# Software Developer: Typical Capabilities

> Which capabilities from companion-kits/public-kits/capabilities/ this persona typically uses, and how.

- Skill: `tools-only/software-developer-typical-capabilities` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tools-only/software-developer-typical-capabilities`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tools-only/software-developer-typical-capabilities/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: tools-only (https://skillmd.com/u/tools-only)
- Updated: 2026-09-29
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tools-only/software-developer-typical-capabilities

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# Software Developer: Typical Capabilities

Which capabilities from `companion-kits/public-kits/capabilities/` this persona typically uses, and how.

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## Core Capabilities (Always Include)

### Claude Code Configuration
**Role:** The infrastructure layer that makes all other capabilities work reliably.
**How it's used:** Distributes instructions across the reliability hierarchy — hooks for code conventions enforcement, skills for build/plan workflows, agents with tool whitelists for implementation and verification, rules path-scoped to file types (test patterns, code style), lean CLAUDE.md for tech stack and architecture. Lighter enforcement during implementation (structured extraction aligns with training patterns) but heavier during planning and spec generation (generative tasks need low-freedom skills).
**Customization:** SessionStart hook with code conventions. Path-scoped rules for test files, source files, and documentation. Executor/verifier agent pattern with Haiku for search, Sonnet for verification, Opus for implementation.

### Context Ecosystem
**Role:** The foundation of document-driven development.
**How it's used:** requirements.md, constraints.md, decisions.md, questions.md — plus the docs context ecosystem (living documents, active documents, permanent documents). The 6-document active set pattern.
**Customization:** Extended with development-specific living documents (current-architecture.md, current-features.md, current-security-assessment.md, current-test-strategy.md).

### Process Evolution
**Role:** Continuous improvement of the development workflow.
**How it's used:** `/record` captures developer observations about configuration quality. `/evolve` finds patterns across records and proposes maturation steps. References everything-claude-code as a critical thinking lens.
**Customization:** Evolution targets are development-specific: commands, agents, skills, workflow tuning.

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## Common Capabilities (Include When Relevant)

### Reverse Prompting
**When to include:** During intake and onboarding to extract architecture knowledge, coding standards, and domain constraints from the developer.
**How it's used:** Limited to the seeding phase. During implementation, the workflow is predominantly direct (generate from plans).

### Session Hygiene
**When to include:** Always for Level 2 projects. Optional for Level 1.
**How it's used:** `/start-issue` at session start, `/close-issue` at end. `/capture-learnings` after each completed issue updates living documents.

### Knowledge Zones
**When to include:** For Level 2 projects with accumulated documentation.
**How it's used:** Living docs (reference zone), active docs (field zone), ADRs + guides (permanent zone), evolution records (insight zone).

### Strategic Planning
**When to include:** When the software project has a sibling PM project or when architectural decisions need strategic framing.
**How it's used:** Less hypothesis-driven than PM, more decision-record-driven. ADRs serve as the strategic artifact.

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## Rarely Used Capabilities

### Meeting Processing
**When to include:** Only if the development team has regular planning/standup meetings whose content needs to be captured.

### Mentor Framework
**When to include:** Not typically used for software development.

### Craft Assessment
**When to include:** Not typically used for software development.

### Insight Feedback Loop
**When to include:** Effectively replaced by the process evolution capability for software projects. The `/record` + `/evolve` pattern serves this function.