Code with thoughtbot's best practices in mind. Atomic commits, code auditing, testing patterns, Rails best practices, refactoring discipline, and systematic debugging.
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
| atomic-commits | Work in small, focused increments. Every commit atomic, every PR reviewable in one sitting. |
| code-audit | Comprehensive Rails code audits based on thoughtbot best practices. |
| testing-patterns | Write well-structured tests using AAA pattern, semantic selectors, and performance-aware practices. |
| rails-patterns | Proactive Rails best practices: strict loading, presenters, PORO naming, composition. |
| refactoring-decisions | A 6-gate decision framework for when to refactor and when to stop. |
| debugging-methodology | Systematic debugging: list assumptions, build decision tables, validate one at a time. |
Install via the thoughtbot marketplace:
/plugin marketplace add thoughtbot/thoughtbot-plugins
/plugin install thoughtbot-dev@thoughtbot-plugins
Or install directly:
/plugin install thoughtbot/thoughtbot-dev
Each skill surfaces a related blog post from Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots when triggered — connecting the practice to the reasoning behind it.
The atomic-commits and code-audit skills are synced from their standalone plugin repos:
To pull the latest from these repos:
bin/syncReview the diff, adapt if needed (e.g., blog post promotion additions), then commit.
Copyright © 2026 thoughtbot. It is free software, and may be redistributed under the terms specified in the LICENSE file.
This repo is maintained and funded by thoughtbot, inc. The names and logos for thoughtbot are trademarks of thoughtbot, inc.
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