setup-engineering-skills
Skill0 starsChanged 4 months agoMITView on GitHub
Sets up an `## Agent skills` block in AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md and `docs/agents/` so the engineering skills know this repo's issue tracker (GitHub or local markdown), triage label vocabulary, and domain doc layout. Run before first use of `to-issues`, `to-prd`, `triage`, `diagnose`, `tdd`, `improve-codebase-architecture`, or `zoom-out` — or if those skills appear to be missing context about the issue tracker, triage labels, or domain docs.
1 other project uses a version of this, 1 of them edited.
Adopted by
Most recently taken up by
- TiagoJacinto/skillsedited, first seen Oct 8, 2026
Other versions1 project uses a version of this.
Word for word · 0
None found.
Edited · 1
- TiagoJacinto/skills★ 258% same
Wrote their own version · 0
None found.
How matches are found. Word for word: the exact same text. Edited: shares passages with this file (“99% same” means 99% of its five-word phrases also appear here; 10% or more counts). Their own version: similar meaning, or, weakest, the same name. We can’t tell which project had it first. Projects are counted among the 200 most-starred candidates, and mentions are links to the repository we found, up to 50 per site, so both counts are a floor.
In this repository40 other files it gives its agents.
- address-pr-feedbackSkill
- architectureSkill
- code-reviewSkill
- code-structureSkill
- competitive-briefSkill
- contract-guardSkill
- debugSkill
- deep-workSkill
- dependency-upgradeSkill
- deploy-checklistSkill
- diagnoseSkill
- documentationSkill
- explain-pr-step-by-stepSkill
- feedback-checkpointSkill
- grill-meSkill
- grill-with-docsSkill
- handoffSkill
- improve-codebase-architectureSkill
- incident-responseSkill
- memory-managementSkill
- observabilitySkill
- plan-criticSkill
- plan-from-rfcSkill
- pr-babysitterSkill
- prototypeSkill
- queue-checkSkill
- rebase-onto-mainSkill
- releaseSkill
- security-reviewSkill
- squash-and-pushSkill
- synthesize-researchSkill
- system-designSkill
- tddSkill
- tech-debtSkill
- testing-strategySkill
- to-issuesSkill
- to-prdSkill
- triageSkill
- verification-before-completionSkill
- zoom-outSkill
The file
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
7 rules. About 0 are common, 5 are distinctive, and 2 are very specific to this project.
≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈5
Distinctive · estimate
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
2
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- could be automatic: a setting could enforce it
- Distinctive: line 21
Look at the current repo to understand its starting state.
- Very specific: line 40
Default posture: these skills were designed for GitHub.
- Distinctive: line 59
Default: each role's string equals its name.
- Distinctive: line 83
If CLAUDE.md exists, edit it.
- Distinctive: line 85
If neither exists, ask the user which one to create — don't pick for them.
- Distinctive: line 87
Never create AGENTS.md when CLAUDE.md already exists (or vice versa) — always edit the one that's already there.
- Very specific: line 89
If an ## Agent skills block already exists in the chosen file, update its contents in-place rather than appending a duplicate.
≈ “Common” is an estimate: at least 1 in 5 of the 350,495 skill files we read have a rule of the same kind, not the same words. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.
Files
Setup Engineering Skills
Scaffold the per-repo configuration that the engineering skills assume:
- Issue tracker — where issues live (GitHub by default; local markdown is also supported out of the box)
- Triage labels — the strings used for the five canonical triage roles
- Domain docs — where
CONTEXT.mdand ADRs live, and the consumer rules for reading them
This is a prompt-driven skill, not a deterministic script. Explore, present what you found, confirm with the user, then write.
Process
1. Explore
Look at the current repo to understand its starting state. Read whatever exists; don't assume:
git remote -vand.git/config— is this a GitHub repo? Which one?AGENTS.mdandCLAUDE.mdat the repo root — does either exist? Is there already an## Agent skillssection in either?CONTEXT.mdandCONTEXT-MAP.mdat the repo rootdocs/adr/and anysrc/*/docs/adr/directoriesdocs/agents/— does this skill's prior output already exist?.scratch/— sign that a local-markdown issue tracker convention is already in use
2. Present findings and ask
Summarise what's present and what's missing. Then walk the user through the three decisions one at a time — present a section, get the user's answer, then move to the next. Don't dump all three at once.
