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Official agent skill

gh-aw Developer Rules

by github in github/gh-aw

Development rules for changes to GitHub's gh-aw: tiered validation commands, a command matrix by change type, focused test checks and a merge-main playbook.

OfficialMITAuto-check passedDevelopment

Install gh-aw Developer Rules

skills CLI
$ npx skills add github/gh-aw --skill developer -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install github/gh-aw developer --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/github/gh-aw.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.github/skills/developer .claude/skills/developer && 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
developer
GitHub stars
5.3k
Token cost
~1.1k tokens
SKILL.md length
459 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
52
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Development rules for changes to GitHub's gh-aw: tiered validation commands, a command matrix by change type, focused test checks and a merge-main playbook.

  • Works in 4 steps: After each significant code edit (fast,… → Before every intermediate… → Before the FINAL report_progress call… → …
  • Changing Go code, workflow markdown or .cjs scripts in gh-aw
  • SKILL.md covers Table of Contents, Operational Command Playbook, Capitalization Guidelines and Sub-Skills
  • Calls make, git and go

What it does

This reference holds the day-to-day command flow for working in the gh-aw repository, moved out of AGENTS.md so first-run context stays small. Validation runs in tiers: after each significant edit run `make build` and `make fmt`, before intermediate progress reports run `make agent-report-progress-no-test`, before the final report run `make agent-report-progress`, and before handoff run `make agent-finish` when time allows. Unit tests are meant to run only before the final report.

A change-type matrix pairs Go changes with `make fmt`, workflow markdown changes with `make recompile`, and JavaScript `.cjs` changes with `make fmt-cjs` and `make lint-cjs`. Focused checks cover edits under `pkg/workflow/` and `actions/setup/js/`, a merge-main playbook applies when you ask for a merge of main, and the file also has capitalization guidelines and a pointer to sub-skills.

When your agent uses it

  • Changing Go code, workflow markdown or .cjs scripts in gh-aw
  • Deciding which make target to run before a progress report
  • Merging main into a gh-aw working branch when asked
  • Running targeted tests after editing pkg/workflow or actions/setup/js

Example prompts

  • “Fix the workflow compiler bug in pkg/workflow and validate it the way the repo expects.”
  • “Edit the MCP gateway script under actions/setup/js and run the right lint and test checks.”
  • “Merge main into this branch following the repo playbook.”

Requirements

  • A checkout of the gh-aw repository
  • make

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. After each significant code edit (fast, <5s — catch compile errors immediately)
  2. Before every intermediate report_progress call (fast, <30s — no tests)
  3. Before the FINAL report_progress call (change-scoped, includes impacted Go tests)
  4. Before final handoff when time allows

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit eb63040. 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
    • go
    • npx

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

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use git and npx, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.

    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

gh-aw Developer Rules loads about 1.1k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 18 tokens; SKILL.md has 459 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~18
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.1k

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 github/gh-aw at commit eb63040, republished under its MIT licence (© github). 459 words, ~1,085 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/developer/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
developer
description
Core developer rules and coding conventions for gh-aw changes.

Developer Instructions

Use this reference for gh-aw technical specs and development guidelines across code organization, validation, security, and implementation patterns.

Table of Contents

Operational Command Playbook

Use this section for the detailed day-to-day command flow that was intentionally removed from AGENTS.md to keep first-run ambient context small.

Validation checkpoints

Run validation in tiers — catch compile errors early, defer slow tests to the final pass only.

  1. After each significant code edit (fast, <5s — catch compile errors immediately)
    bash
    make build && make fmt
  2. Before every intermediate report_progress call (fast, <30s — no tests)
    bash
    make agent-report-progress-no-test
  3. Before the FINAL report_progress call (change-scoped, includes impacted Go tests)
    bash
    make agent-report-progress
  4. Before final handoff when time allows
    bash
    make agent-finish

Key rule: Run test-unit only before the final report_progress call, not before intermediate saves. The pre-PR targets scope formatting, linting, tests, and workflow drift checks to the branch changes.

Timeout budget: make agent-report-progress should normally finish in under 30 seconds. Workflow source or compiler changes additionally run the full workflow drift check. Set TEST_UNIT_RUN_FULL=1 only when the full Go suite is required.

