From great-engineers
Scaffold an engineering/ directory at the project root, sibling to manuscript/, film/, publishers/, marketing/. Adds an Engineering section to CLAUDE.md (or creates one if absent) so engineering-stage commands know where to write. Use when starting the engineering work for a project — software-only or cross-craft.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/great-engineers:engineers-project-initThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
Scaffold the `engineering/` directory and register it in the project's `CLAUDE.md`.
Scaffold the engineering/ directory and register it in the project's CLAUDE.md.
Creates an engineering/ folder at the current working directory's project root with three subdirectories:
engineering/
├── specs/ # Technical specs, design docs, RFCs, ADRs
├── reviews/ # Code reviews, design reviews, audits
└── runbooks/ # Production runbooks (filed for v1.0; directory created now for forward-compat)
Then adds (or creates) a ## Engineering section in CLAUDE.md:
## Engineering
**Path:** `engineering/` (at project root)
**Current spec:** `<user-chosen-slug>` (the spec or feature you're actively working on)
Commands that generate engineering artifacts (`/engineers-channel` save behavior, `/engineers-write-spec`, `/engineers-design-review`) write to `engineering/<subdir>/<current-spec>.md` by default. Update `Current spec` when moving to a different feature or system.
The engineering personas read this file plus the project's `README.md`, the manifest (`package.json`, `pyproject.toml`, etc.), any `ADR/` directory, and `ARCHITECTURE.md` if present, before deciding. For cross-craft projects (writing or film with software components), they also read `.great-authors/project.md`.
/engineers-channel with save triggers (which need to know where to write).When this skill is invoked:
Resolve the project root. Use the current working directory unless the user specifies otherwise.
Check for existing engineering/ directory. If it exists, ask: "An engineering/ directory already exists. Overwrite the scaffold (destroys existing content) or skip (leaves it alone)? (overwrite/skip)" — default skip.
Read existing project context. Look for these files and read them if present:
README.mdCLAUDE.mdpackage.json, pyproject.toml, Cargo.toml, go.mod, etc.)ARCHITECTURE.mdADR/ directory (architecture decision records).great-authors/project.md (if cross-craft project)This context informs which engineering personas the user should know about (e.g., if it's a TypeScript codebase, mention Hejlsberg by name in the next-steps; if it's a Rails monolith, mention DHH).
Ask the spec-slug question. One question:
auth-token-refresh, payments-rebuild, migration-2026-q2)."Create the directory tree. Three empty subdirectories under engineering/:
specs/reviews/runbooks/Update CLAUDE.md. Read the existing file. If it doesn't exist, create one with a minimal header plus the ## Engineering section. If it exists and has an ## Engineering section, ask whether to overwrite. If it exists without one, append the ## Engineering block documented above.
Report:
Created engineering/ with subdirs:
specs/ reviews/ runbooks/
Updated CLAUDE.md with ## Engineering section.
Current spec: <slug>
Detected project context:
- <Language/framework summary based on manifest>
- <Key files present: ARCHITECTURE.md, ADR/, etc.>
Next:
- /engineers-channel <persona> for direct collaboration. The personas best-fit to this codebase are <list 2-3 based on project signals>.
- /engineers-write-spec <feature> to draft a technical spec.
- /engineers-design-review <path> to review existing code or architecture.
For QA / test design / pre-flight checks, dispatch margaret-hamilton-qa from great-minds:
Agent({subagent_type: "great-minds:margaret-hamilton-qa", ...})
engineering/ directory is for ARTIFACTS at the engineering stage. The actual code lives in src/ (or wherever the project conventions place it). Engineering artifacts describe, review, and decide; they don't replace the code..great-authors/ is needed. For cross-craft projects, .great-authors/ is the bible spine and engineers personas read it alongside the engineering context.current-spec slug names "what we're working on right now." Update it when you move to a different feature or system within the same project.Provides a checklist for code reviews covering functionality, security, performance, maintainability, tests, and quality. Use for pull requests, audits, team standards, and developer training.
npx claudepluginhub sethshoultes/great-minds-constellation --plugin great-engineers