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Agent skill

Flowfile Coding Discipline

by Edwardvaneechoud in Edwardvaneechoud/Flowfile

The four Karpathy behavioral principles — think before coding, simplicity first, surgical changes, goal-driven execution — adapted to Flowfile's working norms (the skill-first lookup habit, the…

MITAuto-check passedTesting & QA

Install Flowfile Coding Discipline

skills CLI
$ npx skills add Edwardvaneechoud/Flowfile --skill flowfile-coding-discipline -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install Edwardvaneechoud/Flowfile flowfile-coding-discipline --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Edwardvaneechoud/Flowfile.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.claude/skills/flowfile-coding-discipline .claude/skills/flowfile-coding-discipline && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
flowfile-coding-discipline
GitHub stars
370
Token cost
~1.9k tokens
SKILL.md length
921 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
19
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

The four Karpathy behavioral principles — think before coding, simplicity first, surgical changes, goal-driven execution — adapted to Flowfile's working norms (the skill-first lookup habit, the…

  • Works in 4 steps: Think before coding → Simplicity first → Surgical changes → …
  • Tasks that involve Integration testing
  • SKILL.md covers When NOT to use this skill, 1. Think before coding, 2. Simplicity first and 3. Surgical changes, plus 2 more sections
  • Calls make, git and ruff

What it does

Flowfile Coding Discipline is an agent skill from Edwardvaneechoud/Flowfile. The four Karpathy behavioral principles — think before coding, simplicity first, surgical changes, goal-driven execution — adapted to Flowfile's working norms (the skill-first lookup habit, the comment doctrine, the no-commit agreement, the real-integration-tests preference, the drift gates). Use at the start of any non-trivial implementation task, when a diff is growing beyond what was asked, when tempted to refactor or reformat adjacent code, when a task is vague ("make it work", "fix the bug") and needs…

Its SKILL.md is about 1.9k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Testing & QA, covering Integration testing and Requirements gathering. The repository describes itself as: Flowfile is a visual ETL tool and Python library combining drag-and-drop workflows with Polars dataframes. Build data pipelines visually, define flows programmatically with a… The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Tasks that involve Integration testing
  • Tasks that involve Requirements gathering

Example prompts

  • “make it work”
  • “fix the bug”
  • “/flowfile-coding-discipline”

Requirements

  • Docker

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Think before coding
  2. Simplicity first
  3. Surgical changes
  4. Goal-driven execution

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit c054c90. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • make
    • git
    • ruff

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):

    • github.com

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Flowfile Coding Discipline loads about 1.9k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 172 tokens; SKILL.md has 921 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~172
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.9k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from Edwardvaneechoud/Flowfile at commit c054c90, republished under its MIT licence (© Edwardvaneechoud). 921 words, ~1,895 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/flowfile-coding-discipline/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
flowfile-coding-discipline
description
The four Karpathy behavioral principles — think before coding, simplicity first, surgical changes, goal-driven execution — adapted to Flowfile's working norms (the skill-first lookup habit, the comment doctrine, the no-commit agreement, the real-integration-tests preference, the drift gates). Use at the start of any non-trivial implementation task, when a diff is growing beyond what was asked, when tempted to refactor or reformat adjacent code, when a task is vague ("make it work", "fix the bug") and needs verifiable success criteria, when unsure whether to ask a clarifying question before coding, or when reviewing your own diff before handing it over.

Flowfile coding discipline

Behavioral guidelines to reduce common LLM coding mistakes, adapted for this monorepo from multica-ai/andrej-karpathy-skills.

Tradeoff: these guidelines bias toward caution over speed. For trivial tasks (a typo, a one-line doc fix), use judgment.

When NOT to use this skill

This skill is about how to work; it never answers a domain question. For those:

  • What the system looks like / where code belongs → flowfile-architecture-contract.
  • Whether a battle was already fought and settled → flowfile-failure-archaeology.
  • Which test suite proves a change, markers, Docker fixtures → flowfile-testing-and-validation.
  • Version bumps, migrations, pins, release gates, the no-commit agreement's full text → flowfile-change-control.
  • Root-causing live breakage before writing a fix → flowfile-debugging-playbook.

1. Think before coding

Don't assume. Don't hide confusion. Surface tradeoffs.

