surgical-patch
Fix bugs and small behavior changes at the narrowest responsible layer. Use when regression proof, preserved surrounding behavior, and task-relevant tests matter.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/juliusbrussee/caveman --skill surgical-patchSKILL.md
Surgical patch
Reproduce failure first when economical; otherwise capture strongest available evidence.
- Trace symptom to responsible mechanism.
- Change narrowest layer that owns incorrect behavior.
- Preserve unrelated behavior and user changes.
- Avoid cleanup, renaming, and abstraction outside fix.
- Add only regression proof relevant to task.
Run focused proof plus nearest affected gate. Stop when failure is fixed and regression proof passes.
Related skills
improve-codebase-architecturemattpocock1MScan a codebase for deepening opportunities, present them as a visual HTML report, then grill through whichever one you pick.codebase-designmattpocock691KShared vocabulary for designing deep modules. Use when the user wants to design or improve a module's interface, find deepening opportunities, decide where a seam goes, make code more testable or AI-navigable, or when another skill needs the deep-module vocabulary.web-design-guidelinesvercel-labs676KReview UI code for Web Interface Guidelines compliance. Use when asked to "review my UI", "check accessibility", "audit design", "review UX", or "check my site against best practices".code-reviewmattpocock631KReview the changes since a fixed point (commit, branch, tag, or merge-base) along two axes: Standards (does the code follow this repo's documented coding standards?) and Spec (does the code match what the originating issue/spec asked for?). Runs both reviews in parallel sub-agents and reports them side by side. Use when the user wants to review a branch, a PR, work-in-progress changes, or asks to \"review since X\".
