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Contributing to Skills-4-SE

Thank you for your interest in contributing!
This repository aims to build a high-quality, lifecycle-aware Skill library for LLM-powered software engineering systems.

We welcome contributions from both:

  • Researchers (new Skills, evaluation protocols, case studies)
  • Practitioners (real-world workflows, pipelines, tooling)

To keep the repository useful, reproducible, and maintainable, we follow the guidelines below.

Before You Start

  • Ensure your skill is based on a real use case, not a hypothetical scenario.
  • Search existing skills to avoid duplicates.
  • If possible, attribute the use case to the original person or source.

Skill Requirements

All skills must:

  1. Solve a real problem - Based on actual usage, not theoretical applications.
  2. Be well-documented - Include clear instructions, examples, and use cases.
  3. Be accessible - Written for non-technical users when possible.
  4. Include examples - Show practical, real-world usage.
  5. Be tested - Verify the skill works across Claude.ai, Claude Code, and/or API.
  6. Be safe - Confirm before destructive operations.
  7. Be portable - Work across Claude platforms when applicable.

Skill Structure

Create a new folder with your skill name (use lowercase and hyphens):

skill-name/
├── SKILL.md  (See [template skill](template/SKILL.md))
├── references/ (optional)
├── scripts/ (optional)
└── assets/ (optional)

SKILL.md Template

Use the template at template/SKILL.md for your skill.

Required frontmatter fields:

  • name: Skill identifier (lowercase, hyphens)
  • description: One-sentence description

Optional but recommended frontmatter fields:

  • version: Skill version (default: "1.0.0")
  • tags: Array of relevant tags
  • difficulty: beginner | intermediate | advanced
  • languages: Array of programming languages used
  • dependencies: Array of related skill names

Adding Your Skill to README

  • Choose the appropriate category
  • Add your skill within the category
- [Skill Name](./skill-name/) - One-sentence description. (Inspired by [Person/Source])
  • Follow the existing format, no emojis in the skill name.

Pull Request Process

  • Fork the repository
  • Create a branch: git checkout -b add-skill-name
  • Add your skill folder with SKILL.md
  • Update README.md with your skill in the appropriate category
  • Commit your changes: git commit -m "Add [Skill Name] skill"
  • Push to your fork: git push origin add-skill-name
  • Open a Pull Request

Pull Request Guidelines

Your PR should:

  • Title: "Add [Skill Name] skill"
  • Description: Explain the real-world use case and include:
    • What problem it solves
    • In which scenario
    • Applicable scope (programming language, input/output constraints)
    • Attribution/inspiration source (optional)

📌 What Can Be Contributed?

1. New Skills

A Skill represents a reusable software engineering capability (not a one-off prompt).

Good Skill candidates:

  • Solve a well-defined software engineering task
  • Operate on real artifacts (code, tests, specs, configs, logs)
  • Can be reused across projects or contexts

Examples:

  • Assertion synthesis for unit tests
  • Ambiguity detection in natural-language requirements
  • Formal specification inference from code
  • CI configuration misuse detection

2. Skill Improvements

You may contribute by:

  • Improving existing instructions
  • Adding better examples
  • Documenting failure modes
  • Extending evaluation criteria

3. Pipelines

Pipelines demonstrate end-to-end workflows composed from multiple Skills.

Examples:

  • Bug report → reproducing test → patch
  • Spec → code → verification
  • Failing CI → diagnosis → fix

Pipelines should reflect realistic developer workflows. A demonstration of how a proposed pipeline

4. Evaluation & Benchmarks

We strongly encourage contributions that improve rigor and evaluation, including:

  • Skill-level evaluation protocols
  • Case studies on real projects
  • Failure analysis and ablation studies

🤝 Code of Conduct

We expect all contributors to:

  • Be respectful and constructive
  • Focus discussions on technical content
  • Welcome feedback and iteration

This repository follows a collaborative and research-friendly culture.

💬 Questions & Discussions

If you are unsure whether your idea fits, feel free to:

  • Open an issue to discuss a proposed Skill
  • Ask for feedback before implementing

We appreciate your interest in helping build a shared Skill layer for software engineering.

Acknowledge