Sign in

AI coding & development skills for agents

The highest-leverage coding skills are disciplines, not tricks: review checklists, test-driven development, systematic debugging, verification before claiming done. These packs make an agent hold those disciplines every task.

This is the largest category in the directory — every skill with scan verdict, license class and Lift where benchmarked.

60 skills · 26 benchmarked with Lift · sorted by measured performance, then Trust.

Coding & Development
Trust 87
api-and-interface-design

Helps design stable, well-documented APIs and interfaces with consistent contracts, error handling, validation at boundaries, and backward-c

+20pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
code-simplification

Refactors working code to be clearer and easier to maintain while preserving exact behavior and following project conventions.

+20pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
backend-patterns

Provides backend architecture patterns, API design, database optimization, and server-side best practices for Node.js, Express, and Next.js

+20pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
api-design

Designs and reviews REST API endpoints with best practices for URLs, status codes, pagination, and more.

+10pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
code-review-and-quality

Performs multi-axis code review across correctness, readability, architecture, security, and performance before any change is merged.

+10pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 89
control-browser

Automates a headless Chromium browser via the Playwright MCP server to navigate, click, type, screenshot, and verify web pages including loc

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
browser-testing-with-devtools

Uses Chrome DevTools MCP to inspect live browser behavior—DOM, console, network, performance, and screenshots—to debug and verify frontend c

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
debugging-and-error-recovery

Systematically identifies and fixes the root cause of errors in code.

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
deprecation-and-migration

Manages deprecation and migration. Use when removing old systems, APIs, or features. Use when migrating users from one implementation to ano

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
doubt-driven-development

Ensures every significant decision is rigorously challenged before implementation.

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
finishing-a-development-branch

Guides completing a development branch by verifying tests, then merging locally, pushing a PR, or keeping the branch, with safe worktree cle

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
git-workflow-and-versioning

Manages code changes through structured Git workflows, atomic commits, and versioning practices.

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
incremental-implementation

Delivers changes incrementally in thin, verifiable slices. Use when implementing any feature or change that touches more than one file, or w

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
performance-optimization

Optimizes application performance across frontend, backend, queries, and databases. Use when performance requirements exist, when you suspec

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
receiving-code-review

Helps evaluate and respond to code review feedback with technical verification and reasoned pushback instead of blind implementation or perf

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
source-driven-development

Verifies every framework-specific implementation decision against official documentation before writing code, citing sources and avoiding ou

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
spec-driven-development

Guides writing and approving a structured specification with objectives, boundaries, and success criteria before any code is implemented.

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
test-driven-development

Enforces test-driven development by writing a failing test first, then minimal implementation code, then refactoring, for every feature or b

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
test-driven-development

Guides development using the test-driven red-green-refactor loop, writing failing tests first to prove code works and reproduce bugs before

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
using-git-worktrees

Sets up an isolated git worktree workspace before starting feature work or implementing plans, including detection, creation, dependency set

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
writing-plans

Turns a spec or requirements into a detailed, test-driven implementation plan with bite-sized tasks before any code is written.

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
requesting-code-review

Dispatches a code reviewer subagent with crafted context to verify completed work meets requirements before merging or proceeding.

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
verification-before-completion

Enforces running actual verification commands (tests, builds, linters) and checking their output before making any claims that work is compl

+0pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
remotion-upgrade

Automates upgrading Remotion libraries, dependencies, and related packages in a project.

-10pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
constraint-driven-development

Establishes a project's quality bar as a written contract and stops agents quietly lowering it. Interviews the user on which dimensions matt

-20pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
bun-runtime

Guidance on using Bun as a JavaScript runtime, package manager, bundler, and test runner, including when to choose it over Node and how to m

-30pp lift · unverified Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
create-agent-adapter

Creating or modifying adapters for AI agents across server, UI, and CLI components.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
create-issue-interaction-ui

A developer guide for adding a new issue-thread interaction card kind end-to-end in the Paperclip codebase, covering shared contracts, serve

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
diagnosing-bugs

A structured debugging methodology for diagnosing hard bugs and performance regressions by building tight feedback loops, reproducing, hypot

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safe scripts · link-outpermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
gsap-utils

Provides utility functions for GSAP animations, including math operations, array handling, and value mapping.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
module-regression

Maintains a REGRESSION.md ledger of module dependencies and executable acceptance commands so that changes to one module are verified agains

