easy-api-assistant

name	easy-api-assistant
description	Help author EasyApi rule files (.easyapi/ folder). Invoke when the user is editing an EasyApi rule file or asks to add/modify EasyApi rules (annotations, field rename, custom headers, etc.).

EasyApi Rule Authoring Assistant

This skill is the external mirror of EasyApi's built-in rule-authoring agent. It helps you write or modify EasyApi rule files (.rules / .properties files in .easyapi/) that the EasyApi IntelliJ plugin reads to customise API export (Postman/Markdown/cURL/Hoppscotch), field naming, annotations, and more.

It runs the same perceive → reason → act loop as the built-in agent and exposes the same capability surface: the same rule guide and key catalog, and CLI equivalents of every built-in perception tool. The only difference is how each capability is delivered — the built-in agent calls IntelliJ PSI tools; you read files and search the codebase directly.

When to Use

Invoke this skill when:

• The user opens or edits any file in the project's .easyapi/ folder or the global ~/.easyapi/ folder.
• The user asks to "add a rule", "rename a field", "ignore a class", "add a header to every POST", etc. in the EasyApi context.
• The user mentions easy.api, EasyApi, or easyapi in a request about config or rule authoring.

Bundled Knowledge Base (read these first — they ARE the built-in agent's docs)

This skill ships the same knowledge-base pages the plugin bundles for its built-in agent's get_plugin_doc tool, copied verbatim into the bundled docs/ folder next to SKILL.md. They are kept in sync by the syncKnowledgeBase Gradle task in the easy-api repo, so the rule content the built-in and external agents produce is identical. Always read the relevant page first — do not rely on memory or guess syntax.

Bundled file	Built-in get_plugin_doc name	What it covers
docs/rule-guide.md	rule-guide	The source of truth. Rule file format, filter syntax, expression prefixes, Groovy binding reference, recipes, the Custom-Pattern Catalog, and the Workflow-Pattern Catalog (cross-endpoint auth/signing/refresh recipes).
docs/index.md	index	Knowledge-base index / topic map.
docs/README.md	overview	Overview of EasyApi concepts.
docs/settings-guide.md	settings-guide	Plugin settings reference.
docs/usage-guide.md	usage-guide	Usage guidance.
docs/easyapi-script-reference.md	easyapi-script-reference	Scripting reference.
docs/rule-keys.md	(built-in list_rule_keys tool)	Complete rule-key catalog (snapshot of RuleKeys.kt).

Toolset — CLI mirrors of the built-in agent tools

The built-in agent has a fixed set of perception/action tools. You provide equivalent capability by reading files and searching the codebase. Use the mapping below so your workflow tracks the built-in agent's.

EasyApi-domain tools (bundled as scripts/)

These mirror the EasyApi-specific perception tools. Run them from the project root (the CWD when the assistant is invoked). They auto-detect the project root and ~/.easyapi/ so you never hard-code paths.

Built-in tool	Your equivalent	What it does
list_rule_keys	Read bundled docs/rule-keys.md	Lists every supported rule key (≡ RuleKeys.kt snapshot).
get_plugin_doc	Read the bundled *.md pages above	Reads a knowledge-base page.
read_rule_file	scripts/read_rule_file.sh <name>	Reads a rule file by name. Supports global: / project: scope prefixes. Resolves against tracked .easyapi/ dirs — never guesses home paths.
get_existing_rules_for_key	scripts/get_existing_rules_for_key.sh <key> [<key>...]	Finds all configured values for a key across project + global rule files. Prints file:line: <line content> so you can reason about precedence.

scripts/list_rule_files.sh is also bundled — it lists every .properties / .rules file in <project>/.easyapi/ and ~/.easyapi/, labeled [global] / [project] (ambient equivalent of RuleFileResolver.listRuleFiles).

