All 94 skillsQuality12 of 13
stryx:patterns
When reading unfamiliar code, choosing a design pattern or sizing up technical debt.
/stryx:patternsInside its piece: 9 specks, one for each file on its shelf. Its twelve group-mates glow on the open book behind it. The light splits toward orange, the band of Quality.
In numbers
counted 2026-10-12 in the installed set- 7reference files
- 9files in the skill
- 168KB on disk
- 11chapters
- 1agent works by this book
Use it when
in the skill’s own words- when reading or onboarding to an unfamiliar codebase ("onboard me to this repo", "where do I start reading", "trace this flow end to end")
- deciding how deeply to read code before changing it
- choosing between design patterns ("which pattern fits", "factory or strategy", "should this be a state machine")
- porting a solution or pattern from one stack to another (React, Electron, Flutter, Node, Python)
- spotting which patterns a codebase already uses
- assessing
- quantifying or prioritizing technical debt ("tech debt", "debt register", "is this worth fixing", "a TD-XXX debt entry")
- changing legacy code you did not write and do not fully understand
- mistake-proofing a design or auditing for footguns ("poka-yoke", "what is easy to misuse here")
Not for
another skill does it- A written codebase map or analysis report→ stryx:research
- Detecting code smells or running a refactor→ stryx:refactor
- System architecture decisions and reviews→ stryx:architect
- Reviewing a diff→ stryx:review
- Diagnosing a failure→ stryx:debug
Inside the book
11 chapters, by title only- Non-negotiable rules
- Pick the job
- Read code in execution order
- Transfer a pattern: Identify, Recall, Extract, Map, Reify
- The same pattern across stacks
- Choose a pattern
- Recognize the patterns a codebase already uses
- Manage technical debt with numbers
- Smells → patterns
- Change legacy code safely
- Gates before you call it done
Its helper
1 agent works by this book- stryx:researcherWhen a question needs research with checked sources: current docs, library choices, earlier work.
Works with
the skills it names most- stryx:refactor→When code should be tidied or split without changing what it does.
- stryx:architect→When the hard part is structure: how the parts of a system fit, and the trade-offs between designs.
- stryx:debug→Something is broken: a bug, an error, a crash, a failing test or wrong data.
- stryx:research→You need an answer with evidence and sources: compare libraries, check current versions, map a codebase.
- stryx:review→When code or a pull request should be checked before commit or merge.
- stryx:test→When tests must be written or fixed, or you want the test written first (TDD).
Claude loads it by itself when the moment comes; by hand, type the line at the top. It comes with the whole set: Installs all 94 skills, 32 agents and the brain program as one set. The skill’s own text is private source and is not shown here.