| name | pattern-review |
| description | PROACTIVE: Compare a development plan or implementation proposal to industry standards and common best practice before application code — without waiting for the user to ask. The agent selects relevant aspects (UX, APIs, identity, async, coupling, etc.) per change. Use at planning (especially M/L), feature architecture, router intake on novel behavior, review-dev-plan industry lens, or when the user asks for best practice / industry standard check. Not repo rule compliance (use validate for that). |
| disable-model-invocation | false |
pattern-review
Scope: External industry / product precedent for plans and proposals — not validate (repo rules).
Feedback first — surface risks and options; do not edit product code or plans unless the user asks afterward.
Proactive obligation (agents)
Apply without being asked when you are about to propose or write a plan, RFC, or material UX/API/architecture design — especially before novel src/ work.
Do: follow references/rubric.md → choose relevant aspects → compare to precedents → verdict → Pattern risk alert if non-standard → stop until owner picks A/B/C or waives.
Do not: treat “we already do it in the codebase” as sufficient without naming external precedent and tradeoffs.
Where everything lives
Per documentation/DOC_AGENT_WORKFLOW_LAYERS.md.
| What | Path |
|---|
| Procedure (this file) | .agents/skills/pattern-review/SKILL.md |
| Rubric (lens, verdicts, plan fields) | .agents/skills/pattern-review/references/rubric.md |
| Alert template | .agents/skills/pattern-review/references/alert-template.md |
| Plan section | .agents/skills/plan/references/implementation-plan-template.md § Pattern & precedent |
When to run
| Situation | Mode |
|---|
| User asks best practice / industry standard | scan |
| Intake or plan touches new user-visible behavior or contracts | scan or plan-section |
Writing DEVELOPMENT_PLAN.md | plan-section (required for Complexity M/L) |
review-dev-plan industry lens | Uses same rubric; no separate invoke required |
| Mid-implementation, no plan | lite |
Procedure
- Read
references/rubric.md.
- Gather context: plan path, proposal, or changed scope.
- Classify the capability; pick precedents; select dimensions that matter for this change (agent judgment — not a fixed checklist).
- If review is not needed (trivial / no new behavioral contract) → one short paragraph and stop.
- If aligned or acceptable product-specific with documented tradeoffs → short summary; proceed under normal gates.
- If non-standard → post alert from
references/alert-template.md; stop until owner decides.
- For
plan-section, record in DEVELOPMENT_PLAN.md § Pattern & precedent.
Modes
scan (default)
Full lens: precedents → chosen aspects → verdict → alert if needed.
plan-section
Write § Pattern & precedent in the plan (see template).
lite
Rubric § Lite pass; escalate to full alert if material divergence.
Integration
| Caller | How |
|---|
plan | Step 5: plan-section when M/L or material behavioral design |
review-dev-plan | Industry precedent agent reads references/rubric.md |
router | Novel behavior → pattern-review before src/; see dev-cycle matrix |
feature | § 3.1b at architecture phase |
validate | Does not replace this skill |
Output (chat)
Pattern review: <skipped — reason | aligned | non-standard — see below>
If non-standard, include Pattern risk block, then:
Next: owner pick A/B/C or waive → then plan / implementation
Related
