Engineering Judgment Coach

About this skill

What it does

Before writing or modifying code, the skill runs the request through a short internal checklist: identify the correct architectural layer, check for existing code or utilities that already solve part of the problem, decide whether a design pattern earns its complexity here or is over-engineering, and flag if the surrounding code has crossed a threshold where refactoring is the more honest move than adding another special case. It then writes the code consistent with that reasoning and surfaces the reasoning itself in a short design note.

What is included

• Full SKILL.md with the pre-implementation reasoning checklist
• A 'resist the pattern reflex' guide for telling genuine pattern fit from over-engineering
• Refactor-timing signals: concrete indicators that a change should trigger a refactor conversation instead of another patch
• Reuse-first checklist for searching the existing codebase before writing new code
• Worked example comparing a quick-patch approach against the judgment-first approach on the same request

How to use it

1. Download the engineering-judgment-coach-SKILL.md file
2. Add it to your agent's skills folder (e.g. .claude/skills/ for Claude Code, or upload it directly in a Claude.ai or Cursor chat)
3. Ask for a code change or new feature as you normally would
4. Read the short design note before the code — it names the layer, reuse decision, and pattern choice, and flags any refactor signal

Examples

Add a new notification type (SMS) to our app. We already have email and push notifications working.

Design note: this belongs in the existing NotificationService abstraction, not as a new standalone SMS module — reusing the same send/queue/retry interface email and push already implement. No new design pattern needed beyond the existing strategy interface; adding a third strategy is exactly what it was built for. One flag: the current NotificationService constructor is starting to take on a lot of provider-specific config (4 params now, 5 with SMS) — worth considering a config object before a fourth channel is added, but not urgent enough to block this change. Followed by the SMS notification class implementing the existing interface.

FAQ