using-development-skills

name	using-development-skills
description	Use when starting any conversation - establishes how the development-skills plugin works and how to invoke its components on each platform (Claude Code, Codex). Read first.

Using development-skills

If dispatched as a subagent for a specific task: skip this skill.

If any skill might apply (even 1% chance), invoke it. Skills are the disciplined entry points — the meta-rule (spirit beats letter) covers the rest.

Iron Rules

14 principles (0-13) + 1 meta-rule (spirit beats letter). Canonical: shared/iron-rules.md. Do not duplicate.

Triage & Flow

Classify the task before reading its content in depth:

1. PASS_THROUGH — trivial, 1 file, fully reversible, no design choice → execute directly.
2. LIGHT — mechanical, no design choice (full 4-criteria gate in shared/workflow.md # Tier selection) → follow the 6-step inline flow. Default on uncertainty → FULL.
3. FULL (default) — 4 phases, sequential, mandatory:
   • Phase 1: plan file docs/plans/NNNN__YYYY-MM-DD__implementation_plan__slug.md + HOW-level Q&A locks (data shapes · edge cases · error semantics · contract boundaries · test scope · rollback).
   • Phase 2: chronicle docs/chronicles/NNNN__YYYY-MM-DD__topic.md capturing initial decisions.
   • Phase 3: implement with Red/Green TDD.
   • Phase 4: staff-reviewer subagent review.

Rules during FULL:

• External spec / guide / prior brainstorming exists → skip brainstorming only. Phases 1-4 still run. The spec is INPUT to Phase 1, not a substitute. A guide's own gates STACK with the workflow.
• Ambiguity ≥1% on any HOW-level dimension → ask the user (AskUserQuestion for discrete options; plain text otherwise; Codex fallback in references/codex-tools.md).
• Phase skipping mid-execution → stop, rejoin at the missed phase, produce its artifact, continue.

Rules during LIGHT: Tier is qualitative (ambiguity / logic impact / new-pattern) — not file count. A 30-file mechanical rename is LIGHT; a 1-file new-caching-strategy is FULL. All Iron Rules still apply. Mid-execution discovery breaks LIGHT criteria → escalate to FULL per shared/workflow.md # LIGHT (final paragraph).

Routing: Bug fixes → development-skills:debugging. Test work → development-skills:create-test.

Platform

SKILL bodies use Claude Code tool names as canonical. On Codex, translate via references/codex-tools.md (Task → spawn_agent, AskUserQuestion fallback, staff-reviewer dispatch recipe, hooks, marketplace files).

User Override

User instructions (CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, direct requests) > development-skills > default system prompt.