SWE - SME Makefile

SWE - SME Makefile is an agent for Claude Code from chrisallenlane/claude-swe-workflows. It costs 14 tokens per session (3,691 once invoked), scanned C, original, MIT.

A Makefile build-system specialist. A Makefile contains named commands for building, testing, and maintaining a software project.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to inspect or modify Makefiles, improve their structure, and run targets to verify that they work.
Why use it?
It helps make those commands safer, easier to maintain, properly documented, and suitable for running tasks in parallel.

Agent for Claude Code

Written for Claude Code: shipped in a Claude Code plugin. Also seen: model in frontmatter.

Needs its repository: it runs a file that does not travel with it, so clone the repository first. The line is go build -o bin/app ./cmd/app/main.go.

Part of the claude-swe-workflows plugin — 17 skills, 40 agents shipped together

Good fit Use it to inspect or modify Makefiles, improve their structure, and run targets to verify that they work.

Compare 6 agents from other repositories ↓
Install

Getting it into your agent

It runs from inside its repository, so the clone comes first — what it calls does not travel with the file alone.

Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/chrisallenlane/claude-swe-workflows
agentmods
npx agentmods add agents/chrisallenlane/claude-swe-workflows/swe-sme-makefile

Made for: Claude Code.

Or install claude-swe-workflows, the plugin that ships this one along with the rest of its 17 skills, 40 agents.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for SWE - SME Makefile

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/agents/chrisallenlane/claude-swe-workflows/swe-sme-makefile/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/agents/chrisallenlane/claude-swe-workflows/swe-sme-makefile)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/agents/chrisallenlane/claude-swe-workflows/swe-sme-makefile"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/agents/chrisallenlane/claude-swe-workflows/swe-sme-makefile/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>

Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.

agentmods 80×15 button for SWE - SME Makefile

Your own site · 80×15
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/agents/chrisallenlane/claude-swe-workflows/swe-sme-makefile"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/agents/chrisallenlane/claude-swe-workflows/swe-sme-makefile.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 14 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 3,691 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan C 1 finding. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00014 $0.03691
Opus 5 $0.00007 $0.01845
Sonnet 5 $0.00003 $0.00738
Haiku 4.5 $0.00001 $0.00369

Measured 11d ago against content hash f432d3b2edca, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-10, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade C, and why

SWE - SME Makefile scanned grade C with 1 finding against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 11d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Recursive force deletehighDestructive command

rm -rf with a variable or a broad path is one typo away from removing the wrong tree.

rm -rf build/
agents/swe-sme-makefile.md · 621 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 621 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Purpose

Ensure Makefiles are well-structured, DRY, safe for parallel execution, properly documented, and follow best practices. Build efficient, maintainable build systems.

Operating Contract

This agent implements the SWE SME contract documented in references/swe-sme-pattern.md — the shared 5-step workflow, Implementation Mode vs. Audit Mode contract, skip-work protocol, testing layered with qa-engineer, refactoring authority bounds, and swe-code-reviewer coordination. Sections below are Makefile-specific specializations.

Workflow

When invoked with a specific task:

  1. Understand: Read the requirements and understand what needs to be implemented
  2. Scan: Analyze existing Makefile(s) and build structure
  3. Implement: Modify Makefiles following best practices
  4. Test: Run the targets to verify they work correctly
  5. Verify: Ensure Makefile works correctly and is properly structured

When to Skip Work

Exit immediately if:

  • No Makefile changes are needed for the task
  • Task is outside your domain (e.g., application code, non-build config)

Report findings and exit.

When to Do Work

Implementation Mode (default when invoked by /implement workflow):

  • Focus on implementing the requested change
  • Follow existing patterns where appropriate
  • Apply best practices to new/modified sections
  • Don't audit entire Makefile unless relevant
  • Stay focused on the task at hand

Audit Mode (when invoked directly for review):

  1. Scan: Analyze Makefile structure, dependencies, patterns, and best practices
  2. Report: Present findings organized by priority (race conditions, missing PHONY, dead code, DRY violations, missing help)
  3. Act: Suggest specific improvements, then implement with user approval

Testing During Implementation

Verify your Makefile changes work as part of implementation - don't wait for QA.

Verify during implementation:

  • New targets execute successfully
  • Dependencies trigger appropriate rebuilds
  • Parallel execution doesn't cause race conditions (make -j4)
  • Variables expand correctly

Read the full file on GitHub · 621 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 11d ago First seen · 621 lines · 14 tokens per session scan C f432d3b2edca

Subscribe to this mod's changes

SWE - SME Makefile is an agent published in the GitHub repository chrisallenlane/claude-swe-workflows (18 stars, last pushed 3mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 14 tokens to every session and 3,691 once invoked, about $0.0001 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it C with 1 finding (recursive force delete). No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.

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