Standards Skill

Language-specific coding standards loaded on-demand by other skills.

Purpose

This is a library skill - it doesn't run standalone but provides standards

references that other skills load based on file types being processed.

Standards Available

Standard

Reference

Loaded By

Skill Structure

references/skill-structure.md

vibe (skill audits), doc (skill creation)

Python

references/python.md

vibe, implement, complexity

Go

references/go.md

vibe, implement, complexity

Rust

references/rust.md

vibe, implement, complexity

TypeScript

references/typescript.md

vibe, implement

JavaScript

references/javascript.md

vibe, implement

Shell

references/shell.md

vibe, implement

YAML

references/yaml.md

vibe

JSON

references/json.md

vibe

Markdown

references/markdown.md

vibe, doc

SQL Safety

references/sql-safety-checklist.md

vibe, pre-mortem (when DB code detected)

LLM Trust Boundaries

references/llm-trust-boundary-checklist.md

vibe, pre-mortem (when LLM code detected)

Race Conditions

references/race-condition-checklist.md

vibe, pre-mortem (when concurrent code detected)

Codex Skills

references/codex-skill.md

vibe (when skills-codex/ or converter files detected)

Behavioral Discipline

references/behavioral-discipline.md

implement, review, vibe, pre-mortem

Test Pyramid

references/test-pyramid.md

plan, pre-mortem, implement, crank, validation, post-mortem

SKILL.md Tier-Caps

references/skill-tier-caps.md

vibe (skill line-cap audits), doc, plan

JSM Attribution

references/jsm-attribution.md

doc (when absorbing external corpora), heal-skill

How It Works

Skills declare standards as a dependency:

skills:

  - standards

Then load the appropriate reference based on file type:

# Pseudo-code for standard loading

if file.endswith('.py'):

    load('standards/references/python.md')

elif file.endswith('.go'):

    load('standards/references/go.md')

elif file.endswith('.rs'):

    load('standards/references/rust.md')

# etc.

Domain-Specific Checklists

Specialized checklists for high-risk code patterns. Loaded automatically by /vibe and /pre-mortem when matching code patterns are detected:

Checklist

Trigger Pattern

Risk Area

sql-safety-checklist.md

SQL queries, ORM calls, migration files, database/sql, sqlalchemy, prisma

Injection, migration safety, N+1, transactions

llm-trust-boundary-checklist.md

anthropic, openai imports, prompt templates, *llm*/*prompt* files

Prompt injection, output validation, cost control

race-condition-checklist.md

Goroutines, threads, asyncio, sync.Mutex, shared file I/O

Shared state, file races, database races

codex-skill.md

Files under skills-codex/, convert.sh, skills-codex-overrides/

Codex API conformance, prohibited primitives, tool mapping

behavioral-discipline.md

Execution, review, or plan-validation tasks with ambiguity or broad blast radius

Hidden assumptions, overbuilding, drive-by edits, weak verification

Skills detect triggers via file content patterns and import statements. Each checklist's "When to Apply" section defines exact detection rules.

Deep Standards

For comprehensive audits, skills can load extended standards from

vibe/references/*-standards.md which contain full compliance catalogs.

Standard

Size

Use Case

Tier 1 (this skill)

~5KB each

Normal validation

Tier 2 (vibe/references)

~15-20KB each

Deep audits, --deep flag

Domain checklists

~3-5KB each

Triggered by code pattern detection

Integration

Skills that use standards:

• /vibe - Loads based on changed file types

• /implement - Loads for files being modified

• /review - Loads for change-quality and blast-radius checks

• /doc - Loads markdown standards

• /bug-hunt - Loads for root cause analysis

• /complexity - Loads for refactoring recommendations

Examples

Vibe Loads Python Standards

User says: /vibe (detects changed Python files)

What happens:

• Vibe skill checks git diff for file types

• Vibe finds auth.py in changeset

• Vibe loads standards/references/python.md automatically

• Vibe validates against Python standards (type hints, docstrings, error handling)

• Vibe reports findings with standard references

Result: Python code validated against language-specific standards without manual reference loading.

Implement Loads Go Standards

User says: /implement ag-xyz-123 (issue modifies Go files)

What happens:

• Implement skill reads issue metadata to identify file targets

• Implement finds server.go in implementation scope

• Implement loads standards/references/go.md for context

• Implement writes code following Go standards (error handling, naming, package structure)

• Implement validates output against loaded standards before committing

Result: Go code generated conforming to standards, reducing post-implementation vibe findings.

Troubleshooting

Problem

Cause

Solution

Standards not loaded

File type not detected or standards skill missing

Check file extension matches reference; verify standards in dependencies

Wrong standard loaded

File type misidentified (e.g., .sh as .bash)

Manually specify standard; update file type detection logic

Deep standards missing

Vibe needs extended catalog, not found

Check vibe/references/*-standards.md exists; use --deep flag

Standard conflicts

Multiple languages in same changeset

Load all relevant standards; prioritize by primary language

Reference Documents

• references/architecture-terms.md

• references/common-standards.md

• references/behavioral-discipline.md

• references/examples-troubleshooting-template.md

• references/cli-wireup-template.md — Reproducible cobra subcommand template (noun + verb, injectable Options, ~10 min/cycle)

• references/go.md

• references/json.md

• references/markdown.md

• references/python.md

• references/rust.md

• references/shell.md

• references/skill-structure.md

• references/standards-index.md

• references/typescript.md

• references/javascript.md

• references/sql-safety-checklist.md

• references/llm-trust-boundary-checklist.md

• references/race-condition-checklist.md

• references/codex-skill.md

• references/test-pyramid.md

• references/yaml.md

• references/skill-tier-caps.md

• references/jsm-attribution.md