dependencies
Skill2 starsChanged 7 months agoMITView on GitHub
Use when adding, evaluating, or updating Rust crate dependencies. Also use when considering whether to implement something yourself vs pulling in a library.
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
6 rules. 0 are common, 3 are distinctive, and 3 are very specific to this project.
0
Common
Most of the 6 edited versions we read keep these.
3
Distinctive
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
3
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- Distinctive: line 10
Add a crate when:
- Very specific: line 22
Before running cargo add, check:
- Very specific: line 33
Use cargo update deliberately, not automatically.
- Very specific: line 34
Run cargo audit periodically to check for known vulnerabilities.
- Distinctive: line 58
If a new dependency adds > 10 seconds to clean build time, evaluate alternatives.
- Distinctive: line 59
Prefer crates that offer feature flags to slim their footprint.
“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 6 edited versions of this file we could read. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.
Files
Dependency Guidelines
When to Add a Dependency
Add a crate when:
- It solves a non-trivial problem that would take > 100 lines to implement correctly (e.g., YAML parsing, terminal rendering, CLI arg parsing).
- It's well-maintained: published within the last 6 months, has multiple maintainers or is from a trusted org.
- It has meaningful adoption (check download counts on crates.io).
Implement it yourself when:
- The equivalent code is < ~50 lines.
- The crate would pull in a large dependency tree for a small feature.
- Examples: simple config path resolution, basic string formatting, small utility functions.
Evaluation Criteria
Before running cargo add, check:
- Last publish date — stale crates (> 1 year) are a risk.
- Download count — very low downloads may indicate abandoned or untested code.
- Bus factor — single maintainer crates are riskier. Check if the org has multiple contributors.
- Dependency tree — run
cargo tree -p <crate>to see what it pulls in. Avoid crates that bring in heavy transitive deps. - Compile time impact — proc macros and large crates (like syn-heavy derives) add noticeable build time. Weigh the value.
- Feature flags — use minimal feature sets. e.g.,
clapwithfeatures = ["derive"]not the kitchen sink.
Pinning Strategy
- Pin major versions in
Cargo.toml(e.g.,serde = "1"). - Use
cargo updatedeliberately, not automatically. Review changelogs. - Run
cargo auditperiodically to check for known vulnerabilities.
Key Dependencies (Established)
These are the chosen crates for skald — don't replace them without discussion:
| Purpose | Crate | Notes |
| CLI framework | clap (derive) | Arg parsing, help generation |
| Shell completions | clap_complete | Generated from clap definitions |
| Interactive TUI | cliclack | Prompts, spinners, theming |
| Terminal styling | console | Used by cliclack internally |
| Serialization | serde + serde_yaml + serde_json | Config and output |
| Logging facade | tracing | Structured logging |
| Log file output | tracing-subscriber + tracing-appender | File rotation, filtering |
| Error handling | thiserror | Derive macros for error types |
| Config dirs | dirs | XDG/platform-aware paths |
| Async runtime | tokio | For future provider calls |
| Async traits | async-trait | Provider trait definitions |
Compile Time Awareness
- Profile build times periodically with
cargo build --timings. - Clean builds for skald should stay under 60 seconds.
- If a new dependency adds > 10 seconds to clean build time, evaluate alternatives.
- Prefer crates that offer feature flags to slim their footprint.
Other versions7 projects use a version of this.
Word for word · 0
None found.
Edited · 0
None found.
Wrote their own version · 7
- facebook/docusaurus★ 67ksame name
- orangehrm/orangehrm★ 1.1ksame name
- gener8v/gener8v.claude-skills★ 3same name
- keyreylaa/universal-agent-framework★ 1same name
- QinAnze/SKILLS★ 1same name
- syntropic137/harness-app-template★ 0same name
- syntropic137/software-leverage-points★ 0same name
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.
Used alongsideProjects with it also use documentation and security.
Other files people use alongside this one.
Files found in the same public projects as a version of this one, more often than they turn up anywhere else. Each project counts once, large collections count for less, and this file's own repository is left out.
AnthropicSkilldocumentation
Write and maintain technical documentation. Trigger with "write docs for", "document this", "create a README", "write a runbook", "onboarding guide", or when the user needs help with any form of technical writing — API docs, architecture docs, or operational runbooks.
Also in 3 projects that use this
0xSeroSkillsecurity
Also in 3 projects that use this
In this repository6 other files it gives its agents.
- CLAUDE.mdCLAUDE.md
- config-and-aliasesSkill
- error-handlingSkill
- releaseSkill
- testingSkill
- ui-and-outputSkill
Does it work?
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Your trail
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