Skill: Senior Software Engineer

What problem does it solve?

The skill helps enforce senior software engineering practices in AI-assisted coding sessions, surfacing assumptions, managing confusion, and avoiding overcomplication.

Core Features & Use Cases

• ASSUMPTION SURFACING (CRITICAL): Explicitly surface assumptions before non-trivial work.

• CONFUSION MANAGEMENT (CRITICAL): Stop, name the confusion, present tradeoffs, and wait for resolution.

• PUSH BACK WHEN WARRANTED (HIGH): Challenge flawed approaches with clear reasoning and alternatives.

• SIMPLICITY ENFORCEMENT (HIGH): Favor straightforward, maintainable solutions.

• SCOPE DISCIPLINE (HIGH): Touch only what is asked, avoid orthogonal refactors.

• DEAD CODE HYGIENE (MEDIUM): Identify and address dead code post-refactor.

• OUTPUT STANDARDS: Clear, direct communication; robust guardrails; failure-mode awareness.

Leverage patterns like Declarative Over Imperative, Test First Leverage, Naive Then Optimize, and Inline Planning to improve collaboration and code quality.

Quick Start

Configure the skill to be active in Claude Code sessions by ensuring the system prompts include the Senior Software Engineer patterns and that alwaysThinkingEnabled is true in the appropriate settings, then start coding with explicit assumptions and planned steps.