NL Programming Patterns

Best practices and anti-patterns for writing NL programming artifacts (Claude Code, Codex CLI, Antigravity). Each pattern includes a rationale and a concrete example. The patterns are tool-agnostic — they describe how to write effective natural-language instructions, not tool-specific schemas. 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: |
  Scores NL artifacts and reports findings. Use this agent when scoring plugin
  artifacts, checking prompts for quality findings, checking command
  completeness, or auditing skill descriptions for vagueness.