refoundai__lenny-skills/CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing to Lenny's Product Skills

Thanks for your interest in improving these skills! This guide will help you contribute effectively.

Ways to Contribute

1. Fix Errors or Outdated Information

• Incorrect attributions
• Outdated frameworks
• Typos or formatting issues

2. Improve Existing Skills

• Add missing frameworks from podcast episodes
• Make advice more actionable and specific
• Add better diagnostic questions
• Improve the "Common Mistakes to Flag" section

3. Add New Skills

• Skills should be based on insights from Lenny's Podcast guests
• Must have at least 3-5 substantive principles with attribution
• Should be actionable, not just informational

Skill File Format

Each skill lives in skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md:

---
name: skill-name
description: Help users [action verb]. Use when someone is [trigger conditions].
---

# Skill Title

Help the user [purpose] using frameworks and insights from [N] product leaders.

## How to Help

When the user asks for help with [topic]:

1. **First step** - [What to do]
2. **Second step** - [What to do]
3. **Third step** - [What to do]
4. **Fourth step** - [What to do]

## Core Principles

### Principle title
[Guest Name]: "[Direct quote or close paraphrase]" [Actionable guidance explaining how to apply this.]

### Another principle
[Guest Name]: "[Quote]" [Guidance]

## Questions to Help Users

- "[Diagnostic question]"
- "[Another question]"

## Common Mistakes to Flag

- **[Mistake pattern]** - [Why it's wrong and what to do instead]
- **[Another mistake]** - [Explanation]

## Deep Dive

For all [N] insights from [M] guests, see `references/guest-insights.md`

## Related Skills

- [Related skill 1]
- [Related skill 2]

Quality Standards

Descriptions

• Start with "Help users [verb]"
• Include specific trigger phrases: "Use when someone is..."
• Keep under 200 characters

Principles

• Always attribute to a specific guest
• Include direct quotes where possible
• Add actionable guidance after the quote
• Aim for 5-15 principles per skill

Questions

• Should be diagnostic, not leading
• Help Claude understand the user's specific situation
• Should be questions Claude would actually ask

Common Mistakes

• Should be specific, observable patterns
• Include why it's problematic
• Suggest what to do instead

Pull Request Process

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a branch: git checkout -b improve-skill-name
3. Make your changes
4. Test by copying to .claude/skills/ and trying it
5. Submit a PR with:
   • What you changed
   • Why (reference podcast episode if adding new content)
   • How you tested it

Code of Conduct

• Be respectful and constructive
• Attribute sources accurately
• Focus on actionable, practical advice
• Keep the user's success as the priority

Questions?

Open an issue if you're unsure about anything!