skill-template_skill

Overview

This skill packages expert guidance for creating and operating reproducible shell-based agent workflows. It focuses on decision trees, failure modes, and practical checks that prevent common, hard-to-debug mistakes. Use it to harden scripts, choose safe defaults, and structure progressive guidance for agents and maintainers.

How this skill works

The skill inspects workflow boundaries, fragile file operations, and places where human judgment is required. It surfaces domain-specific anti-patterns, prompts for critical pre-action questions, and provides a phased decision process to pick safe commands or fallbacks. Outputs are concise checks and exact-action recommendations tailored for shell-centric automation.

When to use it

• Designing or reviewing shell scripts that modify files, deployments, or system state
• Building agent workflows that must balance autonomy with safety
• Onboarding contributors to an existing automation pipeline
• Creating templates where low-risk defaults and explicit failure modes are required
• Auditing operations that could cause data corruption or irreversible changes

Best practices

• NEVER run destructive commands without explicit, recorded confirmation — irreversible side effects are common and often unnoticed
• NEVER assume canonical paths or environment variables — validate and normalize inputs to avoid cross-system failures
• NEVER edit compressed or packaged files in place — unpack, modify, and repack to prevent corruption
• NEVER rely solely on heuristics for backups — use deterministic versioned snapshots or checksums before changes
• Ask targeted pre-action questions to determine scope, rollback strategy, and acceptable risk before executing
• Prefer small, testable steps with clear failure signals and automatic rollbacks where possible

Example use cases

• Safely migrate configuration files across environments with pre-checks and verification steps
• Build an agent flow that runs maintenance scripts only after automated sanity checks and operator confirmation
• Create a deployment script that performs atomic file swaps and keeps previous versions for quick rollback
• Audit a CI/CD pipeline to replace fragile heuristics with deterministic checksums and explicit invariants
• Train new maintainers with a checklist-driven workflow that minimizes destructive trial-and-error