Usage examples:

# List all rule files the plugin will load
scripts/list_rule_files.sh

# Read a rule file by name (scope-prefixed or bare)
scripts/read_rule_file.sh security.properties
scripts/read_rule_file.sh global:jwt.rules
scripts/read_rule_file.sh project:custom.rules

# Check if a key is already configured (avoid duplicates — Quality Rule 1)
scripts/get_existing_rules_for_key.sh field.name
scripts/get_existing_rules_for_key.sh method.doc method.additional.header

General codebase-perception tools (your file/grep capabilities)

The built-in agent has PSI tools to inspect source. You use file reads + rg/grep instead. rg is assumed available (it ships with most AI coding assistants); fall back to grep -rn if it isn't.

Built-in tool	Your equivalent	Notes
get_psi_class_info	Read the class source file; or rg for its fields/methods	Find the file by simple name first (below), then read it. Resolve the FQN from the package + import.
get_psi_method_info	Read the method in the class source file	For overloads, disambiguate by parameter count when you read it.
find_classes_by_annotation	rg -t java -t kt "<@AnnotationFqn or @Simple>" then resolve imports	Always confirm the FQN from the import / package — @Simple names collide.
find_classes_by_supertype	rg -t java -t kt "extends\s+<Type>|implements\s+.*<Type>" then resolve imports	The most common blind spot — annotation-only scans miss inheritance-declared components (filters extending OncePerRequestFilter). Use BOTH this and the annotation scan.
list_project_endpoints	(no CLI equivalent — see below)	Needs IntelliJ's ApiIndex cache, which is unavailable outside the IDE.

Standard discovery patterns (the Custom-Pattern Catalog signals to look for — full recipes are in bundled docs/rule-guide.md):

# Find servlet filters (extends OncePerRequestFilter, implements Filter)
rg -t java -t kt "extends\s+OncePerRequestFilter|implements\s+.*Filter"

# Find interceptors
rg -t java -t kt "implements\s+HandlerInterceptor"

# Find response wrappers (ResponseBodyAdvice)
rg -t java -t kt "implements\s+ResponseBodyAdvice"

# Find argument resolvers
rg -t java -t kt "implements\s+HandlerMethodArgumentResolver"

# Find annotated controllers (resolve imports to confirm the FQN)
rg -t java -t kt "@RestController"

Always resolve imports / same-package usage to confirm the FQN, and exclude the supertype itself from results — these are the same nuances the built-in agent's PSI tools handle automatically.

list_project_endpoints has no CLI equivalent — it needs the plugin's ApiIndex cache, which only exists inside a running IntelliJ. You do not need the endpoint list to author rules: rules are about the request/response contract (headers, param injection, response unwrapping), which you detect from source via the discovery patterns above. If the user references a specific endpoint, read the controller method's source directly.

Batch mode (mirror the built-in agent's batching)

The built-in agent's find_classes_by_*, get_psi_class_info, and get_existing_rules_for_key accept arrays to probe multiple items in one request. Mirror this by batching your searches — e.g. one rg -t java -t kt "extends\s+OncePerRequestFilter|implements\s+.*Filter|implements\s+HandlerInterceptor" covers filters + interceptors in one pass instead of three, and get_existing_rules_for_key.sh method.doc field.name field.ignore checks three keys at once. Prefer the combined form.

Workflow

Work in a perceive → reason → act loop, mirroring the built-in agent.

Step 1: Perceive — read the authoritative guide

Read the bundled docs/rule-guide.md first. It is the source of truth for the rule file format, the full rule-key catalog, filter syntax, expression prefixes, recipes, and the Custom-Pattern Catalog. If the topic is settings/usage/scripting rather than rules, read the corresponding bundled page instead.

Step 2: Perceive — find the right rule key

If the rule key isn't obvious from the guide, scan the bundled docs/rule-keys.md catalog. Never invent keys not in that catalog — unknown keys are silently ignored by the plugin's config loader.

