standards

SKILL.md

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

JSM Attribution
references/jsm-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:

Vibe skill checks git diff for file types

Vibe finds auth.py in changeset

Vibe loads standards/references/python.md automatically

Vibe validates against Python standards (type hints, docstrings, error handling)

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:

Implement skill reads issue metadata to identify file targets

Implement finds server.go in implementation scope

Implement loads standards/references/go.md for context

Implement writes code following Go standards (error handling, naming, package structure)

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/common-standards.md

references/behavioral-discipline.md

references/examples-troubleshooting-template.md

references/cli-wireup-template.md — Reproducible cobra subcommand template (noun + verb, injectable Options, ~10 min/cycle)

references/go.md

references/json.md

references/markdown.md

references/python.md

references/rust.md

references/shell.md

references/skill-structure.md

references/standards-index.md

references/typescript.md

references/javascript.md

references/sql-safety-checklist.md

references/llm-trust-boundary-checklist.md

references/race-condition-checklist.md

references/codex-skill.md

references/test-pyramid.md

references/yaml.md

references/skill-tier-caps.md

references/jsm-attribution.md

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