Ref Development Standards

CUI General Development Rules

Foundational development principles that guide all work in CUI projects.

What This Skill Provides

Core Development Principles

• User Interaction Guidelines - When to ask vs when to proceed
• Research Requirements - Using research-best-practices agent for finding current best practices
• Tool Usage Standards - Proper tools for file operations (Read, Write, Edit vs cat, tail, find)
• Document Management - When to create vs reuse documents
• Dependency Management - Approval requirements for adding dependencies

Cross-Cutting Standards

This skill provides the foundational rules that apply across ALL development activities:

• Agent development
• Command development
• Code implementation
• Documentation creation
• Testing strategies

When to Activate This Skill

Activate this skill when:

Starting any development work:

• Creating new agents or commands
• Implementing features
• Writing documentation
• Making architectural decisions

Uncertain about approach:

• Unsure whether to ask user or proceed
• Need to research current best practices
• Choosing between different implementation approaches

Tool selection:

• Deciding which tools to use for file operations
• Implementing file discovery or content search
• Working with file system operations

Project decisions:

• Adding new dependencies
• Creating new documentation
• Proliferating new files or structures

Workflow

Step 1: Load Core Development Rules

Load the complete set of development principles:

Read: standards/general-development-rules.md

This provides:

• Decision tree for when to ask users
• Research best practices using research-best-practices agent
• Tool usage standards (references ref-development-standards skill)
• Document proliferation guidelines
• Dependency approval requirements

Step 2: Apply Rules Throughout Development

During development, follow these principles:

1. When uncertain - Ask the user (don't guess or be creative)
2. When researching - Use research-best-practices agent for current best practices
3. When performing file operations - Use proper tools (Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep)
4. When creating documents - Check if context-relevant documents exist first
5. When adding dependencies - Always get user approval

Step 3: Reference Related Skills

For specific areas, reference specialized skills:

Tool Usage Patterns:

Skill: plan-marshall:ref-development-standards

• Detailed file operation patterns
• Non-prompting tool usage
• Error handling strategies

Research Execution:

Task: plan-marshall:research-best-practices

• Comprehensive web research
• Finding current best practices for technologies/frameworks

Standards Organization

standards/
  general-development-rules.md  # Core principles for all development work
  file-operations.md            # File operation patterns (merged from diagnostic-patterns)
  search-operations.md          # Search operation patterns (merged from diagnostic-patterns)
  tool-usage-patterns.md        # Tool usage patterns (merged from diagnostic-patterns)

Consolidated structure:

• Core development rules plus detailed tool usage patterns
• All patterns now in one skill for easier reference
• Delegates to research-best-practices agent for research

Tool Access

No special tools required - This skill uses standard Read tool to load standards.

For research: Delegates to research-best-practices agent (has WebSearch, WebFetch) For tool patterns: References ref-development-standards skill

Usage Examples

Example 1: Starting Feature Implementation

## Step 0: Load Development Guidelines

Skill: plan-marshall:ref-development-standards

This loads core development principles including when to ask users, research requirements, and tool usage standards.

## Step 1: Research Best Practices

Before implementing, research current best practices:

Task: subagent_type: plan-marshall:research-best-practices prompt: Research best practices for {feature/technology}

Example 2: Creating New Agent

## Step 1: Load Development Rules

Skill: plan-marshall:ref-development-standards

This ensures I follow core principles for tool usage, asking users when uncertain, and proper file operations.

## Step 2: Load Tool Usage Patterns

For detailed file operation patterns:

Skill: plan-marshall:ref-development-standards

Example 3: Uncertain About Approach

## Applying General Development Rules

Following general-development-rules principle: "If in doubt, ask the user."

I need clarification on: {specific question}

[Ask user for guidance before proceeding]

Integration with plan-marshall Bundle

This skill integrates with other plan-marshall components:

Agents

• research-best-practices - This skill delegates research to this agent for finding current best practices

Skills

• ref-development-standards - This skill references ref-development-standards for detailed tool usage patterns

Commands

• All commands should follow these general development rules
• Commands that need research should delegate to research-best-practices agent

Key Principles

1. Ask When In Doubt

Never guess or be creative. If uncertain, ask the user for guidance.

2. Research Current Best Practices

Always use research-best-practices agent to find latest best practices for technologies/frameworks. Don't rely on outdated knowledge.

3. Use Proper Tools

Use Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep (not cat, tail, find, test via Bash). See ref-development-standards skill for details.

4. Don't Proliferate Documents

Use context-relevant existing documents. Only create new documents with user approval.

5. Get Dependency Approval

Never add dependencies without user approval. Always ask first.

Quality Verification

Standards in this skill ensure:

• Self-contained (no external references except to other skills/agents)
• Clear decision guidance for common scenarios
• Proper delegation to specialized skills (ref-development-standards)
• Proper delegation to specialized agents (research-best-practices)
• Simple, focused structure (single standards file)
• Cross-cutting applicability to all development work

References

• research-best-practices agent - For comprehensive web research and finding current best practices
• ref-development-standards skill - For detailed tool usage patterns and non-prompting file operations