config-improvement

Overview

When you discover a better pattern, configuration, or guideline during work, this skill guides you through proposing it upstream to the Reproducible Agent Environment repository.

Parameters

• improvement_type (optional): "guideline", "skill", "config", or "template"
• description (required): Brief description of the improvement

Steps

1. Evaluate Scope

Determine if the improvement is universal or project-specific.

Constraints:

• You MUST verify the improvement works in the current project
• You MUST check if a similar pattern already exists upstream
• You SHOULD consider if the improvement applies broadly or only to specific domains

Decision:

• IF universal → Proceed to step 2
• IF project-specific → Add to local overrides with comment explaining why, then STOP

2. Document the Improvement

Prepare a clear description of the change.

Constraints:

• You MUST include before/after examples
• You MUST explain the rationale (why is this better?)
• You SHOULD reference any research or sources that informed the improvement
• You MUST specify which file(s) would be modified

3. Create Upstream PR

Constraints:

• You MUST create a branch with descriptive name (e.g., improve/ruff-config, guideline/async-patterns)
• You MUST write a clear commit message explaining the improvement
• You SHOULD include test cases or examples if applicable
• You MUST open PR with the documented rationale

4. Update Local

After PR is merged:

• Update the RAE plugin to pull the improvement
• Verify it works correctly in your project

See references/propose-upstream.md for the detailed upstream contribution workflow.

Examples

User: "I found a better ruff configuration for catching common issues" Agent: Evaluates if it's universal (yes), documents the change with before/after examples, creates PR to update templates/pyproject.toml.

User: "/config-improvement guideline 'Add guidance on async/await patterns'" Agent: Checks if async guidance exists (no), drafts new section for python-standards.md, creates PR with examples.