majiayu000 Skill: checklist-discipline
What I do
I enforce the rigorous use of checklists to prevent cognitive overload and avoidable errors. I distinguish between different checklist types and ensure they are used as living documents during complex operations.
When to use me
- During repetitive but high-stakes operations (e.g. deployments, migrations)
- When executing complex multi-step tasks that span multiple sessions
- When creating standardised procedures for a team
- To verify the "Definition of Done" for a task
Core principles
- DO-CONFIRM vs READ-DO — Choose the right style. READ-DO for unfamiliar tasks; DO-CONFIRM for expert routines to verify completeness.
- Incremental updates — Tick off items immediately upon completion, never at the end.
- Granularity balance — Ensure steps are actionable but not trivial. Focus on the "killer steps" where errors often occur.
- Living documents — Update the checklist if a new edge case or error is discovered during execution.
Patterns & examples
Surgical Checklist Pattern: Focus on high-risk transition points:
- Pre-flight: Verify environment variables, backup status, and access permissions.
- Execution: Atomic steps with specific verification commands.
- Post-flight: Validate logs, health checks, and stakeholder notification.
Checklist Design:
- Actionable: "Run npm test" instead of "Check tests".
- Verifiable: "Ensure build/ folder exists" instead of "Check build".
- Concise: Keep checklists to 5-9 items per logical section.
Anti-patterns to avoid
- ❌ Batch ticking — Marking items as done after the work is finished (defeats the purpose).
- ❌ Checklist bloat — Including trivial steps that lead to "checklist fatigue" and skipping.
- ❌ Stale checklists — Following a list that doesn't reflect the current state of the codebase.
KB Reference
~/vaults/baphled/3. Resources/Knowledge Base/AI Development System/Skills/Thinking-Analysis/Checklist Discipline.md
Related skills
task-completer— Ensuring all requirements are mettask-tracker— Managing task lists and progresspre-action— Deliberate planning before checklist executiondocumentation-writing— Creating clear, usable procedures