Real file from a public repo · synced Sep 3, 2026
grounding-before-coding
Use when starting any non-trivial change, investigating a bug, or working in unfamiliar code - before the first line is written. Also use for pure investigation with no change planned yet - \"dig into this\", \"figure out why\", \"sometimes the export is empty\", intermittent errors after a deploy. Encodes the ground-first discipline: map the real code and data, quote evidence, never guess conventions. Use whenever a change or a conclusion is about to be built from belief instead of from the tree, even under time pressure.
Works with
Install in three steps
- 1
Download the ZIP
One file per agent, plus INSTALL.md with the exact paths below.
- 2
Claude Code: copy SKILL.md into your skills folder
.claude/skills/grounding-before-coding/SKILL.md # this project ~/.claude/skills/grounding-before-coding/SKILL.md # every project
- 3
Other agents: use the matching file
skill.mdc goes in Cursor’s .cursor/rules/. AGENTS.md works as GitHub Copilot instructions, a legacy .cursorrules, or a Codex / Gemini CLI instructions file.
More General & Other skills
All General & Other skills
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grill-memattpocock/skillsA relentless interview to sharpen a plan or design.General & Other972.7kgrill-with-docsmattpocock/skillsA relentless interview to sharpen a plan or design, which also creates docs (ADR's and glossary) as we go.General & Other828.8k