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
paperclip-create-plugin

Scaffolds, develops, installs, and verifies Paperclip plugins using a CLI-first local development workflow.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
ponytail-audit

Performs a one-shot quality audit of an entire repository, ranking bugs, security holes, load risks, missing tests, slow paths, and code to

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
ponytail-review

Reviews code changes for correctness, safety, performance, test coverage, and unnecessary code, explaining each finding in plain English.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
ponytail-review

Reviews a code diff like a senior engineer, reporting bugs, security risks, load problems, missing tests, speed issues, and code to delete w

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
prcheckloop

Iteratively fixes and re-runs failing CI checks on a GitHub pull request until all checks pass or a specific blocker is identified.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
remotion-best-practices

Guides and best practices for developing with Remotion, including setup, rendering, and interactivity.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safe scripts · link-outpermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
setup-matt-pocock-skills

This skill sets up the repository configuration for engineering skills, including issue tracker, triage labels, and domain documentation lay

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
systematic-debugging

Systematically identify and resolve technical issues by investigating root causes before applying fixes.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safe scripts · link-outpermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 87
verify-paperclip

Launches and verifies Paperclip instances from source, npm, or hosted stacks by driving real UI/CLI journeys and capturing evidence.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safe scripts · link-outpermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 86
eval-harness

A framework for defining and running formal evaluations of Claude Code sessions to measure reliability and prevent regressions.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
change-impact

Performs evidence-backed impact analysis before high-risk code, data, or interface changes and reconciles the planned impact with the actual

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
check-pr

Analyzes GitHub/GitLab/Perforce PRs/MRs/CLs for review comments, failed checks, and incomplete descriptions to prepare changes for submissio

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
codebase-design

Designing testable, modular codebases with deep interfaces and clear seams

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
code-review

Reviews code changes since a fixed point along two axes—adherence to coding standards and faithfulness to the originating spec—and reports b

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
documentation-lookup

Fetches up-to-date library and framework documentation via Context7 MCP so answers about APIs, setup, and code examples reflect current vers

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
e2e-testing

Provides Playwright end-to-end testing patterns including Page Object Model structure, configuration, CI/CD integration, artifact management

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
fix-slow-queries

Diagnoses and fixes slow PostgreSQL queries by reproducing baselines locally, proving performance and correctness improvements, and deliveri

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
improve-codebase-architecture

Analyzes codebase architecture to identify and visualize refactoring opportunities

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
migrate-to-shoehorn

Migrate TypeScript test files from `as` type assertions to @total-typescript/shoehorn for type-safe partial test data.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
ponytail

A coding assistant mode that solves tasks with the smallest complete change and explains it in plain language.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
ponytail

Provides the simplest, most efficient coding solutions for tasks like writing, fixing, refactoring, and reviewing code.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
ponytail-audit

Performs a full-repository quality audit covering bugs, security, load handling, missing tests, performance, and dead code, reporting findin

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
ponytail-gain

Displays a one-shot scoreboard of measured savings (lines of code, tokens, cost, time) from the Ponytail agentic coding benchmark.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
pr

Helps write clear pull request bodies with summaries, diagrams, before/after evidence, and merge risk analysis.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
prototype

Builds quick throwaway prototypes to test UI designs or logic/state models, with minimal effort and no persistence.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
pr-report

Creates detailed maintainer-grade reports for pull requests, including deep code review, design analysis, and merge recommendations.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
rea-changelog-update

Automatically generate and update release changelogs and GitHub release notes from Git history.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
reverse-engineer-anything

Reverse-engineer compiled binaries, packages, firmware, and apps to explain features, compare versions, or guide reconstruction using shippe

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive
Coding & Development
Trust 85
setup-code-maintenance-bot

Sets up a scheduled agent and routine that runs a code-maintenance skill on a repository and opens pull requests automatically.

Lift · not yet benchmarked Safepermissive

FAQ

What's the most proven coding skill?

Sort this page by Lift — the ranking is measured pass-rate improvement on coding tasks, not GitHub stars.

Do coding skills work with Claude Code and Cursor?

Yes — any MCP client can load them via mcp.skillzbench.com, and every skill is also readable as a plain SKILL.md file.

Is there an AI code review skill?

Several — review and quality skills enforce ordered checklists (correctness first, then security, then style) instead of vague 'looks good'.

Browse the full directory · See the leaderboard · All hubs