Step 3: Perceive — inspect existing rules

Before proposing changes, read any existing rule files in:

• <project>/.easyapi/ (project-scoped rules — the 3.0 model).
• ~/.easyapi/ (global rules — applied to every project on the machine).
• Legacy .easy.api.config* files in the project root (and parent directories — EasyApi walks up the tree for backwards compatibility).

scripts/list_rule_files.sh
scripts/read_rule_file.sh security.properties
scripts/get_existing_rules_for_key.sh method.doc field.name

EasyApi merges rules in priority order; the project folder overrides the global folder, which overrides the built-in rules.

Step 4: Perceive — detect custom framework patterns

Most projects do not need custom rules. EasyApi understands standard HTTP frameworks (Spring MVC, WebFlux, JAX-RS, Feign) out of the box. Before proposing a rule, scan the project for the Custom-Pattern Catalog signals documented in the bundled docs/rule-guide.md (section "Custom-Pattern Catalog").

Use the discovery patterns under "General codebase-perception tools" above — find_classes_by_supertype (your extends/implements scan) is the most common blind spot, since annotation-only scans miss inheritance-declared components. For each candidate, ask: does it change the request/response contract invisibly? If yes, apply the catalog recipe. If no, no rule is needed.

Step 5: Reason — is a rule actually needed?

Confirm a rule is required before drafting. Standard framework behaviour is already handled automatically — do not re-declare defaults such as @Deprecated status, @RequestMapping paths, or @RequestParam names. Only write rules for invisible contracts the plugin cannot detect (custom filters, interceptors, argument resolvers, response wrappers, non-standard annotations).

If the request is ambiguous, ask the user a short clarifying question with concrete options (single/multi choice) so they can answer quickly — mirroring the built-in agent's ask_clarification. Fall back to a plain-text question only when you can't enumerate options.

Step 6: Act — draft the new rule content

Propose new rule content in the rule file format documented in the guide:

• <key>[<filter>]=<value> (one rule per line; filter optional).
• Groovy scripts for advanced cases (groovy: prefix filter, or a multi-line groovy value-block — see Critical Quality Rule 2).

Step 7: Act — insert and show the diff

Insert the new rules into a file in .easyapi/ (project) or ~/.easyapi/ (global). Always show the user the diff before applying — EasyApi rules affect API export across the whole project, so the user must confirm the change. This mirrors the built-in agent's propose_rule_content → user-confirmed "Save…" flow; the only difference is you write the file directly instead of staging it through a UI.

Critical Rule File Format (follow exactly — inlined from the agent preamble)

Each line is <key>[<filter>]=<value> or <key>=<value> (no filter). The filter goes INSIDE [...] AFTER the key — NEVER before it. There is no filter?key=value form.

method.doc[$class:com.example.UserController]=user
method.additional.header={"name":"Authorization","value":"Bearer ${token}","desc":"","required":true}

Valid filter prefixes (and ONLY these):

• $class:<FQN> — exact class-name match. Wildcards are NOT supported. For package/pattern matching use groovy: (e.g. groovy: it.containingClass()?.name()?.startsWith("com.example.web.")).
• @<AnnotationFqn> — annotation presence.
• #regex:<pattern> — regex match; captured groups available as ${1}, ${2} in the value.
• #<tag> — JavaDoc/KDoc tag.
• !<expr> — negation.
• groovy:<script> — truthy script result = match.

There is no ~ prefix and no bare class: prefix — the older class:com.example.Foo and ~regex forms are invalid; use $class: and #regex: respectively.

Critical Quality Rules (follow exactly — inlined from the agent preamble)

These mirror the rules the built-in agent enforces via its system prompt.

1. Check existing rules before writing (avoid duplicates)

Before proposing any rule for a key, read the existing rule files and check whether an equivalent rule already exists in any source — project (.easyapi/), global (~/.easyapi/), or bundled extension (Swagger / Jackson / etc.).

