What problem does it solve?
Large, multi-file changes often introduce regressions, broken builds, and hard-to-debug failures when implemented all at once; this Skill enforces a discipline of delivering small, working increments so every commit leaves the system buildable and testable. It reduces risk by encouraging testing, verification, and atomic commits for each logical change, preventing long-lived, unreviewable diffs and scope creep.
Core Features & Use Cases
- Vertical slicing: Implement one complete path through the stack (DB, API, UI) so each slice is end-to-end functional and testable.
- Parallel-friendly contract-first slices: Define API contracts before parallel backend and frontend work to reduce integration risk.
- Risk-first approach and safety rules: Tackle highest-risk items first, keep changes small, use feature flags for incomplete functionality, and ensure rollback-friendly commits.
- Verification checklist: Ensure compilation, full test suite, type checks, linting, and descriptive commits after every increment.
- Use cases: Building new features that touch multiple layers, large refactors, or any task where writing >100 lines before testing is tempting.
Quick Start
Start with the smallest vertical slice: make the minimal backend change, add or run tests, verify the build and tests pass, then commit before proceeding to the next slice.
