standards

Standards Skill

Language-specific coding standards loaded on-demand by other skills.

Purpose

This is a library skill - it doesn't run standalone but provides standards references that other skills load based on file types being processed.

Standards Available

| Standard | Reference | Loaded By | |----------|-----------|-----------| | Skill Structure | references/skill-structure.md | vibe (skill audits), doc (skill creation) | | Python | references/python.md | vibe, implement, complexity | | Go | references/go.md | vibe, implement, complexity | | Rust | references/rust.md | vibe, implement, complexity | | TypeScript | references/typescript.md | vibe, implement | | JavaScript | references/javascript.md | vibe, implement | | Shell | references/shell.md | vibe, implement | | YAML | references/yaml.md | vibe | | JSON | references/json.md | vibe | | Markdown | references/markdown.md | vibe, doc | | SQL Safety | references/sql-safety-checklist.md | vibe, pre-mortem (when DB code detected) | | LLM Trust Boundaries | references/llm-trust-boundary-checklist.md | vibe, pre-mortem (when LLM code detected) | | Race Conditions | references/race-condition-checklist.md | vibe, pre-mortem (when concurrent code detected) | | Codex Skills | references/codex-skill.md | vibe (when skills-codex/ or converter files detected) | | Behavioral Discipline | references/behavioral-discipline.md | implement, review, vibe, pre-mortem | | Test Pyramid | references/test-pyramid.md | plan, pre-mortem, implement, crank, validation, post-mortem | | SKILL.md Tier-Caps | references/skill-tier-caps.md | vibe (skill line-cap audits), doc, plan | | External-Source Attribution | references/external-source-attribution.md | doc (when absorbing external corpora), heal-skill |

How It Works

Skills declare standards as a dependency:

skills:
  - standards

Then load the appropriate reference based on file type:

# Pseudo-code for standard loading
if file.endswith('.py'):
    load('standards/references/python.md')
elif file.endswith('.go'):
    load('standards/references/go.md')
elif file.endswith('.rs'):
    load('standards/references/rust.md')
# etc.

Domain-Specific Checklists

Specialized checklists for high-risk code patterns. Loaded automatically by /vibe and /pre-mortem when matching code patterns are detected:

| Checklist | Trigger Pattern | Risk Area | |-----------|----------------|-----------| | sql-safety-checklist.md | SQL queries, ORM calls, migration files, database/sql, sqlalchemy, prisma | Injection, migration safety, N+1, transactions | | llm-trust-boundary-checklist.md | anthropic, openai imports, prompt templates, llm/prompt files | Prompt injection, output validation, cost control | | race-condition-checklist.md | Goroutines, threads, asyncio, sync.Mutex, shared file I/O | Shared state, file races, database races | | codex-skill.md | Files under skills-codex/, convert.sh, skills-codex-overrides/ | Codex API conformance, prohibited primitives, tool mapping | | behavioral-discipline.md | Execution, review, or plan-validation tasks with ambiguity or broad blast radius | Hidden assumptions, overbuilding, drive-by edits, weak verification |

Skills detect triggers via file content patterns and import statements. Each checklist's "When to Apply" section defines exact detection rules.

Deep Standards

For comprehensive audits, skills can load extended standards from vibe/references/*-standards.md which contain full compliance catalogs.

| Standard | Size | Use Case | |----------|------|----------| | Tier 1 (this skill) | ~5KB each | Normal validation | | Tier 2 (vibe/references) | ~15-20KB each | Deep audits, --deep flag | | Domain checklists | ~3-5KB each | Triggered by code pattern detection |

Integration

Skills that use standards:

• /vibe - Loads based on changed file types
• /implement - Loads for files being modified
• /review - Loads for change-quality and blast-radius checks
• /doc - Loads markdown standards
• /bug-hunt - Loads for root cause analysis
• /complexity - Loads for refactoring recommendations

Examples

Vibe Loads Python Standards

User says: /vibe (detects changed Python files)

What happens:

1. Vibe skill checks git diff for file types
2. Vibe finds auth.py in changeset
3. Vibe loads standards/references/python.md automatically
4. Vibe validates against Python standards (type hints, docstrings, error handling)
5. Vibe reports findings with standard references

Result: Python code validated against language-specific standards without manual reference loading.

Implement Loads Go Standards

User says: /implement ag-xyz-123 (issue modifies Go files)

What happens:

1. Implement skill reads issue metadata to identify file targets
2. Implement finds server.go in implementation scope
3. Implement loads standards/references/go.md for context
4. Implement writes code following Go standards (error handling, naming, package structure)
5. Implement validates output against loaded standards before committing

Result: Go code generated conforming to standards, reducing post-implementation vibe findings.

Troubleshooting

| Problem | Cause | Solution | |---------|-------|----------| | Standards not loaded | File type not detected or standards skill missing | Check file extension matches reference; verify standards in dependencies | | Wrong standard loaded | File type misidentified (e.g., .sh as .bash) | Manually specify standard; update file type detection logic | | Deep standards missing | Vibe needs extended catalog, not found | Check vibe/references/*-standards.md exists; use --deep flag | | Standard conflicts | Multiple languages in same changeset | Load all relevant standards; prioritize by primary language |

Reference Documents

• [references/architecture-terms.md](references/architecture-terms.md)
• [references/common-standards.md](references/common-standards.md)
• [references/behavioral-discipline.md](references/behavioral-discipline.md)
• [references/examples-troubleshooting-template.md](references/examples-troubleshooting-template.md)
• [references/cli-wireup-template.md](references/cli-wireup-template.md) — Reproducible cobra subcommand template (noun + verb, injectable Options, ~10 min/cycle)
• [references/go.md](references/go.md)
• [references/json.md](references/json.md)
• [references/markdown.md](references/markdown.md)
• [references/python.md](references/python.md)
• [references/rust.md](references/rust.md)
• [references/shell.md](references/shell.md)
• [references/skill-structure.md](references/skill-structure.md)
• [references/standards-index.md](references/standards-index.md)
• [references/typescript.md](references/typescript.md)
• [references/javascript.md](references/javascript.md)
• [references/sql-safety-checklist.md](references/sql-safety-checklist.md)
• [references/llm-trust-boundary-checklist.md](references/llm-trust-boundary-checklist.md)
• [references/race-condition-checklist.md](references/race-condition-checklist.md)
• [references/codex-skill.md](references/codex-skill.md)
• [references/test-pyramid.md](references/test-pyramid.md)
• [references/yaml.md](references/yaml.md)
• [references/skill-tier-caps.md](references/skill-tier-caps.md)
• [references/external-source-attribution.md](references/external-source-attribution.md)