Assume the user does not know what these terms mean. Each section starts with a short explainer (what it is, why these skills need it, what changes if they pick differently). Then show the choices and the default.
Section A — Issue tracker.
Explainer: The "issue tracker" is where issues live for this repo. Skills like
to-issues,triage, andto-prdread from and write to it — they need to know whether to callgh issue create, write a markdown file under.scratch/, or follow some other workflow you describe. Pick the place you actually track work for this repo.
Default posture: these skills were designed for GitHub. If a git remote points at GitHub, propose that. If a git remote points at GitLab (gitlab.com or a self-hosted host), propose GitLab. Otherwise (or if the user prefers), offer:
- GitHub — issues live in the repo's GitHub Issues (uses the
ghCLI) - GitLab — issues live in the repo's GitLab Issues (uses the
glabCLI) - Local markdown — issues live as files under
.scratch/<feature>/in this repo (good for solo projects or repos without a remote) - Other (Jira, Linear, etc.) — ask the user to describe the workflow in one paragraph; the skill will record it as freeform prose
Section B — Triage label vocabulary.
Explainer: When the
triageskill processes an incoming issue, it moves it through a state machine — needs evaluation, waiting on reporter, ready for an AFK agent to pick up, ready for a human, or won't fix. To do that, it needs to apply labels (or the equivalent in your issue tracker) that match strings you've actually configured. If your repo already uses different label names (e.g.bug:triageinstead ofneeds-triage), map them here so the skill applies the right ones instead of creating duplicates.
The five canonical roles:
needs-triage— maintainer needs to evaluateneeds-info— waiting on reporterready-for-agent— fully specified, AFK-ready (an agent can pick it up with no human context)ready-for-human— needs human implementationwontfix— will not be actioned
Default: each role's string equals its name. Ask the user if they want to override any. If their issue tracker has no existing labels, the defaults are fine.
Section C — Domain docs.
Explainer: Some skills (
improve-codebase-architecture,diagnose,tdd) read aCONTEXT.mdfile to learn the project's domain language, anddocs/adr/for past architectural decisions. They need to know whether the repo has one global context or multiple (e.g. a monorepo with separate frontend/backend contexts) so they look in the right place.
Confirm the layout:
- Single-context — one
CONTEXT.md+docs/adr/at the repo root. Most repos are this. - Multi-context —
CONTEXT-MAP.mdat the root pointing to per-contextCONTEXT.mdfiles (typically a monorepo).
3. Confirm and edit
Show the user a draft of:
- The
## Agent skillsblock to add to whichever ofCLAUDE.md/AGENTS.mdis being edited (see step 4 for selection rules) - The contents of
docs/agents/issue-tracker.md,docs/agents/triage-labels.md,docs/agents/domain.md
Let them edit before writing.
4. Write
Pick the file to edit:
- If
CLAUDE.mdexists, edit it. - Else if
AGENTS.mdexists, edit it. - If neither exists, ask the user which one to create — don't pick for them.
Never create AGENTS.md when CLAUDE.md already exists (or vice versa) — always edit the one that's already there.
If an ## Agent skills block already exists in the chosen file, update its contents in-place rather than appending a duplicate. Don't overwrite user edits to the surrounding sections.
The block:
## Agent skills
### Issue tracker
[one-line summary of where issues are tracked]. See `docs/agents/issue-tracker.md`.
### Triage labels
[one-line summary of the label vocabulary]. See `docs/agents/triage-labels.md`.
### Domain docs
[one-line summary of layout — "single-context" or "multi-context"]. See `docs/agents/domain.md`.Then write the three docs files using the seed templates in this skill folder as a starting point:
- issue-tracker-github.md — GitHub issue tracker
- issue-tracker-gitlab.md — GitLab issue tracker
- issue-tracker-local.md — local-markdown issue tracker
- triage-labels.md — label mapping
- domain.md — domain doc consumer rules + layout
For "other" issue trackers, write docs/agents/issue-tracker.md from scratch using the user's description.
5. Done
Tell the user the setup is complete and which engineering skills will now read from these files. Mention they can edit docs/agents/*.md directly later — re-running this skill is only necessary if they want to switch issue trackers or restart from scratch.
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Your trail
Files you open will collect here, so you can find them again.
Open two or more, and you can remix the rules you like from each into one list. Kept in this browser only.
Now do this for your own.
Bring your CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md or skills. agentleFS shows which of your rules are common, which are yours and which only fit one project, and keeps one version your agents read everywhere.

