# Reusable AI Coding Agent Skills

> **Extracted from:** 50+ Windsurf Cascade conversations across 5 repos (LysnrAI, MindLyst, ChronoMind, NomGap, Common Platform)
> **Purpose:** Editor-agnostic patterns for productive AI-assisted development
> **Works with:** Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf Cascade, GitHub Copilot, Aider, Cline, Codex, and any agentic coding tool

---

## Philosophy

These skills were mined from real multi-month development across a 5-product ecosystem. They represent **battle-tested patterns** — not theoretical advice. Each skill emerged from solving actual problems with AI coding agents.

**Core principles:**

1. **Agent-as-pair-programmer** — Give agents enough context to be autonomous, but keep humans in the loop for architectural decisions
2. **Repeatability** — Every pattern should work across projects and editors
3. **Fail-safe defaults** — Guardrails prevent destructive mistakes (secret leaks, broken builds, data loss)
4. **Session continuity** — Knowledge persists across conversations via structured docs and memory systems
5. **Minimal, focused changes** — Agents should make surgical edits, not rewrite files

---

## Skill Categories

### Agent Setup & Configuration

How to configure your repo so any AI agent can onboard instantly.

| #   | Skill                                                | Description                                   |
| --- | ---------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| 01  | [AGENTS.md Pattern](./01-agents-md-pattern.md)       | The universal agent onboarding document       |
| 02  | [Multi-Editor Config](./02-multi-editor-config.md)   | One repo, 8 editor configs, zero drift        |
| 03  | [Memory Management](./03-memory-management.md)       | What to persist, when to update, how to prune |
| 04  | [Workflow Definitions](./04-workflow-definitions.md) | Reusable slash commands for complex tasks     |

### AI-Assisted Development

Patterns for getting the most out of AI agents during development.

| #   | Skill                                                          | Description                                        |
| --- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| 05  | [Effective Agent Prompting](./05-effective-agent-prompting.md) | How to communicate with AI agents for best results |
| 06  | [Multi-Session Continuity](./06-multi-session-continuity.md)   | Maintaining context across conversations           |
| 07  | [Systematic Debugging](./07-systematic-debugging.md)           | Root-cause analysis with AI assistance             |
| 08  | [Test-Driven Bug Fixing](./08-test-driven-fixing.md)           | Write the test first, then fix the code            |

### Code Quality & Security

Guardrails that prevent agents from making destructive mistakes.

| #   | Skill                                                    | Description                                              |
| --- | -------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| 09  | [Secret Scanning Guardrails](./09-secret-scanning.md)    | Pre-commit/pre-push secret detection                     |
| 10  | [LLM Abuse Controls](./10-llm-abuse-controls.md)         | Rate limiting, input guards, denial-of-wallet prevention |
| 11  | [AI-Driven Security Auditing](./11-security-auditing.md) | Using agents to audit your own codebase                  |
| 12  | [Pre-Release Quality Gates](./12-quality-gates.md)       | Mandatory checks before build/release                    |

### Architecture Patterns

Proven patterns for structuring code that agents can navigate and extend.

| #   | Skill                                                  | Description                                                 |
| --- | ------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| 13  | [Module Pattern](./13-module-pattern.md)               | types → repository → routes (agent-friendly service design) |
| 14  | [Shared Package Extraction](./14-shared-packages.md)   | Identifying and extracting duplicated code                  |
| 15  | [Service Consolidation](./15-service-consolidation.md) | Merging microservices without breaking consumers            |
| 16  | [Cross-Platform Design Tokens](./16-design-tokens.md)  | One JSON source → CSS, TS, Kotlin, Swift                    |

### Operations & Environment

Managing multi-repo workspaces, environments, and deployments.

| #   | Skill                                                              | Description                                  |
| --- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------- |
| 17  | [Multi-Repo Coordination](./17-multi-repo-coordination.md)         | Cross-repo operations (sync, backup, commit) |
| 18  | [Environment & Secrets Management](./18-environment-management.md) | Env files, symlinks, Key Vault resolution    |
| 19  | [Session Summaries & Playbooks](./19-session-playbooks.md)         | Documenting what was done for future agents  |

---

## How to Use

### In any AI coding editor

1. **Point your agent to AGENTS.md** — Most editors auto-read it from repo root
2. **Reference specific skills** — "Follow the pattern in \_SKILLS/13-module-pattern.md"
3. **Use workflows** — "Run /release-testflight" triggers multi-step processes
4. **Check memories** — Agent memories persist patterns across sessions

### Adapting to your project

- Replace project-specific names (LysnrAI, MindLyst, etc.) with your own
- Adjust tech stack references (Fastify → Express, Cosmos → Postgres, etc.)
- Keep the structural patterns — they're stack-agnostic

---

## Skill Format

Each skill follows this structure:

```markdown
# Skill Name

> One-line description

## When to Use

## The Pattern

## Step-by-Step

## Anti-Patterns (what NOT to do)

## Real-World Example

## Editor-Specific Notes (Windsurf, Cursor, Claude, etc.)

## Related Skills
```

---

_Mined from Windsurf Cascade chat history — Feb 2026_
