REPO_POLICIES.md now carries the canonical script/bootstrap snippet for Go repos alongside the .golangci.yml bullet, where the pinned linter version already lives. The guard it replaces, `if missing golangci-lint; then go install ...; fi`, tests PATH presence and never version, so on any already-provisioned machine the pin is inert and a version bump is a no-op. The Dockerfile installs unconditionally into a clean image, so CI and local then disagree about what the linter is: a local `make check` green while `make docker` rejects the same commit, and a container run surfacing findings the host run cannot see. Comparing versions alone is not enough. `go install` writes to GOBIN (or GOPATH/bin) while callers resolve through PATH, so a shadowing binary earlier in PATH lets the install succeed and change nothing a caller ever sees, while bootstrap prints success. The canonical form therefore compares the installed version against the pin, re-resolves through PATH after installing and asserts the pin, and treats any unparseable --version output as a mismatch so the failure direction is a redundant install rather than a skipped one. The comparison is exact over the whole version token. A parser that stops at the first `-` reports 2.12.2 for a host running 2.12.2-rc1, which compares equal to a 2.12.2 pin and skips the install -- the original defect, reachable through the comparison meant to close it, and not caught by requiring the pin to be tagged, since a pre-release is tagged too. When the assert fails the diagnosis is derived from the resolved path rather than asserted: a path outside the install directory is shadowing and the operator is told to remove it or reorder PATH; a path inside it is not, and saying so would send them after a fault that does not exist; no resolution at all means the install directory is simply absent from PATH. A trailing slash on GOBIN is normalised away, since it would otherwise make the inside-the- directory test miss and misreport shadowing. The snippet ends with a call site, and both success paths print a confirmation naming the version. Two definitions with no invocation are a silent no-op with exactly the shape this change exists to close, and a success path that prints nothing is byte-identical to that no-op: same exit status, same empty output. The version helper ends in `|| true` so a --version that exits non-zero cannot kill the script through `set -e` under `set -o pipefail` before the diagnostic is printed, which the styleguide's bash form would otherwise do. The policy text states each of those as a requirement rather than leaving them implicit in the code, and records why the commit-pinned `go install` ref satisfies the hash-pinning rule: a commit hash is not a mutable tag, and the checksum database verifies the fetch, with no repo go.sum consulted, since `go install pkg@version` ignores the go.mod in the current directory or any parent. Whether a go.mod tool dependency should replace that is an open decision and is linked rather than settled here. The two version strings must be kept in sync and must match exactly what --version prints; tagged pins are preferred because the expected string is then derivable from the ref, rather than because the comparison cannot handle a pseudo-version. Verification runs the controls against the block as a consuming repo would adopt it, pasted into a script/bootstrap-shaped file and executed, rather than sourcing it and calling the function directly. The node and yarn handling described earlier in the document is untouched.
prompts
prompts is an MIT-licensed collection of LLM prompts by @sneak, including development policy prompts and other useful prompts for working with large language models.
Quick Start
Existing Repo
Run from within the repo you want to bring up to standards. Clone the prompts repo once, then run both commands in order.
export TD="$(mktemp -d)"
git clone --depth 1 https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts.git "$TD"
Repository structure and policies:
claude "Read $TD/prompts/REPO_POLICIES.md and
$TD/prompts/EXISTING_REPO_CHECKLIST.md, then bring this repo up to those
standards. Your scope is repo scaffolding and policy compliance:
Makefile, Dockerfile, .dockerignore, .gitignore, .editorconfig, CI
workflow, README sections, LICENSE, REPO_POLICIES.md, and any
language-specific config files (.golangci.yml, .prettierrc, etc.).
You must also run the formatter (make fmt) and fix any linter errors
(make lint) so that make check passes — this will touch source code,
but do not restructure, refactor, or rewrite any application logic.
Follow the policies yourself: work on a feature branch, never git add -A,
and make each logical change a separate commit (e.g. one commit for
formatting, one for linter fixes, one for README updates, one for each
new repo file added, etc.)."
Code style and conventions:
claude "Read $TD/prompts/CODE_STYLEGUIDE.md and whichever
language-specific styleguides in $TD/prompts/ apply to this repo
(CODE_STYLEGUIDE_GO.md, CODE_STYLEGUIDE_JS.md, CODE_STYLEGUIDE_PYTHON.md,
GO_HTTP_SERVER_CONVENTIONS.md). Then review the application code in this
repo and bring it into compliance with those coding standards. Your scope
is application code structure and style: naming, patterns, error
handling, project layout, and conventions described in the styleguides.
Do not modify repo scaffolding (Makefile, Dockerfile, CI workflow,
.gitignore, .editorconfig, etc.) — only application code. Work on a
feature branch, never git add -A, and make each logical change a
separate commit."
