already serves Codex and other harnesses today, so no Codex user is left without an install path.
 - **Defer** the native Codex plugin until we decide between restructuring `skills/` to promoted-only vs. committing a generated flat copy. Revisit when Codex either supports a `skills` array / include-list or preserves symlinks on install.
 ## Invariants this creates
 - Every promoted skill has an entry in `.claude-plugin/plugin.json`'s `skills` array (this already stood as a `CLAUDE.md` rule; it now also gates the plugin's contents).
 - `.claude-plugin/plugin.json`'s `version` tracks `package.json`'s version — bump both together on release. Claude uses the plugin `version` to decide when installed users see an update.
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
 ---
 "mattpocock-skills": minor
 ---
 Ship the skill set as a native **Claude Code plugin**. The repo is now its own single-plugin marketplace, so you can subscribe to the promoted skills as a managed, read-only bundle instead of copying editable files:
 ```
 /plugin marketplace add mattpocock/skills
 /plugin install mattpocock-skills@mattpocock
 ```
 `.claude-plugin/plugin.json` gains full marketplace metadata (version, description, author, license, keywords) and a sibling `.claude-plugin/marketplace.json` lists the plugin. `skills.sh` remains the universal installer (and the path for Codex and other harnesses today); a native Codex plugin is deferred — see `.agents/adr/0002-ship-as-a-claude-code-plugin.md` for why.
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
 ---
 "mattpocock-skills": minor
 ---
 Add a YAGNI scoping filter to the **`improve-codebase-architecture`** skill's Explore step. Instead of scanning the whole repo evenly, it now scopes to where change is actually landing: if you name a direction it takes it, otherwise it reads the last ~20 commit messages to bias exploration toward actively-developed paths. A deepening opportunity in code nobody touches is a refactor you'll never cash in — the leverage only pays off where you keep editing — so the report stops tidying dormant corners of the repo.
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
 {
  "name": "mattpocock",
  "owner": {
    "name": "Matt Pocock",
    "url": "https://www.aihero.dev"
  },
  "description": "Matt Pocock's skills for real engineering, as an installable Claude Code plugin.",
  "plugins": [
    {
      "name": "mattpocock-skills",
      "source": "./",
      "description": "Matt Pocock's agent skills for real engineering — grilling, spec/ticket flows, TDD, code review, domain modelling and more.",
      "category": "engineering",
      "keywords": [
        "engineering",
        "skills",
        "tdd",
        "code-review",
        "grilling"
      ]
    }
  ]
 }
@@ -1,23 +1,5 @@
 {
  "name": "mattpocock-skills",
  "version": "1.2.0",
  "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",
    "url": "https://www.aihero.dev"
  },
  "homepage": "https://www.aihero.dev/s/skills-newsletter",
  "repository": "https://github.com/mattpocock/skills",
  "license": "MIT",
  "keywords": [
    "engineering",
    "skills",
    "tdd",
    "code-review",
    "grilling",
    "domain-modeling",
    "productivity"
  ],
  "skills": [
    "./skills/engineering/ask-matt",
    "./skills/engineering/diagnosing-bugs",
@@ -7,9 +7,7 @@ Skills are organized into bucket folders under `skills/`:
 - `in-progress/` — drafts not yet ready to ship
 - `deprecated/` — no longer used
-Every skill in `engineering/` or `productivity/` (the **promoted** buckets) must have a reference in the top-level `README.md` and an entry in `.claude-plugin/plugin.json`'s `skills` array (the Claude Code plugin ships exactly the promoted set). Skills in `misc/`, `personal/`, `in-progress/`, and `deprecated/` must not appear in either.
+Every skill in `engineering/` or `productivity/` (the **promoted** buckets) must have a reference in the top-level `README.md` and an entry in `.claude-plugin/plugin.json`. Skills in `misc/`, `personal/`, `in-progress/`, and `deprecated/` must not appear in either.
 The repo is also its own single-plugin Claude Code marketplace: `.claude-plugin/marketplace.json` lists the one `mattpocock-skills` plugin. When bumping the release version, keep `.claude-plugin/plugin.json`'s `version` in sync with `package.json`'s — Claude uses the plugin `version` to decide when installed users see an update. Run `claude plugin validate . --strict` after touching either manifest. Why a Claude plugin but not (yet) a Codex one lives in [.agents/adr/0002-ship-as-a-claude-code-plugin.md](./.agents/adr/0002-ship-as-a-claude-code-plugin.md).
 Each skill entry in the top-level `README.md` must link the skill name to its `SKILL.md`.
@@ -39,33 +39,6 @@ npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills
 4. Bam - you're ready to go.
 ## Install as a Claude Code plugin
 Prefer a plug-and-play install you don't maintain by hand? These skills also ship as a native [Claude Code plugin](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugins). Instead of copying editable files into your repo, the plugin installs the whole skill set as a managed bundle that updates when I ship a new version — you subscribe rather than fork.
 Inside Claude Code:
 ```
 /plugin marketplace add mattpocock/skills
 /plugin install mattpocock-skills@mattpocock
 ```
 Or from your shell:
 ```bash
 claude plugin marketplace add mattpocock/skills
 claude plugin install mattpocock-skills@mattpocock
 ```
 Then run `/setup-matt-pocock-skills` once per repo, exactly as in the quickstart above.
 Two ways to install, two philosophies:
 - **[skills.sh](https://skills.sh/mattpocock/skills)** copies the skills into your project so you can hack on them and make them your own.
 - **The plugin** keeps them as a read-only, always-current bundle you don't edit — best when you just want my set to work and follow along as it evolves.
 > Using Codex or another agent? The [skills.sh installer](https://skills.sh/mattpocock/skills) already installs these skills into Codex and other Agent-Skills-standard harnesses today. A native Codex plugin is on the roadmap — see [`.agents/adr/0002-ship-as-a-claude-code-plugin.md`](./.agents/adr/0002-ship-as-a-claude-code-plugin.md).
 ## Why These Skills Exist
 I built these skills as a way to fix common failure modes I see with Claude Code, Codex, and other coding agents.
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ npx skills update improve-codebase-architecture
 It does **not** hand you a flat list of refactors. Every candidate has to pass the **deletion test** — would removing this module *concentrate* complexity behind a smaller interface, or just move it around? Only the "concentrates" cases earn a card. That filter is what stops the report from becoming generic cleanup advice.
 Unless you point it at a specific area, it also scopes itself to where development is actually landing — reading the recent commits to bias toward the code you're still changing. Deepening a module pays off by making future changes to it easier, so it puts extra weight on the parts of the repo that have recently changed.
 ## When to reach for it
 You invoke this by typing `/improve-codebase-architecture` — the agent won't reach for it on its own.
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ This command is _informed_ by the project's domain model and built on a shared d
 ### 1. Explore
 **Scope before you scan — YAGNI.** Deepening a module pays off by making future changes to it easier, so put extra weight on the parts of the codebase that have recently changed. Decide *where* to look before you look:
 - If the user named a direction — a module, a subsystem, a pain point — take it, and skip the inference below.
 - Otherwise, walk back a good stretch of the commit history (`git log --oneline`) to find the codebase's hot spots — the files and areas that keep coming up — and let those paths pull your attention first. If the changes are scattered with no clear hot spot, widen the net.
 Read the project's domain glossary (`CONTEXT.md`) and any ADRs in the area you're touching first.
 Then use the Agent tool with `subagent_type=Explore` to walk the codebase. Don't follow rigid heuristics — explore organically and note where you experience friction: