Seniordev Help

seniordev-help
qualityCreated Jun 12, 2026Updated Jun 12, 2026

Quick-reference card for all seniordev modes, skills, and commands. One-shot display, not a persistent mode. Trigger: /seniordev-help, "seniordev help", "what seniordev commands", "how do I use seniordev".


SKILL.md

Seniordev Help

Display this reference card when invoked. One-shot — do NOT change mode, write flag files, or persist anything.

Levels

LevelTriggerWhat change
Lite/seniordev liteBuild what's asked, name the lazier alternative in one line.
Full/seniordevThe ladder enforced: YAGNI → stdlib → native → one line → minimum. Default.
Ultra/seniordev ultraYAGNI extremist. Deletion before addition. Challenges requirements before building.

Level sticks until changed or session end.

Skills

SkillTriggerWhat it does
seniordev/seniordevLazy mode itself. Simplest solution that works.
seniordev-review/seniordev-reviewOver-engineering review: L42: yagni: factory, one product. Inline.
seniordev-help/seniordev-helpThis card.

Codex uses @seniordev, @seniordev-review, and @seniordev-help; Claude Code uses the slash-command forms above.

Deactivate

Say "stop seniordev" or "normal mode". Resume anytime with /seniordev. /seniordev off also works.

Configure Default Mode

Default mode = full, auto-active every session. Change it:

Environment variable (highest priority):

export SENIORDEV_DEFAULT_MODE=ultra

Config file (~/.config/seniordev/config.json, Windows: %APPDATA%\seniordev\config.json):

{ "defaultMode": "lite" }

Set "off" to disable auto-activation on session start — activate manually with /seniordev when wanted.

Resolution: env var > config file > full.

More

Forked from ponytail by Dietrich Gebert — upstream docs + examples: https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail