standards-update

Update Project Standards

Update or create standards in .maister/docs/standards/ based on conversation context or a provided description. Automatically detects the best-matching category and file. Supports both baseline categories (global, frontend, backend, testing) and custom user-defined categories.

Usage

/maister-standards-update                                    # Detect from conversation
/maister-standards-update "always use React.memo for lists"  # From description
/maister-standards-update --from=/path/to/other-project      # Sync from another project

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Mode: Sync from External Project (--from=PATH)

When --from=PATH is provided, the skill switches to sync mode — importing standards from another project's .maister/docs/standards/ into the current project. This bypasses Phases 1-3 and uses a dedicated flow.

SYNC STEP 1: Validate Source

1. Resolve the path (absolute or relative to cwd)
2. Check PATH/.maister/docs/standards/ exists. If not, inform the user and stop.
3. Check .maister/docs/standards/ exists in the current project. If not, offer to run /maister-init first.

SYNC STEP 2: Analyze Differences

1. Scan source project's standards/*/ — list all categories and files
2. Scan current project's standards/*/ — list all categories and files
3. For each source file, compare against the local counterpart:
   • Missing locally: Category or file doesn't exist in the current project
   • Differs: Both exist but content differs (read and compare)
   • Identical: No action needed
4. Present a summary to the user via ask_user (sequential single-select):
   • Group by status: "New standards to add" and "Standards that differ"
   • Each item shows: [category]/[file] with brief description of what it contains
   • Options: individual files to sync, plus "Select all new" / "Select all different" convenience options
   • User selects which standards to import

SYNC STEP 3: Apply Selected Standards

For each selected standard:

• Missing locally: Copy the file from source. Create category directory if needed.
• Differs: Show a brief diff summary and use ask_user per file:
  • "Replace with source version" — overwrite local file
  • "Merge (append new sections)" — read both files, append ### sections from source that don't exist locally
  • "Skip" — leave local file unchanged

SYNC STEP 4: Update INDEX.md

Invoke docs-operator subagent via Task tool (subagent_type: maister-docs-operator):

"Regenerate INDEX.md to include all newly added/updated standards. Verify .github/copilot-instructions.md integration."

Wait for docs-operator to complete, then immediately proceed to SYNC STEP 5.

SYNC STEP 5: Summarize

Display: standards added, standards updated, standards skipped, and total count. Suggest reviewing the imported standards and committing.

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Mode: Conversation / Description (default)

When --from is NOT provided, the skill uses the standard detect-and-update flow below.

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PHASE 1: Detect Standard

Step 1: Gather input

• If argument provided: Use the description as primary input. Also scan last 15-20 messages for additional context, examples, or related conventions.
• If no argument: Scan last 15-20 messages for convention discussions. Look for patterns like "we should always...", "our convention is...", "prefer X over Y", "never use...", code examples showing patterns.

Step 2: Discover existing categories and files

Scan .maister/docs/standards/*/ to find all existing categories and standard files. This determines what's available — not limited to baseline categories.

Step 3: Match to category and file

Based on the topic detected, suggest the best-matching existing category and file. Consider:

• File names and their content (read existing files if topic is close)
• Whether the convention fits an existing file or needs a new one

Step 4: Present suggestion

• If confident match → ask_user: "This convention about [topic] fits [category/file]. Update it?" (Yes / Choose different / Cancel)
• If ambiguous → ask_user listing possible categories/files + "Create new category" + "Create new file in [category]"
• If nothing detected (no argument, no conversation context) → ask user to describe the convention they want to document

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PHASE 2: Determine Action

Check if the target file exists:

• Exists → update mode
• Doesn't exist → create mode (if new category, create the directory too)

No user prompt needed — just inform: "Updating existing standard: [name]" or "Creating new standard: [category/name]"

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PHASE 3: Gather Standard Content

If updating

1. Read current content
2. Show summary of existing practices
3. Ask what to add/change
4. Extract: new practices, modifications, removals, code examples

If creating

1. Inform user of target path
2. Ask for practices, conventions, code examples, do's/don'ts
3. Optionally show plugin baseline if similar standard exists in docs-manager's bundled docs

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PHASE 4: Apply via docs-manager

Each standard uses a ### heading with 1-10 lines description (excluding code snippets). Multiple standards per topic file. Split large topics into sub-topic files.

Invoke docs-operator subagent via Task tool (subagent_type: maister-docs-operator) with context:

For updates:

"Update documentation file: standards/[category]/[name].md. Current content: [content]. Add/change: [new conventions]. Integrate new practices, maintain markdown formatting, organize logically, preserve existing unless conflicts. Update INDEX.md entry with practice-specific description (enumerate actual practices, not generic category)."

For creates:

"Create documentation file: standards/[category]/[name].md. Category: [category]. Content: [conventions]. Create with proper markdown, organized sections, code examples. Add to INDEX.md with practice-specific description. Verify .github/copilot-instructions.md integration."

Wait for docs-operator to complete, then immediately proceed to Phase 5.

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PHASE 5: Validate & Summarize

1. Verify standard file exists and has content
2. Verify INDEX.md references the standard with practice-specific description (not generic)
3. Verify .github/copilot-instructions.md integration
4. Display summary: what was updated/created, practices added, next steps (review, commit, share with team)

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Prerequisites

If .maister/docs/ doesn't exist, offer to run /maister-init first.