backnotprop
60 skills with substantive source documentation and an official publisher or observed installation demand. Read each skill’s original documentation through its card.
backnotprophow
Use for \"how does X work\", code walkthroughs before changing something, and placement / ownership / layering questions (\"where should this live\", \"which package owns this\", \"is this the right layer\"). Explains subsystem architecture, runtime flow, onboarding mental models. Use why for motivation.
- installs
- 12
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotproptechnical-writing
Layered technical-writing standard: Diátaxis structure, Google developer style sentences, STE instruction rules, Global English syntax. Use for /technical-writing or when writing or reviewing docs, RFCs, readmes, PR descriptions, or commit messages.
- installs
- 12
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropwhy
Use for 'why does X work this way', 'why we picked Y', design rationale, regressions, postmortems, or data-backed thresholds. Discovers available MCPs and queries each evidence category (source control, issue tracker, long-form docs, real-time chat, infrastructure observability, error tracking, product analytics warehouse) in parallel, then returns a cited read on decisions and tradeoffs. Use how for runtime behavior.
- installs
- 12
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotproparena
Spawn N parallel candidates at the same task, pick a base, graft the strongest parts of the losers into it. Use for /arena, 'arena this', 'throw it in the arena', or when one attempt at a non-trivial artifact would lock in the wrong shape.
- installs
- 11
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropblast-radius
Find what a change could break somewhere else before it ships, beyond the diff, and prove the one fact it's safe because of by running real code instead of writing it up. Use for 'blast radius of X', 'what could this break', or reviewing a small diff you don't trust.
- installs
- 11
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropcorrect
Find the mistakes agents keep repeating in this repo and make each one impossible. Try architecture first, then types, then a lint whose error names the fix, then a test, and write docs last. Prove each check fails on a real past mistake. Repeat this each time the operator corrects you. Use for /correct.
- installs
- 11
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropprinciple-boundary-discipline
Apply when wiring validation, error handling, or framework adapters. Concentrate guards at system boundaries (CLI, config, network, external APIs); trust internal types and keep business logic in pure functions.
- installs
- 11
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropprinciple-explain-the-number
Apply before you trust, report, or act on a number you measured: a speedup, a regression, a throughput, a latency, or an eval result. Find what limits it, and rule out that it measured something other than the work you think.
- installs
- 11
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropprinciple-fix-root-causes
Apply when debugging. Trace each symptom back to the first place the system went wrong and fix it there. A guard is a fix only when the state it handles is legitimate.
- installs
- 11
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropprinciple-make-operations-idempotent
Apply when designing commands, lifecycle steps, or processing loops that run amid crashes, restarts, and retries. Converge to the same end state regardless of partial prior runs.
- installs
- 11
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropprinciple-outcome-oriented-execution
Apply during planned rewrites and migrations with explicit phase boundaries. Converge on the target architecture; don't preserve smooth intermediate states with throwaway compatibility code.
- installs
- 11
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropprinciple-prove-it-works
Apply after completing a task, before declaring done. Verify against the real artifact (run the feature, read the actual value, inspect the diff), not a proxy, self-report, or 'it compiles.'
- installs
- 11
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropprinciple-separate-before-serializing-shared-state
Apply when concurrent actors might write to the same file, branch, key, or state object. Eliminate the sharing first; serialize structurally only when one shared writer is a real invariant.
- installs
- 11
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropprinciple-sequence-verifiable-units
Apply to multi-step work (sweeps, migrations, runs of similar edits) and to how you stack commits and PRs. Break work into small units that each end in a verifiable state, check each before the next, and order delivery so the sequence proves itself to a reviewer.
- installs
- 11
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropprinciple-subtract-before-you-add
Apply when sequencing an addition, refactor, or rewrite. Remove dead code, redundant validators, and stub references first, then build on the simpler base.
- installs
- 11
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropprinciple-test-behavior-not-implementation
Apply when you write, change, or keep a test. Assert what the code's users can observe, so that the test fails when that behavior breaks and keeps passing when only the internals change.
- installs
- 11
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropprinciple-type-system-discipline
Apply when designing types, reviewing a function signature, or writing code in any statically-typed language. Make illegal states unrepresentable, brand semantic primitives, parse external data at boundaries, exhaust variants, derive from authoritative schemas.
- installs
- 11
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotproparchitect
Sketch types, signatures, and module structure before code, then stay in the loop while implementation fills in. Use for /architect, 'architect this', 'design this', or non-trivial work where jumping to code would lock in the wrong shape.
- installs
- 10
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropinterrogate
Use for \"interrogate\", \"adversarial review\", \"multi-model review\", \"challenge this\", \"stress test this code\", \"find blind spots\", or \"tear this apart\". Multiple LLM reviewers challenge changes from independent angles.
- installs
- 10
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropsetup-pstack
Configure which models pstack uses per role and at what reasoning budget. Detects your available models and writes an always-applied rule that overrides the skill defaults. Use for /setup-pstack, "configure pstack models", "pstack budget", or changing pstack's model choices.
- installs
- 10
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropautomate-me
Use for \"automate me\", \"create/update/refresh my -mode skill\", \"turn/capture my preferences or working style into a skill\", or wanting agents to follow how the user works. Drafts or revises a personal -mode skill via create-skill + unslop, optionally pulling fresh evidence from recent transcripts.
- installs
- 9
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropbenchmark-checklist
Vet a perf measurement (limiter, tuning, limits, errors, repeatability, relevance, and whether the work happened) before you report or act on it. Use when you run a benchmark or report a speedup or regression you measured.
- installs
- 9
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropcreate-verification-skill
Generate a project-local verification skill that drives your app the way a user does — any language, framework, or platform. Use for /create-verification-skill, \"make a control skill for this repo\", or when a project has no scripted way to prove UI/CLI/service behavior.
- installs
- 9
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20
backnotpropfigure-it-out
Design an auditable playbook when no narrower one fits: a large migration, an ambitious multi-part change, or work a human reviews after stepping away. Scales rigor to the task, runs a hypothesis loop, and logs decisions. Use for /figure-it-out or 'figure it out'.
- installs
- 9
- GitHub stars
- 2.4K
- Updated
- Oct 20