nv-context: Instructions file for Codex

nv-context

Context engineering skill distribution. NOT an application -- this repo ships SKILL.md and supporting docs to ~/.claude/skills/nv-context/.

Commands

# Install skill globally (recommended)
npx skills add johnnichev/nv-context -g -y

# Install skill manually
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/nv-context && cp skills/nv-context/SKILL.md ~/.claude/skills/nv-context/

# Test skill works (open any project, then run)
/nv-context

# Verify SKILL.md line count (MUST stay under 500)
wc -l skills/nv-context/SKILL.md

Stack

• Pure markdown skill -- no runtime, no dependencies, no build step
• package.json exists for npm discoverability only (no scripts, no node_modules)
• hooks/ contains reference examples users copy into their own repos, not hooks for this repo

Boundaries

Always

• Run wc -l skills/nv-context/SKILL.md after any edit -- MUST be under 500 lines
• Validate that SKILL.md Phase 0 still offers ONE confirmation (not a form)
• Keep AGENTS.md under 200 lines, CLAUDE.md under 50 lines

Ask First

• Changing the 8 Core Laws in SKILL.md (these are research-backed)
• Modifying the L0-L6 maturity criteria or Hierarchy of Leverage scoring rubric
• Adding new phases to SKILL.md (each phase costs ~30 lines of budget)
• Changing install commands in README.md or docs/QUICKSTART.md

Never

• NEVER modify files in research/logs/ -- these are completed research artifacts (484KB, 12 docs, 200+ sources)
• NEVER change the $1000 prompt scoring criteria referenced in research
• NEVER add runtime dependencies to package.json (this is a pure markdown skill)
• NEVER commit .private/ contents
• NEVER use ${{ }} directly inside GitHub Actions run: blocks -- MUST use env vars to prevent script injection

Landmines

• skills/nv-context/SKILL.md (462 lines): 38 lines from the 500-line hard cap. Every line added MUST justify removing another. The skill loads into agent context on every invocation -- bloat here costs tokens across every user's session.
• skills/nv-context/*.template files: These are OBSOLETE. SKILL.md v3 generates all content inline per the "Commands Beat Prose" law. Templates remain as reference examples only -- NEVER reference them from SKILL.md as @imports.
• hooks/learn-from-reviews.yml (line 21): Contains a script injection vulnerability -- ${{ github.event.review.body }} is interpolated directly in a run: block. MUST use env: indirection instead. See SKILL.md Phase 7 for the correct pattern.
• hooks/settings.json.template: Placeholder commands [FORMAT_COMMAND], [LINT_COMMAND], [TEST_COMMAND] -- these are meant to be replaced per-project by the skill, not used as-is.
• agents/ and commands/ directories: Empty placeholders. Do not add files here without a design decision on the distribution model.
• docs/QUICKSTART.md (line 12,19): Install URLs reference nv-skills repo name but the actual repo is nv-context. MUST stay in sync with package.json repository.url.