design-debt
Surface design-level debt — inconsistent patterns (error handling, naming, response shapes), architectural drift from declared principles, duplicated business logic. Use when the codebase feels harder to reason about than it used to.
What this skill does
# Design Debt Surface drift — the gap between how the codebase was meant to be structured and how it actually is. ## Philosophy > "Is our system getting harder to reason about because of drift?" Design debt is quiet. No test fails, no lint warns. But new contributors ask more questions, changes take longer, bugs appear in "how do these modules talk to each other." Design-debt finds the drift before it compounds. Not a refactoring plan. The value is spotting *inconsistency*, not prescribing a fix. The team decides whether to realign or to formalize the new pattern. ## Scope User may specify a directory. Default: ask which part of the codebase to focus on. This skill works best on a bounded slice (a module, a layer), not whole-codebase scans. ## Config Integration Follow `references/config-migration.md` for preflight. Read `.assistant-config.md` for: - **Architecture Principles** (optional — ground truth if declared) - **Stack** - **Acknowledged Debt** If no architecture principles are declared, infer the dominant pattern from the code and flag deviations. ## Stack Detection Language/framework context matters (Express vs. Next.js handlers have different norms). Detect via manifest as in other dimensions. ## Process ### 1. Understand context Read a representative handful of files in the scope. Identify: - The dominant structural pattern (e.g. "handlers are thin, delegate to services") - The dominant error-handling style (e.g. "try/catch, JSON envelope") - The dominant naming convention ### 2. Scan - **Error handling inconsistency:** read all handlers (or equivalent). Compare error shapes. - **Response shape inconsistency:** same, for success responses. - **Naming inconsistency:** Glob filenames, Grep function names. - **Architectural drift:** Grep for imports that cross declared boundaries (e.g. services importing handlers, handlers doing direct DB calls). - **Duplicated logic:** Grep for similar function signatures across files. ### 3. Group by concern Group by the type of inconsistency (error handling, naming, architecture, duplication). Each concern gets a location list. ### 4. Assess impact - **High:** drift in load-bearing layers (auth, data access) — bugs likely - **Medium:** inconsistent patterns in routine code — slows review - **Low:** cosmetic naming drift ## Reference - `references/design-debt-signals.md` - `references/debt-output-format.md` - `references/config-migration.md` ## Output format Follow `references/debt-output-format.md` exactly. ## What Makes This Different From a Linter Linters enforce rules the team already agreed on. This skill surfaces *disagreement the team didn't realize they had*. Two developers wrote handlers differently because no one was watching — not because either was wrong. The skill makes the drift visible so the team can decide.
Related in Design
contribute
IncludedLocal-only OSS contribution command center. Auto-refreshes the user's in-flight PR and issue state on invoke so conversations start with full context — no need to brief Claude on what's in flight. Helps the user find issues to contribute to on GitHub, builds per-repo dossiers of what each upstream expects (CLA, DCO, branch convention, AI policy, draft-first, review bots, issue templates), runs deterministic gates before any external action so AI-assisted contributions don't reach maintainers as slop. State is markdown-only: candidate files at ~/.contribute-system/candidates/, repo dossiers at ~/.contribute-system/research/, append-only event log at ~/.contribute-system/log.jsonl. No database, no cloud calls. Use when the user asks about their PRs / issues / contributions, wants to find new work to take on, claim an issue, build/refresh a repo's dossier, or draft a Design Issue or PR. Trigger with "/contribute", "what's my PR status", "find a contribution", "claim issue X", "draft a Design Issue for Y", "refresh dossier for Z".
architectural-analysis
IncludedUser-triggered deep architectural analysis of a codebase or scoped subtree across eight modes — information architecture, data flow, integration points, UI surfaces, interaction patterns, data model, control flow, and failure modes. This skill should be used when the user asks to "diagram this codebase," "map the architecture," "show the data flow," "give me an ERD," "trace control flow," "find the integration points," "verify the layout pattern," "audit the UX architecture," or any similar request whose primary deliverable is mermaid diagrams plus cited reports under docs/architecture/. Dispatches haiku/sonnet sub-agents in parallel for per-mode exploration, then verifies every citation mechanically before any node lands in a diagram. Not for one-off prose explanations of code (use code-explanation) or for high-level system design from scratch (use system-design).
mcp
IncludedModel Context Protocol (MCP) server development and tool management. Languages: Python, TypeScript. Capabilities: build MCP servers, integrate external APIs, discover/execute MCP tools, manage multi-server configs, design agent-centric tools. Actions: create, build, integrate, discover, execute, configure MCP servers/tools. Keywords: MCP, Model Context Protocol, MCP server, MCP tool, stdio transport, SSE transport, tool discovery, resource provider, prompt template, external API integration, Gemini CLI MCP, Claude MCP, agent tools, tool execution, server config. Use when: building MCP servers, integrating external APIs as MCP tools, discovering available MCP tools, executing MCP capabilities, configuring multi-server setups, designing tools for AI agents.
react-native-skia
IncludedDesign, build, debug, and optimise high-polish animated graphics in React Native or Expo using @shopify/react-native-skia, Reanimated, and Gesture Handler. Use when the user wants canvas-driven UI, shaders, paths, rich text, image filters, sprite fields, Skottie, video frames, snapshots, web CanvasKit setup, or performance tuning for custom motion-heavy elements such as loaders, hero art, cards, charts, progress indicators, particle systems, or gesture-driven surfaces. Also use when the user asks for fluid, glow, glass, blob, parallax, 60fps/120fps, or GPU-friendly animated effects in React Native, even if they do not explicitly say "Skia". Do not use for ordinary form/layout work with standard views.
plaid
IncludedProduct Led AI Development — guides founders from idea to launched product. Six capabilities: Idea (discover a product idea), Validate (pressure-test the idea against fatal flaws, problem reality, competition, and 2-week MVP feasibility), Plan (vision intake + document generation), Design (translate image references into a design.md spec), Launch (go-to-market strategy), and Build (roadmap execution). Use when someone says "PLAID", "plaid idea", "help me find an idea", "product idea", "idea from my business", "idea from my expertise", "plaid validate", "validate my idea", "pressure-test", "is this idea good", "find fatal flaws", "validate the problem", "plan a product", "define my vision", "generate a PRD", "product strategy", "plaid design", "design from image", "translate image to design", "create design.md", "extract design tokens", "plaid launch", "go-to-market", "launch plan", "GTM strategy", "launch playbook", "plaid build", "build the app", "start building", or "execute the roadmap".
nextjs-framer-motion-animations
IncludedAdds production-safe Motion for React or Framer Motion animations to Next.js apps, including reveal, hover and tap micro-interactions, whileInView, stagger, AnimatePresence, layout and layoutId transitions, reorder, scroll-linked UI, and lightweight route-content transitions. Use when the user asks to add, refactor, or debug Motion or Framer Motion in App Router or Pages Router codebases, especially around server/client boundaries, reduced motion, LazyMotion, bundle size, hydration, or route transitions. Avoid for GSAP-style timelines, WebGL or 3D scenes, heavy scroll storytelling, or CSS-only effects unless Motion is explicitly requested.