New Repo
Run from inside the directory where you want to create a new repo. Clone the prompts repo once, then run both commands in order.
export TD="$(mktemp -d)"
git clone --depth 1 https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts.git "$TD"
Repository scaffolding:
claude "Read $TD/prompts/REPO_POLICIES.md and
$TD/prompts/NEW_REPO_CHECKLIST.md, then set up this new repo according
to those standards. Your scope is repo structure and required files:
README.md, LICENSE, REPO_POLICIES.md, Makefile, Dockerfile, .dockerignore,
.gitignore, .editorconfig, CI workflow, and language-specific config.
Run the formatter (make fmt) and fix any linter errors (make lint) so
that make check passes — this will touch source code, but do not
restructure, refactor, or rewrite any application logic. Follow the
policies yourself: work on a feature branch, never git add -A, and make
each logical change a separate commit (e.g. one commit for formatting,
one for linter fixes, one for README, one for each new repo file, etc.)."
Code style and conventions:
claude "Read $TD/prompts/CODE_STYLEGUIDE.md and whichever
language-specific styleguides in $TD/prompts/ apply to this repo
(CODE_STYLEGUIDE_GO.md, CODE_STYLEGUIDE_JS.md, CODE_STYLEGUIDE_PYTHON.md,
GO_HTTP_SERVER_CONVENTIONS.md). Then review the application code in this
repo and bring it into compliance with those coding standards. Your scope
is application code structure and style: naming, patterns, error
handling, project layout, and conventions described in the styleguides.
Do not modify repo scaffolding (Makefile, Dockerfile, CI workflow,
.gitignore, .editorconfig, etc.) — only application code. Work on a
feature branch, never git add -A, and make each logical change a
separate commit."
Getting Started
git clone https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/prompts.git
cd prompts
Prompts are stored as Markdown files in prompts/. Copy or reference them as
needed in your projects.
Entrypoints
This repository adheres to the
Scripts to Rule Them All
standard: normalized scripts in script/ are the entrypoints for the
development workflow, and the Makefile targets are thin shims that call them.
The scripts are POSIX sh (not bash) so they run in minimal containers such as
alpine. We provide:
script/bootstrap— install all dependencies (yarn install)script/setup— set up the repo for development after a fresh clone: runsscript/bootstrap, thenscript/install-precommitscript/projectname— output the project name (our own extension); used byscript/dockerfor the image tagscript/test— run the test suite (no tests defined here)script/lint— lint the markdown files with prettierscript/fmt— format all markdown files with prettier (writes)script/fmt-check— check formatting (read-only)script/check— run all checks:test,lint,fmt-check(our own extension)script/docker— build the Docker image, tagged viascript/projectname(byte-identical across repos); passes the sameCHECK_EPOCHnonce asscript/cibuildscript/cibuild— cd to the repo root, assignepoch="$(date +%s%N)$$", thendocker build --build-arg CHECK_EPOCH="$epoch" .(what CI runs; the image build runsscript/check, and the per-invocationCHECK_EPOCHnonce is what stops Docker serving that check from cache on an unchanged tree — a baredocker build .fails closed on purpose)script/precommit— run by the git pre-commit hook (our own extension); callsscript/checkscript/install-precommit— installs the git pre-commit hook (our own extension);make hooksshims to it
make hooks installs the pre-commit hook that runs script/precommit.
Rationale
LLM prompts, especially development policies, benefit from version control and a single authoritative source. This repo provides a central place to maintain, share, and evolve prompts across projects.
Design
The repository is a collection of Markdown files organized in the prompts/
subdirectory. Each file contains one or more related prompts or policy
documents. There is no build step or runtime component; the prompts are consumed
by copying them into other projects or referencing them directly.
Template Repos
These template repositories implement the policies defined in this repo and serve as starting points for new projects. They must be kept in sync when policies change.
- template-app-go — Go HTTP server template (Uber fx, chi, SQLite, session auth, Prometheus metrics)
- template-app-js — JavaScript SPA template (Vite, Tailwind CSS v4, nginx Docker deployment)
- template-app-python — Python web application template (FastAPI, uvicorn, pytest, black, ruff)
When updating policies in this repo, also update the template repos to match (Makefile targets, Dockerfile conventions, CI workflows, required files, etc.).
See Also
- clawpub — Real-world examples, rationale, and operational lessons from applying these policies with an OpenClaw AI agent. Includes detailed documentation on how the interlocking check system (CI → Docker → Makefile → tests/lint/fmt) works in practice, why checklists complement prose policies, and failure stories from production use.
TODO
- Add more prompt templates for common development tasks
License
MIT. See LICENSE.