project-conventions

Project Conventions

This skill guides you in discovering and applying project-specific conventions. Every codebase has its own patterns and practices - your job is to find them and follow them.

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Convention Discovery Process

Step 1: Project Configuration

Check these files for explicit conventions:

Code Style:

• .eslintrc*, eslint.config.* - JavaScript/TypeScript linting rules
• .prettierrc*, prettier.config.* - Formatting rules
• pyproject.toml, setup.cfg, .flake8 - Python config
• .editorconfig - Editor settings
• ruff.toml, .ruff.toml - Ruff linter config

Project Structure:

• tsconfig.json - TypeScript paths and settings
• package.json - Scripts, dependencies
• pyproject.toml - Python project config

Documentation:

• CONTRIBUTING.md - Contribution guidelines
• CLAUDE.md - AI coding guidelines
• README.md - Project overview
• docs/ - Extended documentation

Step 2: Existing Code Patterns

Study the codebase to find implicit conventions:

File Organization:

# Find how components are organized
ls -la src/components/

# Find test file patterns
find . -name "*.test.*" -o -name "*_test.*" -o -name "test_*"

# Find how utilities are organized
ls -la src/utils/ src/lib/ src/helpers/

Naming Patterns:

# Find function naming patterns
grep -r "^export function" src/ | head -20
grep -r "^def " src/ | head -20

# Find class naming patterns
grep -r "^export class" src/ | head -20
grep -r "^class " src/*.py | head -20

Import Patterns:

# Find import style (absolute vs relative)
grep -r "^import" src/ | head -30
grep -r "^from \." src/*.py | head -20

Step 3: Similar Features

Find features similar to what you're building:

1. Search for similar functionality:

   # If building a "user profile" feature
   grep -r "profile" src/
   find . -name "*profile*"
   

2. Study the implementation:

   • How is it structured?
   • What patterns does it use?
   • How does it handle errors?
   • How is it tested?