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Skill patonkikh/APES/docs

AI Product Engineering Skills Platform (APES) is an open library of Engineering Playbooks for AI agents. Each Skill is a single skill.md file that defines the methodology for completing one specific engineering task.

Install

npx -y skills add patonkikh/APES --skill docs

Assembled from the repository path, not quoted from the project. Check it against their README if it does not work.

One thing to look at

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SKILL.md

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How to create a new Skill

Step-by-step guide for authoring an APES-compatible Engineering Playbook.

Time: ~30–60 minutes for a first skill
Template: skills/_template/
Standard: SKILL_STANDARD.md

1. Choose one task

A Skill solves one engineering task and produces one named artifact.

Good	Bad
Write a PRD	Do all product management
Review prompts for safety	Be a helpful assistant
Design RAG chunking strategy	Build entire RAG system in one skill

Ask: Can I describe the output in one sentence?

2. Pick category and name

Category	Examples
`product`	Discovery, PRD, user stories, OKRs
`architecture`	C4, ADR, API design, reviews
`ai`	Prompts, agents, context, evaluation
`rag`	Chunking, retrieval, embeddings
`security`	OWASP, threat modeling, guardrails
`mcp`	MCP servers, tools, clients
`data`	Pipelines, metrics, labeling, data quality
`devops`	CI/CD, deploy, runbooks, operations
`growth`	GTM, pricing, experiments, monetization

Name: kebab-case, matches folder name.

skills/product/feature-prioritization/
         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
         name: feature-prioritization

3. Copy the template

mkdir -p skills/<category>/<skill-name>
cp skills/_template/skill.md skills/<category>/<skill-name>/skill.md
cp skills/_template/README.md skills/<category>/<skill-name>/README.md
cp skills/_template/examples.md skills/<category>/<skill-name>/examples.md

4. Write frontmatter

---
name: feature-prioritization
description: >
  Prioritize features using RICE/ICE scoring and recommend an MVP cut line.
  Use when prioritizing backlogs, MVP scope, or feature ranking.
metadata:
  apes-version: "1.1"
  category: product
---

Description formula:

[What artifact the skill produces].
Use when [scenario 1], [scenario 2], or [keywords].

Rules:

Third person, not "I can help you…"
Include trigger words agents use for discovery
Max 1024 characters

5. Fill the 8 sections

Purpose

One task. List Input and Output explicitly.

**Input:** Backlog list, constraints, optional business goals
**Output:** Prioritized ranking with MVP cut line and rationale
**Examples:** See [examples.md](examples.md) for worked input/output.

Workflow

Numbered steps: gather → analyze → produce → validate.

Each step should state what the agent does and when to stop for missing input.

Decision Rules

Table of if → then rules. Include Stop conditions:

| Scope undefined | Stop; request MVP boundary |
| All items marked Must | Force relative ranking |

Validation

Checklist with ≥5 measurable items the agent must pass before delivery.

Anti-patterns

≥3 named mistakes with brief explanations:

- **Everything is P0** — no real prioritization

Best Practices

Methodology-specific tips (RICE, C4, OWASP, etc.) — not generic advice.

Output Structure

Markdown template the agent fills in. Use tables and headings.

Next Skills

Link to related skills in the chain:

| Need PRD | `product/prd-generator` |

6. Add examples.md (recommended)

At least one worked example:

Happy path — sample input + output excerpt
Stop condition — what happens when input is insufficient
Anti-pattern fix — bad output → corrected output

See skills/product/prd-generator/examples.md for reference.

7. Add README.md

Short file for GitHub browsers:

# Feature Prioritization

RICE/ICE scoring with MVP cut line recommendation.

## Example prompt

Prioritize these features for an 8-week MVP: ...

## Chain

`product-vision-builder` → **feature-prioritization** → `prd-generator`

8. Validate

python scripts/validate_skills.py

Fix all errors before opening a PR.

Manual checklist if Python is unavailable:

YAML frontmatter present; name matches folder
All 8 sections present in order
No "You are…" phrasing
description contains "Use when"
Body between 80–350 lines

9. Open a Pull Request

Push your branch to your fork
Open PR against main
Describe: what task the skill solves, which methodology it uses
Maintainers will review and update catalog.json

Common mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Role play prompt	Rewrite as workflow steps
Multiple tasks in one skill	Split into separate skills
Vague validation ("be thorough")	Use measurable checklist items
Output without template	Add Output Structure section
Wrong `Next Skills` path	Use `category/skill-name` format

Need help?

Read an existing skill in the same category
Open a GitHub Issue
See CONTRIBUTING.md