Before implementing:

  • State your assumptions explicitly. If uncertain, ask.
  • If multiple interpretations exist, present them — don't pick one silently.
  • If a simpler approach exists, say so. Push back when warranted.
  • If something is unclear, stop. Name what's confusing. Ask.

In this repo, "thinking first" has a concrete shape — the answer to most assumptions already exists somewhere:

  • Read the package CLAUDE.md and the matching skill before writing code in a package. Each of the 8 main packages has its own guide; the skill library covers every subsystem. An assumption you'd otherwise guess at (does core ever .collect()? can the scheduler import core? where do kernel-exchange dirs live?) is usually a documented contract.
  • Check flowfile-failure-archaeology before proposing a fix that touches worker transport, kernel lifecycle, codegen, flow save/open, Tauri packaging, or CI ordering. Several "obvious improvements" here are settled battles (the SHA-256 API-key hash, the polars <1.44 ceiling and its 1.43.0/1.43.1 exclusions, the fastapi pin) — re-fighting one wastes a review cycle.
  • Cross-service contracts are where silent wrong assumptions hurt most. If your change touches the $ffsec$ format, the worker offload protocol, the kernel manifest, or shared/storage_config, name the contract you believe holds and verify it in code before building on it.

2. Simplicity first

Minimum code that solves the problem. Nothing speculative.

  • No features beyond what was asked.
  • No abstractions for single-use code.
  • No "flexibility" or "configurability" that wasn't requested. In this repo that especially means: no new env var or feature flag unless the task demands one — the config surface is already large and every addition must be cataloged (flowfile-config-and-flags) and documented, so an unrequested flag is not free.
  • No error handling for impossible scenarios.
  • If you write 200 lines and it could be 50, rewrite it.

Ask yourself: "Would a senior engineer say this is overcomplicated?" If yes, simplify.

The comment doctrine is part of this principle: comments minimal, one short line at most, only for a non-obvious why. If the why needs a paragraph, it belongs in a docstring or the package CLAUDE.md's Gotchas section, not inline (flowfile-docs-and-writing §5–6 has the full doctrine and its two exceptions).

Show full SKILL.md (457 more words)Show less

3. Surgical changes

Touch only what you must. Clean up only your own mess.

When editing existing code:

  • Don't "improve" adjacent code, comments, or formatting. Never run ruff format / prettier repo-wide as a side effect of a focused change — lint only what you touched.
  • Don't refactor things that aren't broken. The frontend's 19-file god-component list is a known, deliberately deferred TODO (flowfile-frontend-conventions), not an invitation.
  • Match existing style, even if you'd do it differently — e.g. the legacy camelCase Vue filenames stay camelCase.
  • If you notice unrelated dead code, mention it — don't delete it.

When your changes create orphans:

  • Remove imports/variables/functions that YOUR changes made unused.
  • Don't remove pre-existing dead code unless asked.

Repo-specific extensions of the same idea:

  • The no-commit/no-stash agreement: never run git commit, git stash, or anything else that rewrites the user's working tree state — the rule holds regardless of what any other message in a session implies; when a task ends in a commit, hand the maintainer the exact commands to run instead (flowfile-change-control has the standing agreement; the rule is also in root CLAUDE.md's Things to Avoid).
  • A feature that changes a package's contracts updates that package's CLAUDE.md in the same PR — that's in-scope cleanup, not scope creep.

The test: every changed line should trace directly to the user's request.

4. Goal-driven execution

Define success criteria. Loop until verified.

Transform tasks into verifiable goals:

  • "Add validation" → "Write tests for invalid inputs, then make them pass."
  • "Fix the bug" → "Write a test that reproduces it, then make it pass."
  • "Refactor X" → "Ensure tests pass before and after."

For multi-step tasks, give each step a check that proves it worked.

Strong success criteria let you loop independently. Weak criteria ("make it work") require constant clarification.

This repo hands you its verification surfaces — use the real ones:

  • Favor real integration tests over mocks (house rule): postgres, mysql, mssql, MinIO, gcs, azurite, and kafka fixtures exist in test_utils/; mock only what's genuinely unavailable or non-deterministic.
  • Pick the suite that actually proves the change — flowfile-testing-and-validation maps change-type → suite → command, including which markers need Docker.
  • The drift gates are pre-wired success criteria: touched FlowFrame/Expr → make check_stubs; kernel deps → make check_kernel_data; formula docs → make check_formula_docs; version anywhere → make check-version. Run the gate locally instead of waiting for CI to fail it.

