setup-matt-pocock-skills

mattpocock/skills · Agent Skill

One-time repo setup for the engineering skill workflow and related conventions.

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Overview

PublishermattpocockCommunity
Repositorymattpocock/skills ↗
Skill foldersetup-matt-pocock-skills
Stars303,922
Forks25,575
Bundled files7
LicenseMIT
Last updatedOctober 22, 2026
LinksSkill source ↗ · Repository ↗

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What we found in the skill files. Details come with a subscription.

Security
low risk · no obvious risks found — the full report shows the details
Compatibility
instructions only — works with most agents
Similar skills
144 similar skills found
Also with subscription

Installation

A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file. Pick your agent and run the commands in a terminal (macOS, Linux or Git Bash on Windows) from your project root.

Copy the prompt into Claude, Codex or another assistant: it will review the skill and install it for you.

Install the “setup-matt-pocock-skills” skill from mozgi.io (https://mozgi.io/skills/mattpocock-setup-matt-pocock-skills/) for me.

1. Download the archive: https://mozgi.io/skills/mattpocock-setup-matt-pocock-skills/download
   If it fails, take the skill folder from the source: https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/tree/main/skills/engineering/setup-matt-pocock-skills
2. Read SKILL.md and the other files. Check the skill is safe: no hidden commands, no sending data elsewhere, no scripts doing something other than described. If anything looks suspicious, stop and tell me.
3. Put the “setup-matt-pocock-skills” folder into your agent's skills folder: .claude/skills/ for Claude Code, .agents/skills/ for Codex, .cursor/skills/ for Cursor, .gemini/skills/ for Gemini CLI. Inside the project if we are in one, otherwise in the home folder (~/.claude/skills/ etc.).
4. Make sure <skills folder>/setup-matt-pocock-skills/SKILL.md exists.
5. Briefly tell me what this skill does and offer to try it on my task.

If you cannot do a step yourself, tell me what to click or type.

Review the source files

7 files Download Zip

Read SKILL.md and any companion files before deciding whether to install. Click a file to preview it.

SKILL.md contents

Original author text · read-only

Setup Matt Pocock's Skills

Scaffold the per-repo configuration that the engineering skills assume:

  • Issue tracker: where issues live (GitHub by default; local markdown is also supported out of the box)
  • Triage labels: the strings used for the five canonical triage roles
  • Domain docs: where GLOSSARY.md and ADRs live, and the consumer rules for reading them

This is a prompt-driven skill, not a deterministic script. Explore, present what you found, confirm with the user, then write.

Process

1. Explore

Look at the current repo to understand its starting state. Read whatever exists; don't assume:

  • git remote -v and .git/config: is this a GitHub repo? Which one?
  • AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md at the repo root: does either exist? Is there already an ## Agent skills section in either?
  • GLOSSARY.md and GLOSSARY-MAP.md at the repo root
  • docs/adr/ and any src/*/docs/adr/ directories
  • docs/agents/: does this skill's prior output already exist?
  • .scratch/: a sign that a local-markdown issue tracker convention is already in use
  • Is the triage skill installed? (a triage skill folder alongside this one, or triage in your available skills.) This decides whether Section B runs at all.
  • Monorepo signals: a pnpm-workspace.yaml, a workspaces field in package.json, or a populated packages/* with its own src/. These are present only in a genuinely large multi-package repo; their absence means single-context, which is almost every repo.

2. Present findings and ask

Summarise what's present and what's missing. Then take the sections in order. One section, one answer, then the next.

Lead each section with the recommended answer so the user can accept it in a word. Give a one-line explainer only when the choice genuinely branches; skip the section entirely when exploration already settled it (Section B when triage isn't installed, Section C when there's no monorepo).

Section A: Issue tracker.

> Explainer: The "issue tracker" is where issues live for this repo. Skills like to-tickets, triage, and to-spec read from and write to it. They need to know whether to call gh issue create, write a markdown file under .scratch/, or follow some other workflow you describe. Pick the place you actually track work for this repo.

