Diagnosing Compose Stability
Use this skill to diagnose Jetpack Compose stability problems by enabling and reading the Compose Compiler Reports (classes.txt, composables.txt, composables.csv, module.json). Covers the Gradle DSL, the release-only build requirement, and how to interpret per-class and per-composable stability annotations including stable, unstable, runtime, restartable, skippable, readonly, @static, and @dynami…
Testing Compose In Release Mode
Use this skill to ensure Jetpack Compose performance numbers reflect production reality by measuring against a release variant with R8 enabled, Live Literals disabled, and Compose Compiler reports read from the release output directory. Covers why debug builds lie (interpreted Compose runtime, JIT warmup, Live Literals constant-getters), how to set up a release-with-symbols measurement build, and…
Using Efficient Effects
Use this skill to choose the cheapest correct effect API in Jetpack Compose — `LaunchedEffect`, `DisposableEffect`, `SideEffect`, `rememberUpdatedState`, and skydoves/compose-effects' `RememberedEffect` and `ViewModelStoreScope`. Covers stale-callback bugs in long-lived `LaunchedEffect`, setup/teardown for non-coroutine subscribers, avoiding a coroutine scope just to react to a key change, and pe…
Collecting Flows Safely
Use this skill to migrate Compose UI from `collectAsState()` to `collectAsStateWithLifecycle()`, hoist `Flow<T>` parameters out of composables, and apply `.conflate()` / `.distinctUntilChanged()` / `snapshotFlow` so background CPU and battery stop draining and chatty flows stop invalidating the UI per emission. Covers ViewModel `StateFlow`/`SharedFlow` consumers, sensor and location streams, and…
Understanding Stability Inference
Use this skill to explain why the Compose compiler classified a class or composable parameter as stable, runtime, unknown, or unstable. Covers the 12-phase inference algorithm, the five compiler-level stability types (Certain / Runtime / Unknown / Parameter / Combined), the generic bitmask encoding (Pair=0b11, ImmutableList=0b1), the Known Stable Constructs registry, and the runtime `$stable: Int…
Enforcing Stability In Ci
Use this skill to set up a CI gate that fails the build when Compose stability silently regresses, using the `skydoves/compose-stability-analyzer` Gradle plugin (primary) or the `j-roskopf/ComposeGuard` plugin (alternative for non-Android multiplatform). Covers applying `com.github.skydoves.compose.stability.analyzer`, configuring the `composeStabilityAnalyzer { stabilityValidation { ... } }` DSL…
Preserving State Across Reloads
Use this skill to keep Jetpack Compose state alive across HotSwan hot reloads by understanding the three escalating tiers Compose HotSwan uses (tier 1 targeted recomposition, tier 2 composition reset, tier 3 Activity.recreate) and choosing edits and state holders that stay inside tier 1 where scroll position, lazy items, dialog state, and per-composable remember values all survive. Explains which…
Deferring State Reads
Use this skill to push frequently-changing Jetpack Compose state reads (scroll position, animation values, drag offsets) out of the Composition phase and down into Layout or Draw using lambda-based modifiers like Modifier.offset { }, Modifier.layout { }, Modifier.graphicsLayer { }, Modifier.drawBehind { }, and Modifier.drawWithCache { }. Covers the three-phase model (Composition, Layout, Draw), w…
Generating Baseline Profiles
Use this skill to generate and measure Jetpack Compose Baseline Profiles end-to-end with the AGP 8.2+ Baseline Profile Generator module and the Macrobenchmark harness. Covers writing the `BaselineProfileRule` journey for cold startup plus first-scroll, generating `baseline-prof.txt`, verifying it shipped at `assets/dexopt/baseline.prof`, measuring with `MacrobenchmarkRule` under `CompilationMode.…
Stabilizing Compose Types
Use this skill to fix unstable Jetpack Compose types once a stability diagnosis has identified them. Covers the three-tier strategy — make the type truly stable with val plus immutable fields, mark with @Immutable or @Stable when the source is owned, and use stabilityConfigurationFiles for third-party or Java types. Explains the compiler-level difference between @Immutable and @Stable (static exp…
Configuring Lazy Prefetch
Use this skill to tune Jetpack Compose lazy-layout prefetch with LazyLayoutCacheWindow (Compose Foundation 1.9+, @ExperimentalFoundationApi) and pausable composition in prefetch (Compose Foundation 1.10+, default on). Covers configurable Dp-based ahead/behind cache windows plumbed through rememberLazyListState(cacheWindow = ...), NestedPrefetchScope for items containing inner lazy layouts (Horizo…
Tracing Recompositions At Runtime
Use this skill to instrument a Jetpack Compose composable with `@TraceRecomposition` from `skydoves/compose-stability-analyzer` so per-recomposition diffs (which state or parameter changed, what value transition) print to logcat under the `Recomposition` tag. Works in release-with-debug-symbols builds where Android Studio Layout Inspector cannot reach, and feeds the IntelliJ / Android Studio plug…
Iterating With Ai And Mcp
Use this skill to drive Compose HotSwan from an AI agent (Claude Code, Cursor, any MCP client) so the agent can edit a Kotlin file, trigger a hot reload, capture a device screenshot, evaluate the result against a design intent, and iterate without a human in the loop. Covers the seven HotSwan MCP tools (hotswan_get_status, hotswan_reload, hotswan_take_screenshot, hotswan_start_snapshot, hotswan_s…
