dendrik

name	dendrik
description	Use when reviewing any SKILL.md, CLAUDE.md, reference file, or agentic documentation for quality — structure, description, progressive disclosure, writing style. Also use when validating tool conventions, checking contract compliance, or debugging lint failures in dotfiles CLI tools. Triggers: 'review my skill', 'check this skill', 'review this doc', 'is this SKILL.md good', 'skill quality', 'dendrik', 'lint', 'convention check'.
user_invocable	true
argument-hint	[review [path] | lint <path> [--json] [--strict] [--fix] | --explain <id>]

dendrik

dendrik is the shared foundation the dotfiles CLI tools (folio, jf, dot) are built on. See docs/00-what-is-dendrik.md for what that means. This skill is dendrik's review + lint surface.

Setup

dendrik needs its binary installed. Run this plugin's bin/setup once to install it (and again after a plugin update). It is idempotent — safe to re-run, and a no-op when the pinned version is already installed.

Triage

When invoked, determine which lens to use:

Signal	Lens
dendrik lint <path> or explicit lint request	Conventions — full contract lint
dendrik review <file|repo|PR> or any reviewable doc (incl. SKILL.md)	Review — detect type → dispatch
dendrik --explain <id>	Explain — show check rationale
No arguments, no clear context	Detect context (see below)

Context Detection (bare invocation)

When /dendrik is called with no arguments, infer what to review:

1. File just edited or created in this conversation → review that file, infer lens
2. Active skill or doc work visible in conversation → review the artifact in progress
3. Multiple candidates → list them and ask which to review
4. Nothing detected → ask: "What should I review?"

Never guess ambiguously. If unsure, ask.

---

Lens: Conventions

Full contract lint for dotfiles CLI tools in cmd/*/. Delegates to the dendrik CLI.

cd ~/.dotfiles
dendrik lint <path>            # all checks
dendrik lint <path> --strict   # promote warnings to errors
dendrik lint <path> --fix      # apply mechanical fixes, then re-lint
dendrik lint <path> --json     # structured output
dendrik lint --explain <id>    # rationale for a check

Three layers validated: Go (build infrastructure), Skill (agent discovery), Bridge (integration).

-> Read references/contract-checks.md for full check details with remediation examples.

-> Read references/cli-conventions.md for CLI conventions (exit codes, flags, output).

---

Lens: Review

Quality review of agentic documents — by type. Each type (SKILL.md, CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, ARCHITECTURE.md, README.md, skill reference files, slash-commands) has a different job, audience, load model, and dominant failure mode, so review applies type-appropriate criteria, not one generic rubric. SKILL.md is just one type among many.

Detect type (first match wins)

Priority	Signal	Leaf
1	path references/*.md under a skill dir	skill-reference → review-type-skill.md
1	path under .claude/commands/ or a commands/*.md command file	slash-command → review-type-skill.md
2	filename SKILL.md	skill → review-type-skill.md
2	filename CLAUDE.md	claude-md → review-type-claude-md.md
2	filename AGENTS.md	agents-md → review-type-agents-md.md
2	filename ARCHITECTURE.md / architecture.md / docs/architecture.md / *-architecture.md (case-insensitive)	architecture-md → review-type-architecture-md.md
2	filename README.md	readme-md → review-type-readme-md.md
3	frontmatter name+description	skill → review-type-skill.md
—	no match	generic → review-shared.md only

Ambiguous? State the inferred type and ask before proceeding (see Context Detection).

Per-artifact unit

1. Read the target in full (+ surrounding dir if a skill).
2. Detect type (above).
3. Load references/review-shared.md (universal dimensions + Right Layer? + scoring/output).
4. Load the one matching references/review-type-*.md leaf (skip if generic).
5. Apply the shared dimensions (incl. Right Layer?) + the leaf's type-local dimensions.
6. Score pass/warn/fail; present top findings + 1-2 "do these first" items.

Targets: file | repo | PR

• file → run the per-artifact unit once. Done.
• repo / dir or PR → many artifacts + relationships between them. -> Read references/review-orchestration.md for input resolution (glob / gh pr diff), the cross-artifact composition pass (the Right Layer? opinion across files), caps, and the multi-artifact output skeleton.

-> Read references/skill-conventions.md for convention details (skill targets).

---

Output Format

All lenses produce a layered review: a one-line verdict, a TL;DR, then risk-grouped findings. Full spec (verdict rules, tiers, render targets) is in references/review-shared.md — Output Format.

**Verdict: <✅ Approve | 🟡 Approve with fixes | 🔴 Request changes> — <one-line why>.**

**▸ TL;DR** — <one-line quality read>. Biggest issue: <the single top finding>.
`N fix-first · M nits · K strengths`

### 🔧 Fix first (N)
**🟡 [Area] — [brief verdict]**
> Specific observation. Concrete suggestion.

### ⚪ Nits (M)
### 👍 What's good (K)

Maximum 5 findings (excluding strengths). If everything passes, say so — don't manufacture problems.

Reference Library

Reference	When to read
references/review-shared.md	Review lens — every review (universal dims, Right Layer?, scoring, output)
references/review-type-skill.md	Review lens — detected type: skill / skill reference / slash-command
references/review-type-claude-md.md	Review lens — detected type: CLAUDE.md
references/review-type-agents-md.md	Review lens — detected type: AGENTS.md
references/review-type-architecture-md.md	Review lens — detected type: ARCHITECTURE.md
references/review-type-readme-md.md	Review lens — detected type: README.md
references/review-orchestration.md	Review lens — repo/PR target (multi-artifact)
references/recommended-doc-set-pattern.md	Review lens — recommend a target doc-set shape (advice, not a check)
references/building-blocks.md	The generated catalog of dendrik building blocks (blueprint composes: ids resolve here). DO NOT EDIT — run scripts/generate-building-blocks
references/blueprint.md	dendrik's own blueprint — which dendrik concepts it composes (owner/dogfood; each other system's blueprint lives in that system's own plugin)
references/skill-conventions.md	Review lens — skill convention details
references/cli-conventions.md	Conventions lens — CLI details
references/distribution-conventions.md	Conventions lens — cross-harness plugin/marketplace distribution
references/contract-checks.md	Conventions lens — all check IDs