• If an equivalent rule already exists, do NOT write a duplicate. Tell the user where it already lives and skip it.
• If a broader rule already covers your case (e.g. a groovy: filter matching a package prefix, and you were about to add one for a sub-package), do NOT add a narrower duplicate unless it overrides with a different value.
• Extension-source rules (Swagger annotations, Jackson modules, etc.) are already in effect. Never re-declare what the extension already provides (e.g. method.doc[@java.lang.Deprecated]=deprecated is handled by the built-in extension — do not write it).

2. Prefer groovy value-blocks for complex conditional logic

When a filter expression grows long — multiple &&/||, multiple exclusions, or nested method calls — the key[groovy:…]=value form becomes unreadable on a single line. Switch to the groovy value-block form: the value itself is a multi-line groovy script that returns the value when the condition holds, or null when it doesn't. See the rule guide's Groovy Binding Reference for the it object API.

Bad (unreadable single-line filter):

method.additional.header[groovy: it.containingClass()?.name()?.startsWith("com.example.merchant.") && it.containingClass()?.name() != "com.example.merchant.AuthController"]={"name":"Authorization","value":"Bearer ${token}","desc":"JWT","required":true}

Good (multi-line groovy value-block):

method.additional.header=groovy:```
def cls = it.containingClass()?.name()
if (cls?.startsWith("com.example.merchant.")
    && cls != "com.example.merchant.AuthController") {
    return '{"name":"Authorization","value":"Bearer ${token}","desc":"JWT","required":true}'
}
return null

Rules of thumb:
- **≤ 1 condition** → inline `<key>[<filter>]=<value>` is fine.
- **≥ 2 conditions or exclusions** → use a groovy value-block.
- The script must `return` the value (string) or `return null` to skip.

### 3. Never generate blanket field-ignore rules

Do NOT generate `field.ignore` rules based on field-name patterns like
`.*password.*`, `.*secret.*`, `.*token.*`. These fields are often a
**legitimate part of the API definition** — a login endpoint requires
`password`, an OAuth endpoint requires `clientSecret`, a token-refresh
endpoint requires `refreshToken`. Stripping them silently breaks the exported
documentation.

Sensitive-field handling is a **project policy** decision, not a
code-detection decision. If the user explicitly asks for it, you may add it
— but never invent it on your own, and always warn the user that it may hide
fields that some endpoints legitimately require.

### 4. Don't re-declare framework defaults

Standard Spring MVC / WebFlux / JAX-RS / Feign endpoints need no rules —
the plugin detects them out of the box. `@Deprecated` status, `@RequestMapping`
paths, `@RequestParam` names, etc. are all handled automatically. Only write
rules for **invisible contracts** the plugin cannot detect (custom filters,
interceptors, argument resolvers, response wrappers, non-standard annotations).

## Common Key-Name Mistakes (do not use these)

These keys do **not** exist — use the correct alternative:

| Does NOT exist | Use instead |
|----------------|-------------|
| `api.header` | `method.additional.header` |
| `api.header.additional` | `method.additional.header` |
| `path.prefix` | `class.prefix.path` / `endpoint.prefix.path` |

`method.additional.header` and `method.additional.param` values are **JSON
objects** (one per line):
`{"name":"…","value":"…","desc":"…","required":…}`, not `Name:Value`.

## Two-Approach Note for the User

If the user is unsure how to invoke this skill versus the plugin's built-in
AI assistant, briefly explain:

- **Built-in AI assistant (Settings → EasyApi → Rules → Chat / Magic)** — In
  IntelliJ with EasyApi installed, open Settings → EasyApi → Rules, edit a
  rule file, and click **Chat** (reveals the inline AI panel) or **Magic**
  (runs a built-in review-and-detect instruction). The plugin's agent runs a
  perceive→reason→act loop, calls its PSI perception tools to inspect the
  project, and stages a proposal the user reviews and saves. Best for users
  who want everything inside IntelliJ.
- **This skill (external assistant)** — Use your existing AI coding assistant
  (Trae, Cursor, Cline, Continue, etc.) which already has access to the
  project's files. The skill bundles the **same** knowledge-base pages and
  gives the assistant the same workflow, mapping each built-in PSI tool to a
  CLI equivalent. Best for users already invested in an external AI workflow.

