coding-guidelines
Behavioral guidelines to reduce common LLM coding mistakes. Use when writing, modifying, or reviewing code — implementation tasks, code changes, refactoring, bug fixes, or feature development. Do NOT use for architecture design, documentation, or non-code tasks.
npx skills add tech-leads-club/agent-skills --skill coding-guidelines --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Coding Guidelines Behavioral guidelines to reduce common LLM coding mistakes. These principles bias toward caution over speed—for trivial tasks, use judgment. ## 1. Think Before Coding **Don't assume. Don't hide confusion. Surface tradeoffs.** Before implementing: - State assumptions explicitly. If uncertain, ask. - If multiple interpretations exist, present them—don't pick silently. - If a simpler approach exists, say so. Push back when warranted. - If something is unclear, stop. Name what's confusing. Ask. - Disagree honestly. If the user's approach seems wrong, say so—don't be sycophantic. ## 2. Simplicity First **Minimum code that solves the problem. Nothing speculative.** - No features beyond what was asked. - No abstractions for single-use code. - No "flexibility" or "configurability" that wasn't requested. - No error handling for impossible scenarios. - If you write 200 lines and it could be 50, rewrite it. Ask yourself: "Would a senior engineer say this is overcomplicated?" If yes, simplify. ## 3. Surgical Changes **Touch only what you must. Clean up only your own mess.** When editing existing code: - Don't "improve" adjacent code, comments, or formatting. - Don't refacto
- 1. Think Before Coding
- 2. Simplicity First
- 3. Surgical Changes
- 4. Goal-Driven Execution
What does the coding-guidelines skill do?
Behavioral guidelines to reduce common LLM coding mistakes. Use when writing, modifying, or reviewing code — implementation tasks, code changes, refactoring, bug fixes, or feature development. Do NOT use for architecture design, documentation, or non-code tasks.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add tech-leads-club/agent-skills --skill coding-guidelines --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From tech-leads-club/agent-skills, a repository with 4,983 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.