Updated 2d ago
by mattpocock
skills
Skills for Real Engineers. Straight from my .agents directory.
293k GitHub stars (292,872)
+22.7k in 20 days
| Period | New stars |
|---|---|
| Sep 27–28 (2 days) | +575 |
| Sep 29 | +633 |
| Sep 30 | +1,481 |
| Oct 1 | +199 |
| Oct 2 | +898 |
| Oct 3 | +801 |
| Oct 4 | +660 |
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| Oct 13 | +1,760 |
| Oct 14 | +1,708 |
| Oct 15 | +1,575 |
| Oct 16 | +1,588 |
- 30 skills (30 skills found in its SKILL.md files)
- 24.6k forks (24,553 forks)
- 2d ago last update (Last updated 2d ago)
Install
Skills CLI
npx skills add mattpocock/skills
Asks which skills and agents to install. Just one: npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill ask-matt — add -g for every project.
Claude Code
git clone https://github.com/mattpocock/skillscp -r "skills/skills/engineering/ask-matt" ~/.claude/skills/
Copies the ask-matt skill into ~/.claude/skills/ for every project (use .claude/skills/ for one project). Repeat for the other skills listed below.
Plugin
/plugin marketplace add mattpocock/skills
Run inside Claude Code if the repository ships a plugin marketplace, then pick plugins from /plugin.
Skills can run code on your machine — read the SKILL.md first.
What it does
In the author's own words, from each skill's SKILL.md — showing the first 30 of 38 files.
-
ask-matt
Ask which skill or flow fits your situation. A router over the skills in this repo.
skills/engineering/ask-matt/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
code-review
Review the changes since a fixed point (commit, branch, tag, or merge-base) along two axes: Standards (does the code follow this repo's documented coding standards?) and Spec (does the code match what the originating issue/spec asked for?). Runs both reviews in parallel sub-agents and reports them side by side. Use when the user wants to review a branch, a PR, work-in-progress changes, or asks to…
skills/engineering/code-review/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
codebase-design
Shared vocabulary for designing deep modules. Use when the user wants to design or improve a module's interface, find deepening opportunities, decide where a seam goes, make code more testable or AI-navigable, or when another skill needs the deep-module vocabulary.
skills/engineering/codebase-design/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
diagnosing-bugs
Diagnosis loop for hard bugs and performance regressions. Use when the user says "diagnose"/"debug this", or reports something broken/throwing/failing/slow.
skills/engineering/diagnosing-bugs/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
domain-modeling
Build and sharpen a project's domain model. Use when discussing codebase terminology, writing or editing a CONTEXT.md, or recording or editing an ADR.
skills/engineering/domain-modeling/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
grill-with-docs
A relentless interview to sharpen a plan or design, which also creates docs (ADR's and glossary) as we go.
skills/engineering/grill-with-docs/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
implement
Implement a piece of work based on a spec or set of tickets.
skills/engineering/implement/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
improve-codebase-architecture
Scan a codebase for deepening opportunities, present them as a visual HTML report, then grill through whichever one you pick.
skills/engineering/improve-codebase-architecture/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
prototype
Build a throwaway prototype to answer a design question. Use when the user wants to sanity-check whether a state model or logic feels right, or explore what a UI should look like.
skills/engineering/prototype/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
research
Investigate a question against high-trust primary sources and capture the findings as a Markdown file in the repo. Use when the user wants a topic researched, docs or API facts gathered, or reading legwork delegated to a background agent.
skills/engineering/research/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
resolving-merge-conflicts
Use when you need to resolve an in-progress git merge/rebase conflict.
skills/engineering/resolving-merge-conflicts/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
setup-matt-pocock-skills
Configure this repo for the engineering skills: set up its issue tracker, triage label vocabulary, and domain doc layout. Run once before first use of the other engineering skills.
skills/engineering/setup-matt-pocock-skills/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
tdd
Test-driven development. Use when the user wants to build features or fix bugs test-first, mentions "red-green-refactor", or wants integration tests.
skills/engineering/tdd/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
to-spec
Turn the current conversation into a spec and publish it to the project issue tracker: no interview, just synthesis of what you've already discussed.
skills/engineering/to-spec/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
to-tickets
Break a plan, spec, or the current conversation into a set of tracer-bullet tickets, each declaring its blocking edges, published to the configured tracker (edges as text in one file per ticket locally, or native blocking links on a real tracker).
skills/engineering/to-tickets/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
triage
Move issues and external PRs through a state machine of triage roles, categorise, verify, grill if needed, and write agent-ready briefs.
skills/engineering/triage/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
wayfinder
Plan a huge chunk of work (more than one agent session can hold) as a shared map of decision tickets on your issue tracker, and resolve them one at a time until the way to the destination is clear.
skills/engineering/wayfinder/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
wizard
Generate an interactive bash wizard that walks a human through steps only they can perform. Use when provisioning infrastructure, setting up credentials or CI secrets, walking an unfamiliar third-party dashboard, or running a one-off migration or cutover. Don't invoke this for steps the agent can perform itself.
skills/engineering/wizard/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
claude-handoff
Hand the current conversation off to a fresh background agent that picks up the work immediately.
skills/in-progress/claude-handoff/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
implement-spec
Implement a specification in code.
skills/in-progress/implement-spec/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
loop-me
Grill me about specs for the workflows I want to build, within this workspace.
skills/in-progress/loop-me/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
pr
Use when writing a PR body.
skills/in-progress/pr/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
retro
Conduct a retrospective on a coding session.
skills/in-progress/retro/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
setup-ts-deep-modules
Wire dependency-cruiser into a TypeScript repo so each package is a deep module, with implementation hidden in subfolders and reachable only through its entry-point files. User-invoked.
skills/in-progress/setup-ts-deep-modules/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
writing-beats
Writing, exploit; assemble raw material into a journey of beats, grounding each term before a beat leans on it.
skills/in-progress/writing-beats/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
writing-fragments
Writing, explore: mine raw fragments, no structure yet.
skills/in-progress/writing-fragments/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
writing-shape
Writing, exploit: shape raw material into an article, paragraph by paragraph.
skills/in-progress/writing-shape/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
git-guardrails-claude-code
Set up Claude Code hooks to block dangerous git commands (push, reset --hard, clean, branch -D, etc.) before they execute. Use when user wants to prevent destructive git operations, add git safety hooks, or block git push/reset in Claude Code.
skills/misc/git-guardrails-claude-code/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
migrate-to-shoehorn
Migrate test files from `as` type assertions to @total-typescript/shoehorn. Use when user mentions shoehorn, wants to replace `as` in tests, or needs partial test data.
skills/misc/migrate-to-shoehorn/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab) -
scaffold-exercises
Create exercise directory structures with sections, problems, solutions, and explainers that pass linting. Use when user wants to scaffold exercises, create exercise stubs, or set up a new course section.
skills/misc/scaffold-exercises/SKILL.md on GitHub (opens in a new tab)
No skill matches that filter.
Review before you install
A skill is a set of instructions and scripts your agent will follow, and it can run code on your machine. Read the SKILL.md and any scripts first — this listing is not a security review.