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THE 101

agent-skills

Production-grade engineering skills for AI coding agents

What they are, and why they matter.

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THE PROBLEM

AI coding agents default to the shortest path.

That usually means skipping specs, tests, and reviews. The practices that make software reliable are the first to go.

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THE IDEA

A skill is a workflow, not a prompt

  • Structured steps the agent follows, with checkpoints and exit criteria
  • An anti-rationalization table that rebuts the excuses to skip a step
  • Red flags that signal the process is being violated
  • Verification that demands evidence: tests, build output, runtime data
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ANATOMY

Every skill has the same shape

agent-skills Anatomy of a skill A workflow the agent follows, not a doc it reads. Every skill has the same shape. SKILL.md name: code-review-and-quality description: Use when... Overview When to Use Process Rationalizations Red Flags Verification FRONTMATTER Routing metadata. The `description` carries the words users actually say. THE WORKFLOW Overview, triggers, and the step-by-step process to follow. THE GUARDRAILS Anti-rationalization table plus Red Flags close the shortcuts. THE PROOF Exit criteria demand evidence: tests, build output, runtime data. skills.addy.ie 24 structured skills

Frontmatter routes the work. The body is a process. Guardrails and proof are built in.

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THE LIFECYCLE

One command per phase, Define to Ship

agent-skills The software lifecycle, one command per phase Skills load automatically for each phase. A human checkpoint stays at every step. DEFINE Idea Spec / PRD /spec PLAN Tasks Small, ordered /plan BUILD Code Thin slices /build VERIFY Test Prove it works /test REVIEW Gate Quality axes /review SHIP Go live Roll out safely /ship skills.addy.ie npx skills add addyosmani/agent-skills

24 skills spanning the whole SDLC. The right ones load automatically for each phase.

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GET STARTED

Install into 70+ agents in one command

$ npx skills add addyosmani/agent-skills

Works with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot, and more. Or add a single skill with --skill.

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YOUR FIRST WIN

Start with a spec, then build

  • Run /spec to write a short PRD before any code
  • Run /build to implement in thin, tested slices
  • Every slice is committed and verified individually
  • You approve at each checkpoint. Nothing ships on vibes.
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Give your agent a senior engineer’s instincts

$ npx skills add addyosmani/agent-skills
skills.addy.iegithub.com/addyosmani/agent-skills