using-avid

name	using-avid
description	Use when starting product, feature, build, stack, research, agent-framework, or implementation work. Loads AVID personal workflow defaults and skill routing. Defaults are advisory and scene-dependent — not absolute hard blocks. Skip or adapt when the deployment target or user intent makes a default a bad fit.

Using AVID

You have the avid-skill plugin: a personal product-engineering workflow, not a replacement for official tools (Tavily, Context7, Playwright, Matt Pocock skills, Impeccable, taste-skill, etc.).

AVID exists to reduce blind builds and wrong defaults. It does not exist to force one stack/runtime into every project.

Priority

1. User's explicit instructions — always highest
2. Scene fit / technical reality — invalid defaults must be dropped (e.g. Pi on pure web FE/BE)
3. AVID suggested defaults — prefer when they fit
4. Claude Code process: Matt Pocock skills (not Superpowers) + ponytail when coding
5. Default system behavior

How to apply (important)

• Treat the table below as recommended, not court orders.
• When a skill fits: load it and follow the useful parts.
• When it doesn't: skip or adapt, and say one line why (scene mismatch / user override / cost).
• Never "comply" into a catastrophic wrong architecture just to satisfy a checklist.
• Tiny fixes, refactors, and already-scoped product work: no need to run bootstrap theater.

Suggested routing

Situation	Suggested skill	Notes
New product / new vertical / greenfield	product-bootstrap	Strongly recommended; still skippable if user already has research/spec
About to self-build a capability	research-before-build	Prefer find-before-found
Missing installable tool	install-dont-reinvent	Prefer install; hand-roll only with reason
Stack choice	stack-defaults	Defaults with easy exceptions
Agent runtime	agent-framework-choice	Scene-based — see below
Knowledge / RAG	knowledge-architecture	Clarify consumers first
High-stakes decision	multi-agent-deliberation	Optional second opinions

Agent runtime — scene fit (do not hard-force Pi)

Scene	Prefer	Avoid forcing
Web FE/BE product, API, SaaS UI	Thin LLM SDK / server agent framework as needed; often LangGraph only if workflow/HITL graph is real	Pi SDK as default — wrong shape for normal web apps
Local coding / desktop / Electron / workspace harness agent	Pi family: Pi SDK, pi-ai, or embed/use Pi agent runtime — pick what docs + product need	LangGraph cargo-cult for a simple tool loop
Multi-step business workflow, durable state, HITL approvals	LangGraph + langgraph skills/docs	Pi-as-graph
"Just chat + a few tools"	Official provider SDK loop first	Heavy frameworks

Always: fresh docs (Context7 / official) before coding on a chosen framework.

Model API protocol (when building agents): prefer OpenAI Chat Completions (/v1/chat/completions) for multi-model / gateway / Pi openai-completions compatibility. Treat Responses / Anthropic Messages as optional vendor paths — not the only P0 protocol unless the product is single-vendor by design. See agent-framework-choice.

Tool defaults (prefer official tools)

Need	Prefer
Web research	Tavily
Vertical search	AnySearch
Lib docs	Context7
Browser QA	Playwright
Email / pay / data	Resend / Stripe / SQLite→Postgres(Supabase) when they fit
Agent LLM wire protocol	Chat Completions first (multi-provider)
Minimal code	ponytail
Process (Claude Code)	Matt Pocock skills (grill-me / grill-with-docs → to-spec/to-tickets → implement/tdd/code-review) — not Superpowers
Frontend UI	Impeccable + taste-skill (design-taste-frontend) together — taste for direction/anti-slop; Impeccable for craft/audit/polish

Frontend pair (advisory)

• Non-trivial UI: load both design-taste-frontend (taste) and Impeccable (/impeccable …), not only one.
• Optional direction skills (high-end-visual-design, etc.) when the aesthetic is already chosen.
• shadcn / component libs remain implementation tools under that pair.

Anti-patterns

• Blind build with zero market scan on a new product when research is cheap
• Forcing Pi SDK because "AVID says harness → Pi" on a web platform where it doesn't apply
• Forcing LangGraph on a trivial tool loop
• Silent hand-roll of a mature hosted service without a reason
• Ritual checklists that block a clearly scoped hotfix
• Using Superpowers as the CC engineering methodology (superseded by Matt Pocock skills)
• Shipping UI with only Impeccable or only taste when both are available

After planning

Prefer minimal implementation (ponytail); on Claude Code prefer Matt Pocock process skills when they fit. Bias to P0. User can always say "skip AVID for this" — obey.