Matt Pocock
62f43a1817
- Introduced TDD skills including deep modules, interface design, mocking, refactoring, and testing guidelines. - Added skills for breaking plans into GitHub issues and creating PRDs from conversation context. - Implemented productivity skills for scaffolding exercises, setting up pre-commit hooks, and managing notes in Obsidian. - Created a caveman communication mode for concise technical responses and a grilling technique for thorough plan discussions. - Developed a skill for writing new agent skills with structured templates and guidelines. - Included git guardrails to prevent dangerous git commands and a migration guide for using @total-typescript/shoehorn in tests.
Agent Skills For Real Engineers
My agent skills that I use every day to do real engineering - not vibe coding.
If you want to keep up with changes to these skills, and any new ones I create, you can join ~60,000 other devs on my newsletter:
Engineering
Skills I use daily for code work.
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diagnose — Disciplined diagnosis loop for hard bugs and performance regressions: reproduce → minimise → hypothesise → instrument → fix → regression-test.
npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills/diagnose -
domain-model — Grilling session that challenges your plan against the existing domain model, sharpens terminology, and updates
CONTEXT.mdand ADRs inline.npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills/domain-model -
github-triage — Triage GitHub issues through a label-based state machine.
npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills/github-triage -
improve-codebase-architecture — Find deepening opportunities in a codebase, informed by the domain language in
CONTEXT.mdand the decisions indocs/adr/.npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills/improve-codebase-architecture -
tdd — Test-driven development with a red-green-refactor loop. Builds features or fixes bugs one vertical slice at a time.
npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills/tdd -
to-issues — Break any plan, spec, or PRD into independently-grabbable GitHub issues using vertical slices.
npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills/to-issues -
to-prd — Turn the current conversation context into a PRD and submit it as a GitHub issue. No interview — just synthesizes what you've already discussed.
npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills/to-prd -
zoom-out — Tell the agent to zoom out and give broader context or a higher-level perspective on an unfamiliar section of code.
npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills/zoom-out
Productivity
General workflow tools, not code-specific.
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caveman — Ultra-compressed communication mode. Cuts token usage ~75% by dropping filler while keeping full technical accuracy.
npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills/caveman -
grill-me — Get relentlessly interviewed about a plan or design until every branch of the decision tree is resolved.
npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills/grill-me -
write-a-skill — Create new skills with proper structure, progressive disclosure, and bundled resources.
npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills/write-a-skill
Misc
Tools I keep around but rarely use.
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git-guardrails-claude-code — Set up Claude Code hooks to block dangerous git commands (push, reset --hard, clean, etc.) before they execute.
npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills/git-guardrails-claude-code -
migrate-to-shoehorn — Migrate test files from
astype assertions to @total-typescript/shoehorn.npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills/migrate-to-shoehorn -
scaffold-exercises — Create exercise directory structures with sections, problems, solutions, and explainers.
npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills/scaffold-exercises -
setup-pre-commit — Set up Husky pre-commit hooks with lint-staged, Prettier, type checking, and tests.
npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills/setup-pre-commit