quality-gate-detection_skill

Overview

This skill detects and configures project-specific quality gate commands so Ralph can run targeted verification automatically. It reads the project's package.json and the dependency footprint to identify available test, lint, typecheck, and E2E commands and then formulates safe, executable commands for just-in-time verification. The goal is to adapt verification to the actual project context rather than assuming defaults.

How this skill works

The skill inspects package.json scripts and the dependency list to find known test runners, linters, typecheckers, and builders. It uses a priority heuristic to pick the most appropriate script (for example preferring test or test:unit for unit tests) and builds executable commands (npm run <script> or npx <binary>) only when a script or framework is present. If no script or detectable framework exists for a gate, it marks that gate as Not Detected and omits it from required checks.

When to use it

• When analyzing a repository to discover available test, lint, build, and typecheck commands.
• Before starting autonomous verification so Ralph runs relevant, non-assumptive checks.
• When generating a task-specific verification checklist tailored to the project.
• When deciding which verification steps to execute in CI-like workflows without modifying project files.

Best practices

• Always ensure package.json is present and valid; the skill depends on accurate JSON parsing.
• Prefer existing npm scripts over invoking binaries directly; use npx only if no script exists but the framework is present.
• Do not create or persist new config files; keep detection transient and executed just-in-time.
• Report ambiguous matches and rationale so reviewers can confirm which script was chosen.
• Omit gates that are not detected instead of guessing defaults to avoid false positives.

Example use cases

• Discovering that a project provides test:unit and lint scripts and configuring Ralph to run npm run test:unit and npm run lint.
• Detecting jest in dependencies but no test script and selecting npx jest as the verification command.
• Identifying that no typechecking tool is present and marking typecheck as Not Detected in the verification checklist.
• Choosing test:browser for browser/E2E checks when cypress or playwright appear in dependencies.