Avoiding Subcomposition Pitfalls
Use this skill when a Compose tree uses SubcomposeLayout, BoxWithConstraints, or Scaffold and the developer reports extra measure passes, slow first frame, or layout passes running content composition repeatedly. Covers why SubcomposeLayout composes its slots during the measure phase, why BoxWithConstraints forces a subcomposition for every new Constraints value, why nesting Scaffold or BoxWithCo…
Using Strong Skipping Correctly
Use this skill to reason about Jetpack Compose's Strong Skipping Mode — the default since Kotlin 2.0.20 — including what it changes about skippability, when it does and does not auto-`remember` lambdas, and which escape hatches (`@DontMemoize`, `@NonSkippableComposable`, `@NonRestartableComposable`, `@ReadOnlyComposable`) apply where. Covers verifying the mode is active, auditing lambda capture s…
Ordering Modifier Chains
Use this skill to diagnose and fix Jetpack Compose Modifier ordering bugs — wrong paint region for background, wrong click area for clickable, wrong clipping for clip, wrong measurement for padding/size, surprising graphicsLayer scope. Covers the wrap-the-next-modifier mental model, the canonical pitfalls (padding vs background, clickable placement, clip before background, graphicsLayer placement…
Auditing Compose Performance
Use this skill to run an end-to-end Jetpack Compose performance audit when the symptom is broad ("the app feels sluggish", "scroll is rough everywhere", "we're starting a perf sprint", "what should we fix first?"). Orchestrates the four-phase Measure → Diagnose → Fix → Verify loop by sequencing the 25 focused skills (release-mode setup, R8, Baseline Profiles, Compose Compiler reports, stability i…
Choosing Derivedstateof
Use this skill to decide when Jetpack Compose derivedStateOf is the right tool and when it is pure overhead. Covers the "input frequency must exceed output frequency" rule, the mandatory remember { derivedStateOf { } } wrapper, the canonical pitfall of capturing non-state variables by initial value (and the remember(key) fix), and the snapshotFlow alternative for fire-and-forget side effects on d…
Visualizing Recomposition Cascades
Use this skill to drive the active investigation features of the `skydoves/compose-stability-analyzer` IntelliJ / Android Studio plugin: the static Recomposition Cascade visualizer that walks the call graph from a root `@Composable`, and the live Recomposition Heatmap that streams `D/Recomposition` events from a connected device''s logcat into block inlays above each instrumented composable. Cove…
Setting Up Compose Hotswan
Use this skill to install and verify Compose HotSwan end to end so a developer goes from zero to working sub-second hot reload on a real device or emulator in one session. Covers the JetBrains IDE plugin install, the `com.github.skydoves.compose.hotswan.compiler` Gradle plugin wiring, the canonical `hotSwanCompiler { enabled = true; debugOnly = true }` DSL block, the HotSwan tool window flow, and…
Configuring R8 For Compose
Use this skill to configure R8 correctly for a Jetpack Compose application — full mode by default, `proguard-android-optimize.txt`, resource shrinking on, and minimal keep rules because Compose ships consumer ProGuard rules. Covers AGP 8.0+ R8 full mode default, R8's Compose-aware optimizations (lambda grouping, `sourceInformation()` stripping, composable arg constant-folding, `ComposerImpl` devi…
Debugging Recompositions
Use this skill to find which Jetpack Compose composables are recomposing and why, using Android Studio Layout Inspector recomposition counts and skip counts, the per-parameter Argument Change Reasons (Changed / Unchanged / Uncertain / Static / Unknown) introduced in Android Studio Hedgehog and later, and runtime `@TraceRecomposition` from `compose-stability-analyzer` for production-like measureme…
Using Stability Analyzer Ide Plugin
Use this skill to install and operate the `skydoves/compose-stability-analyzer` IntelliJ / Android Studio plugin so the developer sees Compose stability feedback live in the editor instead of waiting for a Gradle build. Covers installing the plugin from disk, configuring the `Settings → Tools → Compose Stability Analyzer` panel, reading the four gutter colors (green stable, red unstable, yellow r…
Understanding Hot Reload Limits
Use this skill to teach Claude exactly which Kotlin and Compose changes hot-reload under Compose HotSwan and which trigger a full incremental rebuild fallback. Root cause is Android Runtime (ART) class schema immutability; only method bodies are mutable at runtime, so any change to fields, signatures, constructors, interfaces, inline functions, or new resource ids forces a rebuild. Covers the sup…
Optimizing Lazy Layouts
Use this skill to fix scroll jank, lost item state, and broken animateItem() animations in LazyColumn, LazyRow, LazyVerticalGrid, and LazyHorizontalGrid. Covers stable item keys, contentType for mixed-type feeds, Modifier.animateItem() requirements, hoisting modifier chains and painters out of the items lambda, and validating item composable stability. Use when the developer mentions LazyColumn j…
Migrating To Modifier Node
Use this skill to author new custom Jetpack Compose modifiers and migrate legacy ones from Modifier.composed { } to Modifier.Node + ModifierNodeElement<T>. Covers the persistent-node lifecycle (onAttach, onDetach, onReset, coroutineScope), the specialized node interfaces (DrawModifierNode, LayoutModifierNode, SemanticsModifierNode, PointerInputModifierNode, CompositionLocalConsumerModifierNode, L…