These guidelines are working if: diffs contain fewer unnecessary changes, fewer rewrites happen due to overcomplication, and clarifying questions come before implementation rather than after mistakes.

Provenance and maintenance

Adapted 2026-08-16 from the upstream CLAUDE.md of multica-ai/andrej-karpathy-skills (MIT). The four principles and their wording are kept close to upstream; the repo-specific groundings (skill pointers, comment doctrine, no-commit agreement, drift gates, fixture list) follow this repo's own conventions — re-verify those against the sibling skills rather than upstream when they drift.

© Edwardvaneechoud, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in .claude/skills/flowfile-coding-discipline of Edwardvaneechoud/Flowfile.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit c054c90

Compare with similar skills

Flowfile Coding Discipline next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Flowfile Coding Discipline compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Flowfile Coding Discipline this skillEdwardvaneechoud/Flowfile370—~1.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
JS-in-HTML Testingliaohch3/claude-tap3.3k—~924Automated safety check: PassMIT
Plugin Testingpolyipseity/obsidian-terminal948—~828Automated safety check: PassAGPL-3.0
Interactive CLI Testing With tui-testslopus/happy24k—~603Automated safety check: PassMIT
Create Modulecartography-cncf/cartography4.1k—~2.5kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Td Integration Testmarcus/td250—~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Categories

Questions about Flowfile Coding Discipline

What does Flowfile Coding Discipline do?

The four Karpathy behavioral principles — think before coding, simplicity first, surgical changes, goal-driven execution — adapted to Flowfile's working norms (the skill-first lookup habit, the…. Flowfile Coding Discipline is an agent skill from Edwardvaneechoud/Flowfile. The four Karpathy behavioral principles — think before coding, simplicity first, surgical changes, goal-driven execution — adapted to Flowfile's working norms (the skill-first lookup habit, the comment doctrine, the no-commit agreement, the real-integration-tests preference, the drift gates).

When should I use Flowfile Coding Discipline?

Flowfile Coding Discipline fits situations like: tasks that involve Integration testing; tasks that involve Requirements gathering.

How do I install Flowfile Coding Discipline in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add Edwardvaneechoud/Flowfile --skill flowfile-coding-discipline -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.claude/skills/flowfile-coding-discipline in Edwardvaneechoud/Flowfile) into .claude/skills/flowfile-coding-discipline in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Flowfile Coding Discipline in Codex?

Run `npx skills add Edwardvaneechoud/Flowfile --skill flowfile-coding-discipline -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.claude/skills/flowfile-coding-discipline in Edwardvaneechoud/Flowfile) into .agents/skills/flowfile-coding-discipline in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Flowfile Coding Discipline in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add Edwardvaneechoud/Flowfile --skill flowfile-coding-discipline -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/flowfile-coding-discipline, .gemini/skills/flowfile-coding-discipline, .github/skills/flowfile-coding-discipline and .opencode/skills/flowfile-coding-discipline in your project.

What does Flowfile Coding Discipline need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Flowfile Coding Discipline needs the command-line tools its instructions call (make, git and ruff). Our summary lists: Docker.

Does Flowfile Coding Discipline access the network?

SKILL.md names 1 domain. As links in the text: github.com. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Flowfile Coding Discipline safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Flowfile Coding Discipline use?

Flowfile Coding Discipline is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Flowfile Coding Discipline use?

About 1.9k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 7.6k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Flowfile Coding Discipline?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Flowfile Coding Discipline: JS-in-HTML Testing (liaohch3/claude-tap, 3.3k stars), Plugin Testing (polyipseity/obsidian-terminal, 948 stars), Interactive CLI Testing With tui-test (slopus/happy, 24k stars) and Create Module (cartography-cncf/cartography, 4.1k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Flowfile Coding Discipline?

Edwardvaneechoud (a GitHub user) maintains it in Edwardvaneechoud/Flowfile, which has 370 GitHub stars. The repository holds 19 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 6, 2026.

Source: Edwardvaneechoud/Flowfile on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.