Default posture: these skills were designed for GitHub. If a git remote points at GitHub, propose that. If a git remote points at GitLab (gitlab.com or a self-hosted host), propose GitLab. Otherwise (or if the user prefers), offer:

  • GitHub: issues live in the repo's GitHub Issues (uses the gh CLI)
  • GitLab: issues live in the repo's GitLab Issues (uses the glab ↗ CLI)
  • Local markdown: issues live as files under .scratch/<feature>/ in this repo (good for solo projects or repos without a remote)
  • Other (Jira, Linear, etc.): ask the user to describe the workflow in one paragraph; the skill will record it as freeform prose

Record the choice in docs/agents/issue-tracker.md. The GitHub and GitLab templates carry a "PRs as a request surface" flag, defaulted off. Leave it off and don't raise it: a user who wants external PRs in the triage queue can flip the flag in the file later.

Section B: Triage label vocabulary. Skip this section entirely if the triage skill isn't installed (exploration told you), since an uninstalled skill needs no labels.

If it is installed, ask exactly one question:

> Do you want to keep the default triage labels? (recommended: yes)

The defaults are the five canonical roles, each label string equal to its name: needs-triage, needs-info, ready-for-agent, ready-for-human, wontfix. On yes, write them as-is. Only if the user says no, usually because their tracker already uses other names (e.g. bug:triage for needs-triage), collect the overrides so triage applies existing labels instead of creating duplicates.

Section C: Domain docs. Default to single-context (one GLOSSARY.md + docs/adr/ at the repo root). This fits almost every repo; write it without asking.

Offer multi-context (a root GLOSSARY-MAP.md pointing to per-context GLOSSARY.md files) only when exploration found monorepo signals. Then confirm which layout they want.

3. Confirm and edit

Show the user a draft of:

  • The ## Agent skills block to add to whichever of CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md is being edited (see step 4 for selection rules)
  • The contents of docs/agents/issue-tracker.md, docs/agents/domain.md, and docs/agents/triage-labels.md (the last only when triage is installed)

Let them edit before writing.

4. Write

Pick the file to edit:

  • If CLAUDE.md exists, edit it.
  • Else if AGENTS.md exists, edit it.
  • If neither exists, ask the user which one to create; don't pick for them.

Never create AGENTS.md when CLAUDE.md already exists (or vice versa); always edit the one that's already there.

If an ## Agent skills block already exists in the chosen file, update its contents in-place rather than appending a duplicate. Don't overwrite user edits to the surrounding sections.

The block:

## Agent skills

### Issue tracker

[one-line summary of where issues are tracked]. See `docs/agents/issue-tracker.md`.

### Triage labels

[one-line summary of the label vocabulary]. See `docs/agents/triage-labels.md`.

### Domain docs

[one-line summary of layout: "single-context" or "multi-context"]. See `docs/agents/domain.md`.

Include the ### Triage labels sub-block, and write docs/agents/triage-labels.md, only when triage is installed and Section B ran. When it isn't, both are omitted.

When Section B ran on GitHub or GitLab, create each configured label the tracker lacks (gh label create / glab label create).

Then write the docs files using the seed templates in this skill folder as a starting point:

For "other" issue trackers, write docs/agents/issue-tracker.md from scratch using the user's description.

5. Done

Tell the user the setup is complete and which engineering skills will now read from these files. Mention they can edit docs/agents/*.md directly later; re-running this skill is only necessary if they want to switch issue trackers or restart from scratch.

Frequently asked questions

What does the setup-matt-pocock-skills skill do?

One-time repo setup for the engineering skill workflow and related conventions.

How do I install setup-matt-pocock-skills?

Open the “Installation” block on this page and pick your agent — Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or Gemini CLI — for ready-made commands that copy the skill folder to the right place. Or copy the prompt from the “Via assistant” tab and let the assistant review and install the skill.

Which AI models work with setup-matt-pocock-skills?

Skills are plain Markdown instructions (the Agent Skills format), so setup-matt-pocock-skills works with any agent that reads SKILL.md: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, OpenCode and more. The model loads the instructions only when a task matches the skill's description.

Is setup-matt-pocock-skills free?

The skill is published openly by mattpocock under the MIT license. The skill itself costs nothing — you only pay your AI provider for the tokens you use.

Is it safe to install skills?

A skill is a set of instructions your agent will follow, so read SKILL.md and its companion files before installing. Scripts in the skill folder only run if your agent runs them — keep an eye on what it does and do not grant unnecessary permissions.

How is a skill different from an MCP server or a plugin?

An MCP server or plugin gives the model new tools — code that runs and returns a result. A skill gives it knowledge and process: how to approach a task, which steps to follow and what good output looks like. It needs no server or API key.

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