Both approaches share the same knowledge base (the built-in agent reads it
from the plugin JAR via `get_plugin_doc`; this skill ships a verbatim copy,
kept in sync by the `syncKnowledgeBase` Gradle task), so the rule content
they produce is consistent.

## What This Skill Does NOT Do

- It cannot call the plugin's runtime AI tools directly. You — the external
  assistant — provide equivalent capability via the bundled scripts (rule
  files + existing keys) and your own file/grep access (PSI inspection +
  class discovery).
- It cannot enumerate the project's cached HTTP endpoints
  (`list_project_endpoints`) — that requires the plugin's `ApiIndex` cache,
  which only exists inside a running IntelliJ. You don't need it: rules are
  about contracts detectable from source.
- It does not configure or test AI providers. The built-in assistant's
  configuration lives in IntelliJ Settings → EasyApi → AI.
- It does not modify the EasyApi plugin itself or its bundled config.

## Reference Pointers

**Bundled with this skill (available after `npx skills add` — read these):**
- `docs/rule-guide.md` — rule file format, filter syntax, recipes, Custom-Pattern
  Catalog, Workflow-Pattern Catalog, Groovy binding reference.
- `docs/rule-keys.md` — complete rule-key catalog (snapshot of `RuleKeys.kt`).
- `docs/index.md`, `docs/README.md`, `docs/settings-guide.md`, `docs/usage-guide.md`,
  `docs/easyapi-script-reference.md` — the rest of the knowledge base.
- `scripts/` — CLI tools mirroring the built-in AI perception tools (see
  "EasyApi-domain tools" above).

Plugin home: https://github.com/tangcent/easy-api

## Correct Example

User asks: "Add a rule that renames the `createTime` field to `created_at`
in all exported APIs."

Workflow:
1. Read the bundled `docs/rule-guide.md` — find the field-rename section / the
   `field.name` key.
2. Check the bundled `docs/rule-keys.md` — confirm the key is `field.name` (alias
   `json.rule.field.name`), mode `replace`.
3. **Run `scripts/get_existing_rules_for_key.sh field.name`** — confirm no
   `field.name` rule already covers this.
4. Open (or create) `<project>/.easyapi/field.rules`.
5. Draft (using the correct `key[filter]=value` format; a field rename map
   is a JSON object value with no filter):

field.name={"createTime":"created_at"}

6. Show the user the diff and apply on confirmation.

## Forbidden Patterns

- **Do not** invent rule keys not present in the bundled `docs/rule-keys.md`.
Unknown keys are silently ignored by the plugin's config loader.
- **Do not** use the `filter?key=value` form, the `~` regex prefix, or the
bare `class:` prefix — they are invalid. Use `key[filter]=value`,
`#regex:`, and `$class:` respectively.
- **Do not** use the non-existent keys `api.header`, `api.header.additional`,
or `path.prefix` — use `method.additional.header` / `class.prefix.path` /
`endpoint.prefix.path`.
- **Do not** generate blanket `field.ignore` rules from field-name patterns
(password / secret / token) — see Quality Rule 3.
- **Do not** re-declare framework defaults (Spring MVC / JAX-RS / Feign
behaviour is handled automatically).
- **Do not** write Groovy scripts that touch the filesystem or network —
rule scripts run in a sandboxed Groovy shell with restricted access.
- **Do not** modify the plugin's bundled `src/main/resources/extensions/*.config`
files. Those are the plugin's own; user rules go in `.easyapi/` or
`~/.easyapi/`.