code-gen

name	code-gen
description	When generating or writing code in any language

Code Generation Guidelines

When to Use

• When writing new functions, classes, or modules
• When generating boilerplate or scaffolding code
• When implementing logic from a specification or description

Basic Rules

• Ask before assuming: If requirements are ambiguous or incomplete, ask the user before writing code
• Language-agnostic: These rules apply to all languages unless a language-specific skill overrides them
• No placeholder logic: Never write // TODO: implement this — either implement it or ask

Project Conventions

• Follow the file structure conventions already established in the target project — read existing files before writing new ones
• For TypeScript projects: see ../typescript/SKILL.md
• For Nix expressions: see ../nix/SKILL.md
• For fish shell scripts: see ../shell/SKILL.md

Before Writing Code

• Read at least 2–3 existing files in the project to understand naming and style conventions
• Check if a similar utility or function already exists — do not duplicate
• If the target project has a lint config (biome.json, .eslintrc, .luacheckrc), check it first

Error Handling

• Always handle errors explicitly — never silently swallow them
• Use language-appropriate patterns (e.g. try/catch, Result, Option, error return values)
• Propagate errors to the caller unless there's a clear reason to handle locally
• Never use empty catch blocks without a comment explaining why

Comments and Documentation

• Write a doc comment for every public function/method (purpose, params, return value)
• Inline comments for non-obvious logic only — don't comment the obvious
• Keep comments up-to-date with the code — outdated comments are worse than none

When Something Is Unclear

• If the spec is incomplete, ask the user for clarification before writing
• If multiple valid approaches exist, present the options with tradeoffs and ask
• Never invent requirements — if it wasn't asked for, don't add it

Related Skills

• For TypeScript-specific rules, see ../typescript/SKILL.md
• For Nix-specific rules, see ../nix/SKILL.md
• For Neovim Lua config, see ../neovim/SKILL.md