Guide to effective Claude Code skill authoring using TDD methodology and persuasion principles. Use when creating new skills, improving compliance, or validating quality before deployment. Do not use for evaluating existing skills (use skills-eval) or analyzing architecture (use modular-skills). Follow the Iron Law: write a failing test before writing any skill.

Cross-plugin testing quality metrics and standards. Referenced by pensive:test-review and parseltongue:python-testing. testing standards, quality metrics, coverage thresholds, anti-patterns Use when: test quality evaluation, coverage thresholds, quality standards DO NOT use when: simple scripts without quality requirements.

Consult this skill for session-scoped temporary knowledge structures. Use when working on complex multi-step projects, preserving context across interruptions, tracking session-specific state. Do not use when permanent knowledge structures needed - use memory-palace-architect. DO NOT use when: searching existing knowledge - use knowledge-locator.

Harden skills against rationalization and bypass behaviors

Consult this skill when designing permanent memory palace structures. Use when creating new memory palace structures, organizing complex domains, designing spatial layouts for knowledge retention. Do not use when quick knowledge search - use knowledge-locator instead. DO NOT use when: session-specific context - use session-palace-builder.

Consult this skill when cultivating and maintaining digital gardens. Use when managing note collections, creating link structures, maintaining knowledge bases, tending garden health and growth. Do not use when creating memory palace structures - use memory-palace-architect. DO NOT use when: evaluating new knowledge - use knowledge-intake.

Consult this skill when implementing layered patterns or enforcing layer boundaries. Use when building traditional applications with clear boundaries, working with moderate-sized teams, needing familiar and well-understood patterns, compliance requirements demand clear separation. Do not use when selecting from multiple paradigms - use architecture-paradigms first. DO NOT use when: high scalability needs independent component scaling. DO NOT use when: teams need independent deployment cycles - use microservices.

Provides KISS, YAGNI, and SOLID code quality principles for clean code, reducing complexity, preventing over-engineering, and improving maintainability.

Provides structural context for downstream review and refactoring workflows. Use when before architecture reviews to understand file organization, exploring unfamiliar codebases to map structure, estimating scope for refactoring or migration. Do not use when general code exploration - use the Explore agent. DO NOT use when: searching for specific patterns - use Grep directly.

CQRS and Event Sourcing for auditability, read/write separation, and temporal queries. Triggers: CQRS, event-sourcing, audit-trail, temporal queries, distributed-systems Use when: read/write scaling differs or audit trail required DO NOT use when: selecting paradigms (use architecture-paradigms first), simple CRUD without audit needs.

Consult this skill when designing data pipelines or transformation workflows. Use when data flows through fixed sequence of transformations, stages can be independently developed and tested, parallel processing of stages is beneficial. Do not use when selecting from multiple paradigms - use architecture-paradigms first. DO NOT use when: data flow is not sequential or predictable. DO NOT use when: complex branching/merging logic dominates.

Retrospective workflow evaluation and improvement of skills, agents, commands, and hooks. workflow improvement, retrospective, workflow efficiency Use when: workflow felt slow, confusing, or needs optimization DO NOT use when: simple one-off fixes - use fix-pr or do-issue instead.

Decouple domain logic from infrastructure using Hexagonal (Ports & Adapters) pattern. Triggers: hexagonal, ports-adapters, infrastructure-independence, domain-isolation, testability Use when: business logic separation, infrastructure changes needed, testability critical DO NOT use when: selecting paradigms (use architecture-paradigms first), simple CRUD.

Git platform detection and cross-platform command mapping for GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket. git platform, forge, github, gitlab, bitbucket, cross-platform Use when: executing forge operations (issues, PRs/MRs, CI, API calls) in any skill or command Do not use directly: consumed by sanctum and other plugins as infrastructure.

Use this skill BEFORE building complex tool chains. Optimize proactively. location: plugin token_budget: 200. Use when >3 tools chained sequentially, large datasets (>10k rows), large files (>50KB), context usage >25%. Do not use when simple tool calls that do not chain. DO NOT use when: context pressure is low and tools are fast.

Serverless FaaS for event-driven workloads with minimal infrastructure management. serverless, FaaS, Lambda, event-driven, pay-per-use Use when: workloads are event-driven with bursty traffic DO NOT use when: long-running processes or stateful operations required.

Minimal core system with plugin-based feature extensibility for platform development. Triggers: microkernel, plugin-architecture, extensibility, platform-design Use when: platforms/IDEs/marketplaces, core stability critical, plugin isolation needed DO NOT use when: selecting paradigms (use architecture-paradigms first), no extensibility needed.

Analyze individual skill complexity and get modularization recommendations. For ecosystem-wide evaluation, use /skills-eval instead.

Coarse-grained service architecture for deployment independence without microservices complexity. service-based, SOA, coarse-grained services, domain services Use when: teams need deployment independence without microservices complexity DO NOT use when: fine-grained scaling needed - use microservices.

Use this skill to quickly understand "what changed and what matters". Use when resuming work after absence, preparing handoff documentation, reviewing sprint progress, analyzing git history for context. Do not use when doing detailed diff analysis - use diff-analysis instead. DO NOT use when: full code review needed - use review-core instead.