Agent rules from programming books

Install

npx skills add ciembor/agent-rules-books --all

This is third-party code. Review the repository files before installing.

What it does

The repository holds fourteen rule sets, each based on one book about design, refactoring, legacy code, reliability or data-intensive systems. Every set ships in three sizes: full as the complete reference, mini for everyday work and nano for tight context budgets. Each book folder has a SKILL.md that loads mini by default and keeps full for harder tradeoffs. The rules install as skills or can go into AGENTS.md and Cursor rules.

Who it is for. For developers and tech leads who want the agent to follow principles from well-known books.

Example request

Refactor this module following Working Effectively with Legacy Code, cover it with tests first

Limitations

The rules summarize the books' ideas and do not replace them. Enabling several sets at once can produce conflicting advice; book compatibility is covered in a separate doc. The rules are in English.

How to disable. Delete the installed skill folders from the agent's skills directory or remove the rules from AGENTS.md.

Security check

• The skills consist only of text rules

README in short

The README explains the three versions of each rule set and shows installing via the Agent Skills CLI: all books, a list, or a single one. A release table gives size and rule counts per version. Separate docs cover editor-specific usage, book compatibility and a response to Reddit criticism. MIT licensed.

SKILL.md

---
name: clean-code
description: Apply Robert C. Martin-inspired clean code rules when improving readability, naming, function design, responsibilities, or testable everyday code.
license: MIT
---

# Clean Code Skill

Use this skill when a task involves everyday implementation quality, naming, small functions, readable control flow, responsibilities, comments, errors, or tests.

Before making design or code decisions, read and apply [clean-code.mini.md](clean-code.mini.md). Use [clean-code.md](clean-code.md) only as a deeper reference when the mini rules are not enough for the current code-quality tradeoff.

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