grounding-before-coding
Use when starting any non-trivial change, investigating a bug, or working in unfamiliar code - before the first line is written. Also use for pure investigation with no change planned yet - \"dig into this\", \"figure out why\", \"sometimes the export is empty\", intermittent errors after a deploy. Encodes the ground-first discipline: map the real code and data, quote evidence, never guess conventions. Use whenever a change or a conclusion is about to be built from belief instead of from the tree, even under time pressure.
Overview
Its SKILL.md stays on GitHub
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Files 1 file
Install it by hand
Deska runs this for you, for every agent you pick. To run it yourself in a terminal:
npx skills add riekelt/principal-engineer --skill grounding-before-codingMore from riekelt
- technical-writingriekeltUse when writing, restructuring, or revising any technical document - specs, design docs, READMEs, reference documentation, plans, reports - or any prose that must survive being read twice by someone in a hurry. Encodes the house style, the truth and sourcing rules, and the banned-constructions list. Use whenever you produce repository-bound text longer than a paragraph, even if nobody says "document". Foundation for the sibling document-type skills.12.5K installs on skills.sh0
- writing-design-docsriekeltUse when writing a proposal, RFC, design document, spec, or migration plan - anything that argues for a change, records a design, or asks readers for input on one. Encodes the proposal skeleton, the Why & What decision box, and the completeness checks. Use whenever a change needs arguing or scoping in writing, even if the user just says "write up the approach".12.2K installs on skills.sh0
- reviewing-technical-proseriekeltUse when reviewing, rewriting, or editing someone else's technical text, when writing a review report on a document, or as the final check before delivering any document. Encodes the severity mapping, the findings format, the what-not-to-flag list, and the delivery checklist. Use before any document ships, even when it looks fine.12.1K installs on skills.sh0
- writing-changelogsriekeltUse when writing a changelog entry, release notes, or a "what shipped" summary after completing work. Encodes the entry shape, the handover template, and the honesty conventions. Use after shipping meaningful work, even if the user just says "summarize what we did".12.1K installs on skills.sh0
- writing-runbooksriekeltUse when writing operational documentation - runbooks, setup guides, release procedures, migration guides, deprecation guides, troubleshooting entries, or any ordered procedure someone will execute under time pressure. Encodes the runbook skeleton, the risk legend, the symptom-first troubleshooting format, and the migration-guide rules (mapping table, mandatory rollback, deprecation dates, built-in expiry). Use whenever someone will execute the text, even if it is called a "guide" or "setup notes".12.1K installs on skills.sh0
