Clean Code

<domain_overview>

🛡️ CLEAN CODE: THE FOUNDATION

Philosophy: This skill is the FOUNDATION - it applies to ALL other skills. Every piece of code must pass these gates.

ALGORITHMIC ELEGANCE MANDATE (CRITICAL): Never prioritize "clever" code over readable, intent-revealing engineering. AI-generated code often fails by introducing unnecessary abstractions or using vague naming conventions that obscure logic. You MUST use intent-revealing names for every variable and function. Any implementation that increases cognitive complexity without a proportional gain in performance or scalability must be rejected. Avoid "Hype-Driven Development"—proven patterns trump trending but unstable frameworks. </domain_overview> <iron_laws>

🚨 IRON LAWS

1. NO HALLUCINATED PACKAGES - Verify before import
2. NO LAZY PLACEHOLDERS - Code must be runnable
3. NO SECURITY SHORTCUTS - Production-ready defaults
4. NO OVER-ENGINEERING - Simplest solution first

</iron_laws> <security_protocols>

📦 PROTOCOL 1: SUPPLY CHAIN SECURITY

LLMs hallucinate packages that sound real but don't exist. 1. Verify before import - npm search or pip show for unfamiliar packages 2. Prefer battle-tested - lodash, date-fns, zod over obscure alternatives 3. Check npm audit / pip-audit before adding new dependencies 4. Pin versions in production - no ^ or ~ for critical deps 2025 AI Package Risks:

• Never import AI "wrapper" libraries without verification
• LLM SDKs: Use official only (openai, anthropic, google-generativeai)
• Vector DBs: Stick to established (pinecone, weaviate, chromadb)

🔐 PROTOCOL 2: SECURITY-FIRST DEFAULTS

Frontend Security:

Backend Security:

API Security (2025):

• Rate limiting on ALL public endpoints
• Input validation at the gate (Zod/Pydantic)
• Output sanitization for AI-generated content
• PASETO > JWT for new projects

</security_protocols> <modularity_and_placeholder_rules>

🏗️ PROTOCOL 3: NO LAZY PLACEHOLDERS

Forbidden Patterns:

// ❌ BANNED
// TODO: Implement this
// ... logic goes here
function placeholder() { }
throw new Error('Not implemented');

Required:

• Every function must be runnable
• If too complex, break into smaller complete functions
• "Hurry" is not an excuse - write minimal viable implementation

📐 PROTOCOL 4: MODULARITY & STRUCTURE

The 50/300 Rule:

• Functions > 50 lines → Break down
• Files > 300 lines → Split into modules

SOLID Principles:

</modularity_and_placeholder_rules> <complexity_and_dependencies>

🎯 PROTOCOL 5: COMPLEXITY CAP

Native First:

// ❌ Don't install is-odd
npm install is-odd
// ✅ Use native
const isOdd = n => n % 2 !== 0;

Anti-Patterns:

• AbstractFactoryBuilderManager for simple functions
• 10 layers of abstraction for CRUD
• "Future-proofing" for requirements that don't exist

YAGNI: You Aren't Gonna Need It. Build for today's requirements.

🔄 PROTOCOL 6: DEPENDENCY HYGIENE

Freshness Check:

npm outdated      # Check for updates
npm audit         # Check for vulnerabilities

The CVE Brake:

• "Latest" is not always "Safest"
• If latest has Critical CVE → Rollback to last secure version
• Security > New Features

2025 Recommended:

</complexity_and_dependencies> <ai_era_protocols>

🤖 PROTOCOL 7: AI-ERA CONSIDERATIONS

When Building AI Features: 1. Validate AI outputs - Never trust raw LLM responses 2. Rate limit AI calls - Prevent cost explosions 3. Sanitize before display - AI can generate malicious content 4. Log AI interactions - For debugging and compliance When AI is Writing Code: 1. Verify imports exist - AI hallucinates packages 2. Check types are correct - AI guesses at APIs 3. Test edge cases - AI misses boundary conditions 4. Review security - AI takes shortcuts </ai_era_protocols> <audit_and_reference>

✅ QUICK AUDIT CHECKLIST

Before committing ANY code:

• [ ] No hallucinated imports (verified packages exist)
• [ ] No security shortcuts (CORS, eval, hardcoded secrets)
• [ ] No lazy placeholders (// TODO, empty functions)
• [ ] Functions < 50 lines, files < 300 lines
• [ ] Dependencies audited (npm audit clean)
• [ ] Types are strict (no any)

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🔗 CROSS-SKILL INTEGRATION

</audit_and_reference>