Change-type command matrix
  • Go file changes: make fmt
  • Workflow markdown changes: make recompile
  • JavaScript (*.cjs) changes: make fmt-cjs && make lint-cjs
Common focused checks from recent repository work
  • pkg/workflow/ edits: run go test ./pkg/workflow -count=1 during iteration; narrow with -run when only one workflow behavior is under active change.
  • actions/setup/js/ edits: after make fmt-cjs && make lint-cjs, run the targeted actions/setup/js/*.test.cjs suites for the files you touched. Gateway changes commonly validate with npx vitest run actions/setup/js/start_mcp_gateway.test.cjs.
  • Workflow source changes that also touch compiler or runtime code: run make recompile, then rerun the affected focused Go or JavaScript checks before the final make agent-report-progress.
Show full SKILL.md (194 more words)Show less
Merge-main playbook

When explicitly asked to merge main:

  1. Run make merge-main.
  2. If conflicts exist in .go or .cjs, resolve and stage files.
  3. Run:
    bash
    make build
make recompile
git commit
make fmt

Capitalization Guidelines

The gh-aw CLI follows context-based capitalization to distinguish between the product name and generic workflow references.

Capitalization Rules
ContextFormatExample
Product nameCapitalized"GitHub Agentic Workflows CLI from GitHub Next"
Generic workflowsLowercase"Enable agentic workflows"
Technical termsCapitalized"Compile Markdown workflows to GitHub Actions YAML"

This convention distinguishes between the product name (GitHub Agentic Workflows) and the concept (agentic workflows), following industry standards similar to "GitHub Actions" vs. "actions".

Implementation

The capitalization rules are enforced through automated tests in cmd/gh-aw/capitalization_test.go that run as part of the standard test suite.

Sub-Skills

The following sub-skills cover specific areas of the codebase. Load them lazily when the task requires the specific domain:

Sub-skillWhen to use
.github/skills/developer-code-organization/SKILL.mdCreating new files, refactoring, WASM stubs, file size decisions
.github/skills/developer-security/SKILL.mdImplementing new features, reviewing for security, template injection concerns
.github/skills/developer-internals/SKILL.mdWorking on compiler internals, validation, safe outputs, MCP server, schema changes
.github/skills/developer-release/SKILL.mdCreating a release, evaluating breaking changes, firewall log analysis

© github, 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 .github/skills/developer of github/gh-aw.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit eb63040

Compare with similar skills

gh-aw Developer Rules 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.

gh-aw Developer Rules compared with similar skills
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gh-aw Developer Rules this skillgithub/gh-aw5.3k—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
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Handsontable Pull Request Workflowhandsontable/handsontable22k—~3.1kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence
Development Workflowkid-sid/claude-spellbook189—~3.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Michel Packmind Engineer ReviewPackmindHub/packmind317—~2.7kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Contributor-First PR MergeHKUDS/OpenHarness16k1 repos~847Automated safety check: PassMIT

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Works with

Categories

Questions about gh-aw Developer Rules

What does gh-aw Developer Rules do?

Development rules for changes to GitHub's gh-aw: tiered validation commands, a command matrix by change type, focused test checks and a merge-main playbook. md so first-run context stays small. Validation runs in tiers: after each significant edit run `make build` and `make fmt`, before intermediate progress reports run `make agent-report-progress-no-test`, before the final report run `make agent-report-progress`, and before handoff run `make agent-finish` when time allows.

When should I use gh-aw Developer Rules?

gh-aw Developer Rules fits situations like: changing Go code, workflow markdown or .cjs scripts in gh-aw; deciding which make target to run before a progress report; merging main into a gh-aw working branch when asked; running targeted tests after editing pkg/workflow or actions/setup/js.

How do I install gh-aw Developer Rules in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add github/gh-aw --skill developer -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.github/skills/developer in github/gh-aw) into .claude/skills/developer in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install gh-aw Developer Rules in Codex?

Run `npx skills add github/gh-aw --skill developer -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.github/skills/developer in github/gh-aw) into .agents/skills/developer in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use gh-aw Developer Rules 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 github/gh-aw --skill developer -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/developer, .gemini/skills/developer, .github/skills/developer and .opencode/skills/developer in your project.

What does gh-aw Developer Rules need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, gh-aw Developer Rules needs the command-line tools its instructions call (make, git, go and npx). Our summary lists: A checkout of the gh-aw repository; make.

Does gh-aw Developer Rules access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Its commands use git and npx, which can reach the network depending on how they are called. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is gh-aw Developer Rules 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 gh-aw Developer Rules use?

gh-aw Developer Rules 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 gh-aw Developer Rules use?

About 1.1k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4.3k 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 gh-aw Developer Rules?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with gh-aw Developer Rules: Pre-Commit Check Gate (ZeroDeng01/sublinkPro, 1.7k stars), Handsontable Pull Request Workflow (handsontable/handsontable, 22k stars), Development Workflow (kid-sid/claude-spellbook, 189 stars) and Michel Packmind Engineer Review (PackmindHub/packmind, 317 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains gh-aw Developer Rules?

github (a GitHub organization, an official publisher) maintains it in github/gh-aw, which has 5,350 GitHub stars. The repository holds 52 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.

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