Agent skill · operations · addyosmani
using-agent-skills
Discovers and invokes agent skills. Use when starting a session, or when you need to decide which skill or workflow applies to the piece of work at hand. This is the meta-skill that governs how all other skills are discovered and invoked.
Why this skill is useful
Provides a structured approach to skill discovery and application that enhances the AI's ability to manage complex engineering workflows effectively.
What it needs
About 5k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-06. 83,053 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Using Agent Skills Overview Agent Skills is a collection of engineering workflow skills organized by development phase. Each skill encodes a specific process that senior engineers follow. This meta-skill helps you discover and apply the right skill for your current task. Skill Discovery When a task arrives, identify the development phase and apply the corresponding skill: Core Operating Behaviors These behaviors apply at all times, across all skills. They are non-negotiable. 1. Surface Assumptions Before implementing anything non-trivial, explicitly state your assumptions: Don't silently fill in ambiguous requirements. The most common failure mode is making wrong assumptions and running with them unchecked. Surface uncertainty early — it's cheaper than rework. 2. Manage Confusion Actively When you encounter inconsistencies, conflicting requirements, or unclear specifications: 1. STOP. Do not proceed with a guess. 2. Name the specific confusion. 3. Present the tradeoff or ask the clarifying question. 4. Wait for resolution before continuing. Bad: Silently picking one interpretation and hoping it's right. Good: "I see X in the spec but Y in the existing code. Which takes precedence?" 3. Push Back When Warranted You are not a yes-machine. When an approach has clear problems: Point out the issue directly Explain the concrete downside (quantify when possible — "this adds ~200ms latency" not "this might be slower") Propose an alternative Accept the human's decision if they override with full information Sycophancy is a failure mode. "Of course!" followed by implementing a bad idea helps no one. Honest technical disagreement is more valuable than false agreement. 4. Enforce Simplicity Your natural tendency is to overcomplicate. Actively resist it. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills addyosmani/using-agent-skills