engineering-methods

name

engineering-methods

description

Routing skill for engineering workflow methods (two upstream packs: addyosmani/agent-skills and mattpocock/skills). Covers intent grilling, specs/PRDs, task breakdown, implementation strategy, TDD, debugging, code review, API/interface design, codebase architecture, domain modeling, security, performance, CI/CD, migration, documentation, release readiness. Use for non-trivial software engineering process decisions — not for trivial edits, casual chat, or pure tool usage. When triggered, read this file's index, then open the most relevant referenced SKILL.md before acting.

Engineering Methods (Router)

This is a router skill. The actual method content lives in two upstream packages:

• github.com/addyosmani/agent-skills — broad lifecycle guardrails (spec → plan → build → verify → review → ship).
• github.com/mattpocock/skills — opinionated idea→ship flow: grilling, domain language, deep modules, issue-driven implementation.

How to use

1. Identify the development phase / concern of the current task.
2. Choose a route (see Route selection), pick the matching entry from the index.
3. Resolve the package dir (see Locate packages), then read the referenced SKILL.md.
4. If unsure between two, read both first paragraphs; otherwise pick one and proceed.
5. Do NOT load these proactively for trivial edits, simple Q&A, or pure tool/CLI usage — only when a real engineering process decision is at stake.

Locate packages

Package dirs differ per machine (XDG vs default vs project scope). Resolve both with a single shell call:

for repo in "addyosmani/agent-skills" "mattpocock/skills"; do
  for base in "$HOME/.config/pi/git" "$HOME/.local/share/pi/git" "$HOME/.pi/agent/git" "$PWD/.pi/git"; do
    p="$base/github.com/$repo"
    [ -d "$p/skills" ] && echo "$repo => $p" && break
  done
done

If a repo doesn't print, install it: pi install git:github.com/<owner>/<repo>.

Route selection

Prefer Matt (mattpocock/skills) when:

• Sharpening an idea or plan by interview before building (grilling).
• The project keeps a persistent domain vocabulary (CONTEXT.md) or ADRs.
• The question is codebase shape: module depth, seams, interfaces, adapters, locality.
• The flow is issue-driven: spec → tracer-bullet tickets → implement per ticket → two-axis review.
• A large, unclear effort needs a multi-session map of decisions before it can become a spec.
• Debugging a hard bug that needs a tight feedback loop before theorizing.

Prefer Addy (addyosmani/agent-skills) when:

• The task maps to a broad lifecycle phase without Matt's tracker/doc conventions.
• You need a guardrail Matt doesn't cover: security, performance, CI/CD, migration, launch readiness, frontend UI, observability, source-cited research, adversarial self-review.

Overlapping entries (TDD, debugging, code review): Matt's are terser and seam/spec-focused; Addy's are more thorough checklists. Pick by depth needed.

Matt index — mattpocock/skills

Paths are skills/<entry>/SKILL.md under the resolved package dir.

Flow map / setup

• engineering/ask-matt — Matt's own router: how the skills chain into the idea→ship flow.
• engineering/setup-matt-pocock-skills — One-time setup (issue tracker, docs layout) the flow skills assume.

Idea → spec → tickets → implement

• engineering/grill-with-docs — Relentless interview to sharpen a plan; maintains glossary + ADRs (needs a codebase).
• productivity/grill-me — Same grilling, stateless, no codebase required.
• engineering/wayfinder — Map a large, unclear, multi-session effort as decision tickets; hand off to a spec when the route is clear.
• engineering/to-spec — Synthesize the current conversation into a spec and publish it to the configured issue tracker.
• engineering/to-tickets — Split a spec, plan, or conversation into tracer-bullet tickets with explicit blocking edges.
• engineering/implement — Implement a spec or ticket: TDD at pre-agreed seams, typechecks, review, commit.
• engineering/prototype — Throwaway prototype to answer one design question (state model, UI feel).
• engineering/research — Background primary-source research captured as a cited Markdown file.

Architecture / domain language

• engineering/codebase-design — Deep-module vocabulary: depth, seams, interfaces, adapters, locality, leverage.
• engineering/domain-modeling — Sharpen domain terms, maintain CONTEXT.md, record ADRs.
• engineering/improve-codebase-architecture — Scan for deepening opportunities, present as HTML report.

Verify / review / maintain

• engineering/tdd — Seam-focused red→green loop; anti-patterns (tautological tests, horizontal slicing).
• engineering/diagnosing-bugs — Build a tight red feedback loop first, then reproduce→minimise→fix.
• engineering/code-review — Two-axis review (Standards + Spec) of a diff since a fixed point, parallel sub-agents.
• engineering/triage — Move incoming issues/external PRs through triage roles into agent-ready briefs.
• engineering/resolving-merge-conflicts — Conflict resolution workflow.

Addy index — addyosmani/agent-skills

Paths are skills/<entry>/SKILL.md under the resolved package dir.

Upstream (intent → spec → plan)

• interview-me — Extract real intent when the ask is underspecified.
• idea-refine — Diverge/converge on vague ideas before committing to a plan.
• spec-driven-development — Write a spec before coding for new projects/features.
• planning-and-task-breakdown — Break a spec into ordered, implementable tasks.

Implementation

• incremental-implementation — Land multi-file changes in reviewable increments.
• context-engineering — Configure rules/context when agent output degrades.
• source-driven-development — Ground decisions in official docs / cited sources.
• doubt-driven-development — Adversarial fresh-context review for high-stakes or unfamiliar code.
• api-and-interface-design — Designing APIs, module boundaries, type contracts.
• frontend-ui-engineering — Production-quality UI components, layout, state.

Verification

• test-driven-development — Drive logic/bug-fix/behavior change with tests (pyramid, sizes).
• browser-testing-with-devtools — Real-browser tests via Chrome DevTools MCP.
• debugging-and-error-recovery — Systematic root-cause debugging (reproduce→localize→fix→guard).
• code-review-and-quality — Five-axis review before merging.
• code-simplification — Refactor for clarity without behavior change.
• security-and-hardening — Untrusted input, auth, storage, third-party integrations.
• performance-optimization — Bottlenecks, regressions, Core Web Vitals.

Delivery

• git-workflow-and-versioning — Commits, branches, conflicts, parallel streams.
• ci-cd-and-automation — Build/deploy pipelines, quality gates.
• shipping-and-launch — Pre-launch checklist, monitoring, staged rollout, rollback.
• deprecation-and-migration — Removing systems/APIs, migrating users.
• documentation-and-adrs — ADRs, decision records, durable docs.
• observability-and-instrumentation — Structured logs, metrics, traces, alerts.

Maintenance

When either upstream package updates, re-sync this index by listing its skills/ tree (resolved as above) and reconciling added/removed/renamed entries. Matt's repo also has deprecated/, in-progress/, misc/, and personal/ categories — deliberately excluded here.