NL Programming Patterns

Best practices and anti-patterns for writing Claude Code plugin components. Each pattern includes a rationale and a concrete example. Use this skill when authoring or reviewing skills, agents, commands, rules, or hooks.

Patterns (Use These)

P1: Trigger-Optimized Descriptions (R04)

Write agent and skill descriptions with 3+ specific trigger phrases rather than a single generic one-liner. Claude uses description text to decide when to invoke an agent; richer vocabulary improves recall.

Good:

description: |
  Lints NL artifacts for quality issues. Use this agent when scoring plugin
  components, running static analysis on prompts, checking command completeness,
  or auditing skill descriptions for vagueness.