Ub Quality

UB Quality

Critical Contract

Apply the embedded baseline in this SKILL.md immediately whenever ub-quality is loaded.

For work that depends on deeper quality rules, load the relevant references by the trigger table in this skill before producing the output. Do not skip a triggered reference because the task looks small or the local style differs.

For every touched eligible vertical separator block, separators must align into one column. Use separator-column alignment (key : value), not value-column alignment (key: value).

This applies across code, configs, comments, docstrings, markup attributes, and documentation blocks when the structure is eligible.

Treat embedded language blocks such as ` and ` as native CSS and JavaScript formatting surfaces, not as generic HTML text.

Only syntax breakage or a verified tooling or runtime constraint may justify leaving an eligible touched block unaligned.

Compliant:

grid      : ''
solar     : ''
textMuted : ''

Non-compliant:

grid:      ''
solar:     ''
textMuted: ''

When To Use

Use this skill alongside the primary implementation, review, or workflow skill for:

• New code generation
• Code edits and refactors
• Code review responses
• Repo scans, architecture explanations, and maintainability feedback
• Documentation, config, comment, and formatting normalization in touched regions
• User-facing responses that need clearer structure or comparison formatting

Apply this skill whenever you create, modify, review, refactor, or normalize code or documents and the task benefits from shared quality or readability rules.

Do Not Treat As Optional

• Do not treat formatting and alignment as optional cleanup.
• If this skill is loaded, its formatting and alignment rules apply to all touched eligible blocks.
• Do not skip alignment because nearby code is unaligned, because a shorter style looks more familiar, or because the block is in documentation rather than code.
• Do not normalize unrelated blocks outside the touched logical scope unless broader normalization was explicitly requested.

Reference Loading Contract

ub-quality itself remains the always-loaded baseline. Deeper references are not optional; they are loaded by trigger so the right contract is applied at the right time without treating every task as if every quality subdomain is active.

MUST load and apply:

• references/design-patterns.md when making architecture, implementation,

refactoring, abstraction, dependency, or maintainability decisions.

• references/formatting-alignment.md before creating or modifying code,

configs, examples, comments, docstrings, markup attributes, documentation tables, or any other touched content with eligible separator blocks.

• references/documentation-structure-refactoring.md before creating,

editing, reviewing, reorganizing, or refactoring documentation, comments, file structure, public call surfaces, or large source files.

• references/important-tags-and-doc-generation.md before creating or

modifying generated documents, comment tags, TODO-like markers, or any content that may contain special preservation tags.

• references/response-readability.md before substantial user-facing plans,

reviews, explanations, comparisons, or any answer where structure materially affects scanability.

• references/freshness-portability.md when deciding whether guidance is

repository policy, a strong house default, advisory freshness guidance, or a portability concern.

If more than one trigger applies, load every relevant reference before producing the dependent output.

Non-Compliance

The following are non-compliant when a touched block is eligible for alignment:

• An eligible vertical separator block whose separators do not form one column.
• Value-column alignment in an eligible block.
• Leaving embedded CSS/JS blocks unformatted as native language blocks when the touched content is eligible for alignment.
• Skipping alignment because of convenience, omission, or surrounding local style.
• Normalizing unrelated blocks outside the touched logical scope.

Decision Analysis Baseline

For planning, design, architecture, implementation direction, and other choice-bearing guidance:

• Surface 2+ plausible approaches by default.
• Prefer a curated set of 2-4 options instead of exhaustive enumeration.
• Include concise pros/cons for each option and identify the recommended path.
• If only one path is materially meaningful, say that explicitly and explain

why the alternatives are not meaningfully different instead of fabricating a fake option set.

• Leave sibling skills free to add domain-specific tradeoff dimensions when

they add real value.

Readability Baseline

For user-facing responses across chat, planning, reviews, specs, and explanations:

• Lead with the answer, recommendation, or key point.
• Use informative headings for substantial responses.
• Keep paragraphs short and visually separated.
• Use bullets for collections and numbered steps for sequence.
• Keep list items parallel in grammar and intent.
• Use tables only for true multi-attribute comparisons that stay compact.
• Avoid dense text blocks when structure would improve scanning.
• Keep short answers compact and avoid ceremonial formatting.

Table rule:

• Prefer compact tables only when they materially improve side-by-side

comparison.

• Usually keep tables to 2-4 columns with short headers and brief cells.
• Do not force sentence-length prose into table cells.
• When a table becomes too wide, dense, or renderer-fragile, convert it to a

safer fallback structure instead of trying to preserve the grid.

Core Workflow

1. Inspect the task scope and touched files.
2. Apply the embedded baseline immediately.
3. Load and apply every reference triggered by the task before producing

dependent output.

1. Apply the decision-analysis baseline for planning, design, architecture,

implementation direction, and other choice-bearing guidance.

1. Apply the readability baseline for user-facing responses and choose tables

versus safer fallback structures accordingly.

1. Choose the simplest approach that preserves behavior and constraints.
2. Apply formatting, documentation, and structure rules only in touched logical blocks.
3. Validate behavior and explain any intentional exceptions allowed by the triggered references.

Skill Coordination

• Apply this skill together with the most relevant language/framework skill when available.
• Treat this skill as a companion baseline, not as a replacement for the

primary implementation or workflow skill.

• Treat syntax, runtime, and framework correctness as primary constraints.
• Do not treat formatter preference or familiar house style as a valid reason to violate the alignment contract.
• Prefer code and naming to carry mechanics, then use docs and comments for

contract, rationale, and non-obvious constraints.

Policy Versus Defaults

• In this repository, the alignment contract and triggered-reference workflow are repository policy when ub-quality is loaded.
• Many language/framework recommendations coordinated through sibling skills are strong defaults, not universal portability requirements.
• Treat volatile setup recipes as freshness-review candidates first, not as automatic blockers, unless the repository explicitly promotes them to policy.

Output Requirements

When generating or modifying code:

1. Include concise pros/cons and a recommendation for meaningful implementation

choices.

1. Keep solutions simple and avoid overengineering.
2. Preserve existing behavior unless change is explicitly requested.
3. Call out any intentionally retained technical debt or deferred cleanup.
4. Favor high-signal documentation over broad narration, especially in shared

guidance and heavily reused code.

1. Make user-facing explanations easy to scan before deep reading.
2. Match the structure to the information shape instead of defaulting to dense

prose or oversized tables.

Completion Gate

Before finalizing:

• Check every touched eligible separator block.
• Treat touched ` and ` content as native CSS and JavaScript surfaces.
• Expand dense multiline-capable structures (for example literals, argument lists, and config/data blocks) into one-item-per-line form when required by references/formatting-alignment.md, then align eligible entries.
• Align separators into one column using the longest-left-token rule from references/formatting-alignment.md.
• Confirm no unrelated blocks were normalized.
• If any eligible block remains unaligned, the edit is incomplete unless a named exception from references/formatting-alignment.md applies.
• Ensure special comment tags and AGENT_TODO handling policy are respected.
• Expose the answer or recommendation early in user-facing responses.
• Use headings, bullets, steps, tables, or fallback blocks only when they

improve scanability for the information shape.

• Confirm list items stay parallel and concise.
• Confirm any table adds clarity rather than width or density problems.
• If a comparison table became too wide or text-heavy, convert it to a stacked

fallback structure instead of forcing the grid.

• Keep brief answers brief.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: robert-hoffmann
• Source: robert-hoffmann/uncle-bob
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://robert-hoffmann.github.io/uncle-bob/

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.