discover-rule-topics

name	discover-rule-topics
description	Discover potential rule topics by mining patterns across Shopify themes. Use when exploring what rules to write next, finding patterns in themes, or building a backlog of rule ideas. Complements research-shopify-rule and quick-rule by identifying topics rather than writing rules.

Discover rule topics from Shopify themes

You are exploring Shopify themes to discover patterns, techniques, and conventions that could become AI-consumable rules. Your goal is to enrich the topic backlog, NOT to write rules.

The search focus is: $ARGUMENTS

If $ARGUMENTS is empty or very broad (e.g., "general", "explore"), perform a wide exploration across multiple categories. If it names a specific area (e.g., "CSS patterns", "cart AJAX API", "metafield traversal"), focus your search on that domain.

Read these files before starting:

• references/category-definitions.md -- extended category taxonomy with search hints
• references/existing-coverage.md -- what Shopify's Horizon cursor rules already cover (avoid re-discovering these)
• rules/BACKLOG.md -- existing topic backlog (don't re-discover these)
• rules/INDEX.md -- completed rules (don't suggest already-covered topics)

---

Phase 1 -- Orient

1. Parse $ARGUMENTS to determine the search scope:
   • Focused: a specific technology area, pattern type, or Shopify feature
   • Broad: no arguments, or a high-level term like "explore" or "general"
2. Read rules/BACKLOG.md to load existing topics.
3. Read rules/INDEX.md to load completed rules.
4. Check for Horizon cursor rule coverage using the three-level approach:
   • If shopify-themes/horizon/ is present, list files in shopify-themes/horizon/.cursor/rules/ for the latest coverage.
   • If Horizon is not present, consult references/existing-coverage.md for a summary of what Shopify's cursor rules cover.
   • Either way, also check references/existing-coverage.md for the "What is NOT covered" section -- these are prime opportunities for new rules.
5. Build an exclusion set from all sources -- these are topics you must NOT re-discover.

Phase 2 -- Search

Search across all themes in shopify-themes/. Use Explore agents to parallelize searches.

If shopify-themes/ is empty or contains no themes, lean on web research instead. Suggest the user adds themes to shopify-themes/ for richer discovery -- see the project README for recommended themes (Dawn and Horizon as starting points).

Search strategy by scope

If focused on a specific area:

• Use references/category-definitions.md to find the relevant search patterns
• Deep-dive: search filenames, file contents, and comments across all themes
• Compare how different themes solve the same problem
• Note interesting variations and workarounds

If broad (no specific focus):

• Sample across multiple categories using the search hints in references/category-definitions.md
• Prioritize areas with the most cross-theme variation
• Look for patterns that combine multiple technologies (Liquid + CSS, Liquid + JS, etc.)
• Start with snippets/ and assets/ directories for the richest pattern density

General search techniques

1. Filename patterns: glob for files with meaningful names across themes
   • shopify-themes/*/snippets/*<keyword>*
   • shopify-themes/*/assets/*<keyword>*.{css,js}
2. Content patterns: grep for specific terms from references/category-definitions.md
3. Cross-theme comparison: find the same snippet or pattern name in multiple themes and note how implementations differ
4. Comment mining: search for workaround, hack, trick, TODO, FIXME, NOTE:, IMPORTANT:

Web research (when appropriate)

By default, focus on local theme research when themes are available. Expand to web research when:

• The user explicitly asks for it or shares links
• The user's topic involves a Shopify feature where official docs would add clarity
• Local themes don't have sufficient examples
• shopify-themes/ is empty

Recommended web sources:

• Shopify Dev Docs -- use the Shopify Dev MCP tool if available, otherwise shopify.dev
• Shopify Community forums at community.shopify.dev
• Links the user provides as additional context

Phase 3 -- Evaluate

For each candidate topic found during search:

1. Check against exclusion set: Is it already in the backlog? Already a rule? Covered by Horizon cursor rules?
2. Assess generalizability: Would this help someone building any Shopify theme, or just one specific project?
3. Assess AI-value: Would an AI agent get this wrong without explicit guidance? If the pattern is obvious from Shopify docs alone, skip it.
4. Determine category: Which category does this belong to? Use the 12 categories from references/category-definitions.md.
5. Gauge complexity: Is there enough substance for a full rule document? Too thin = not worth it.
6. Count evidence: How many themes exhibit this pattern? More themes = higher priority.

Present candidates to the user

For each candidate topic, show:

• Proposed title (specific enough to be a /research-shopify-rule or /quick-rule invocation)
• Category
• Why it matters (1-2 sentences)
• Evidence (which themes, what file types)
• Overlap risk (anything close in existing coverage?)

The user approves which topics to add to the backlog.

Phase 4 -- Enrich

After user approval, append the approved topics to rules/BACKLOG.md.

Enrichment rules

1. Append only: never remove or modify existing topics (except to update status)
2. No duplicates: if a topic substantially overlaps with an existing backlog entry, skip it or suggest merging with the existing entry
3. If nothing found: if the search produced no viable new topics, say so honestly and leave the file unchanged. Do not add filler.
4. Preserve structure: follow the topic entry format exactly

Topic entry format

Add each topic under the ## Topics heading in rules/BACKLOG.md:

### <Topic Title>

- **Category**: category-slug
- **Status**: `pending`
- **Scope**: 1-3 sentences describing what the rule would cover
- **Evidence**: which themes contain relevant patterns (theme names only)
- **Search terms**: keywords someone could grep for to find the relevant code
- **Added**: YYYY-MM-DD
- **Rule**: _pending_

After enriching the backlog, suggest what the user might explore next -- either a deeper dive into the same area, or a different category entirely.

---

Important guidelines

• This skill discovers and queues topics. It does NOT write rules. Point users to /research-shopify-rule for complex topics or /quick-rule for well-documented patterns.
• Each topic should be scoped to roughly one rule document. If a topic is too broad, split it into multiple entries.
• Prefer specific, actionable titles over vague ones. "CSS custom properties for theme color schemes via Liquid settings" is better than "CSS variables".
• The scope of discoverable topics is deliberately broad: project config, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Liquid, e-commerce patterns, Shopify specifics, and combinations thereof.
• Reference themes generically by name (e.g., "Dawn, Horizon, Vision") without full system paths.