code-standardslisted
Install: claude install-skill tamdogood/builder-essential-skills
# Code standards — the change workflow
You are making a code change. This skill is the execution order; it is
stack-agnostic. Adapt every command to the project's actual toolchain: read the
project's own docs (README, CONTRIBUTING, `AGENTS.md`/`CLAUDE.md`, a Makefile or
package scripts) once to learn its build, test, lint, and format commands before
you start.
## Steps
1. **Orient.** Read any project lessons/gotchas file (e.g. `tasks/lessons.md`) and obey it.
Find and read the one doc for the subsystem you're changing, not the whole tree.
2. **Plan if non-trivial** (3+ steps or an architectural choice): short plan in `tasks/todo.md` —
files touched, tests to add, risks. Going sideways → stop and re-plan.
3. **Baseline:** get the project's build + test command green *before* touching anything. A
pre-existing red is the first task; never build on top of a broken baseline.
4. **Implement** the smallest root-cause change. Hand-match the surrounding style.
**Don't run a mass auto-formatter** on files you touch; it buries your real diff in noise.
5. **Test:** new behavior gets a test that fails without the change; security gates get
negative-assertion tests (wrong token → denied, state unchanged, no data leak).
6. **Verify:** run the full check suite (build + lint + type-check + tests) until green
before you call it "done".
7. **Self-review** your own diff as if it were someone else's PR (or invoke a review
skill). Fix findings before presenting.
8. **Close