python-development

Guidance for developing and reviewing Python 3.12 or newer code, including typing, asynchronous code, tests, packages, data validation, and AWS Lambda functions.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it when working with Python files or project configuration, writing pytest tests, managing packages with uv, validating data with Pydantic, or developing Lambda functions with boto3.
Why use it?
It helps keep Python projects readable, consistently formatted, correctly typed, tested, and easier to maintain without adding unnecessary complexity.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/kiraneswaran/engineering-skills/python-development
Any agent
npx skills add KiranEswaran/engineering-skills --skill python-development
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/KiranEswaran/engineering-skills

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Per session 83 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 1,187 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan C 2 findings. Scan, not verified.
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 $0.00083 $0.01187
Opus 5 $0.00042 $0.00593
Sonnet 5 $0.00017 $0.00237
Haiku 4.5 $0.00008 $0.00119

Measured 2d ago against content hash 08fb70d5cfc7, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade C, and why

python-development scanned grade C with 2 findings 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 2d 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.

Downloads and executes remote codehighSupply chain

curl | sh runs whatever the server returns today, which is not necessarily what it returned when this was reviewed.

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Makes network callslowCapability

Not a fault in itself. Listed so you know the mod talks to something, and to what.

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
python-development/SKILL.md · 187 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 187 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Python Development

Guiding Principle

Apply features only when they add clarity, correctness, performance, or security. Prefer simple, intentional solutions (DRY, KISS, YAGNI, Fail Fast).

AI Assistant Guidelines

  • Avoid Over-Engineering: Don't recommend boto3 client caching, async/await, or concurrency patterns unless explicitly requested or bottlenecks are evident
  • Keep It Simple: Prefer stdlib over complex architectures
  • Respect Context: Don't transform a 20-line script into a 200-line framework

Standards Quick Reference

Aspect Standard
Python Version ≥ 3.12
Shebang #!/usr/bin/env -S uv run
Formatting 4-space indents, 120 char line length
Linting black, ruff, pylint (≥9.0)
Type Hints Strict typing required
Docstrings Google-style
Package Manager uv (preferred)

Type Hints (Python 3.12+)

Use built-in types instead of typing module:

# Modern Python 3.12+
def process(items: list[str], config: dict[str, int] | None = None) -> tuple[str, int]:
    ...

# Avoid (old style)
from typing import List, Dict, Optional, Tuple
def process(items: List[str], config: Optional[Dict[str, int]] = None) -> Tuple[str, int]:
    ...

Code Structure

#!/usr/bin/env -S uv run
"""
Module purpose and overview.

Workflow:
1. Load configuration
2. Validate inputs
3. Process data
"""

# Standard library
import logging

# Third-party
import requests

# Local
from utils import helper


def helper_function() -> None:
    """Helper functions first."""
    pass


def main() -> int:
    """Main function last."""
    return 0


if __name__ == "__main__":
    sys.exit(main())

Key Patterns

Defensive Programming

# Validate inputs early (fail-fast)
def process_user(user_id: str | None) -> User:
    if user_id is None:
        raise ValueError("user_id is required")
    # Continue processing...

Read the full file on GitHub · 187 lines

Files

What ships with it

4 files beside SKILL.md in the same directory: the scripts, references and assets a skill reads on demand. Not counted in the per-session cost; read them before you install if any of them is executable.

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. 2d ago First seen · 187 lines · 83 tokens per session scan C 08fb70d5cfc7

Subscribe to this mod's changes

python-development is a skill published in the GitHub repository KiranEswaran/engineering-skills (10 stars, last pushed 8mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 83 tokens to every session and 1,187 once invoked, about $0.0004 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it C with 2 findings (downloads and executes remote code, makes network calls). No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.

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