github-repo-skill
Best practice for repository creation, maintenance, and hygiene
Summary
This skill enforces best practices for GitHub repository creation, maintenance, and hygiene.
- It helps developers and teams keep their repos clean, well-documented, and properly configured by automating checks and providing guidance on standards like README files, licensing, issue templates, and branch protection.
Overview
About
These are intended for agents but they can also be read by humans to understand philosphy and best practice.
See:
- •https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/agents-and-tools/agent-skills/overview
- •https://github.com/ai4curation/curation-skills
Currently there is only one, for repo best practices:
How to use this
Read the skills
Everyone should read the skills in this repo and check they are in agreement - PRs always welcome!
In Claude Code you can install these via the marketplace
/plugin marketplace add berkeleybop/bbop-skillsOr just copy into your own skills folder.
But it's as important people read and understand the skills as it is that their agents use them
General guidelines on use of AI
All group members are expected to develop core AI capabilities and literacy, and to use judgment in applying them. There are favored tools such as Claude Code for the terminal and Claude Code on the web for non-terminal use, but no mandate to use these.
The existence of these tools does mean that expectations of things like basic repo hygiene and best practices as laid out in github-repo-skill/ are now much higher, given it is very easy for coding tools to do a good job on this, even with legacy repos.
While we generally want to be forward in using AI, we should be cogniscent of context, see for example:
Historic notes
We used to maintain a github repo here with best practice:
https://berkeleybop.org/best_practice/
A lot of this has become stale, and many parts of this will gradually be migrated to skills, either in this repo, or in a repo such as the ai4curation skills repo
Other skills and skill marketplaces of relevance
There are many skill repositories out there, these just list the ones core to the group
- •https://github.com/caufieldjh/biosketch-skills
- •https://github.com/ai4curation/curation-skills
LICENSE and use of these skills
The LICENSE.txt is CC-0. Feel free to reuse, adapt. Attributions welcome but not required.
Install & Usage
mkdir -p .claude/skillsmkdir -p .claude/skills && curl -o .claude/skills/github-repo-skill.md https://raw.githubusercontent.com/berkeleybop/bbop-skills/main/SKILL.md/github-repo-skillUse Cases
Usage Examples
/github-repo-skill audit my-repo
Check if my current repository follows best practices for README, license, and templates.
Set up a new repository with all recommended files and branch protection rules.
Security Audits
Frequently Asked Questions
What is github-repo-skill?
This skill enforces best practices for GitHub repository creation, maintenance, and hygiene. It helps developers and teams keep their repos clean, well-documented, and properly configured by automating checks and providing guidance on standards like README files, licensing, issue templates, and branch protection.
How to install github-repo-skill?
To install github-repo-skill: create the skills directory (mkdir -p .claude/skills), then run: mkdir -p .claude/skills && curl -o .claude/skills/github-repo-skill.md https://raw.githubusercontent.com/berkeleybop/bbop-skills/main/SKILL.md. Finally, /github-repo-skill in Claude Code.
What is github-repo-skill best for?
github-repo-skill is a skill categorized under General. Created by Chris Mungall.
What can I use github-repo-skill for?
github-repo-skill is useful for: Setting up a new repository with recommended files and structure.; Auditing an existing repository for missing documentation or configuration.; Ensuring consistent branch protection rules across multiple repos.; Adding or updating issue and pull request templates.; Checking that a repo has a proper license and contributing guidelines.; Reviewing repo settings for security best practices like secret scanning..