Agent skill · software engineering · affaan-m
inherit-legacy-style
Prevent AI style drift on legacy projects by scanning the codebase for implicit conventions, resolving conflicts with the operator one at a time, and writing an enforceable .ai-style-rules.md (Golden Files, naming rules, DONTs) plus an optional CLAUDE.md hook. Use when onboarding an AI agent onto a hand-written legacy codebase or extracting a project's unwritten coding rules.
Why this skill is useful
Adds a systematic approach to codifying legacy project style rules that the AI wouldn't generate on its own.
What it needs
Requires git installed locally. About 5k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-06. 238,342 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Inherit Legacy Style Prevents AI code style drift in legacy projects by scanning the codebase for implicit conventions across 4 meta-architecture dimensions, resolving conflicts with the user one at a time, and crystallizing the consensus into an enforceable .ai-style-rules.md. Fully language- and framework-agnostic. When to Activate User types /inherit-legacy-style User mentions onboarding AI onto a hand-written legacy project User is worried about AI-generated code "drifting" from existing project conventions User wants to extract and codify their project's implicit coding rules When to Use Use this skill when you need to preserve legacy project style and prevent AI-generated style drift. See When to Activate above for trigger conditions. Prerequisites Git (recommended; non-Git projects fall back to file timestamps for incremental mode) Read/Write access to the project root (generates .ai-style-rules.md and optionally CLAUDE.md) Workflow Step 0 — Auto-Detect Mode Silently check for .ai-style-rules.md at the project root: File exists? Mode --- --- No Branch A — First-time Full-Scan Yes Branch B — Incremental Sniff Announce the mode in one line and proceed — never ask the user to pick. Branch A — First-time Full-Scan 1. Measure scale, pick a scanning tier Tier Source files Strategy --- --- --- Small ≲ 50 Full close-read every source Medium 50–500 Infra layer = full read; business layer = sample 2–3 per dimension Large ≳ 500 Strict sampling + budget cap; --stat summary first, then targeted reads 2. Scan along 4 dimensions 1. File Anatomy — in-file declaration order (imports → types → main logic → helpers → export) 2. State & Control Flow — naming conventions for async state, pagination, flags 3. Infrastructure — where cross-cutting utils live (interceptors, formatters, middleware) 4. Error Handling — try/catch vs global interceptor vs Result return; null-check habits 3. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills affaan-m/inherit-legacy-style