Component Guidelines - Claude Code Templates

This guide covers the quality standards, best practices, and review process for contributing components to Claude Code Templates.

Critical: Component Reviewer Agent

ALWAYS use the component-reviewer agent before submitting components. This is a mandatory step that validates format, security, naming conventions, and best practices.

When to Use Component Reviewer

Use the component-reviewer agent for ALL component changes:

# After creating a new agent
Use the component-reviewer agent to review cli-tool/components/agents/development-team/react-expert.md

# Before committing hook changes  
Use the component-reviewer agent to review cli-tool/components/hooks/git/prevent-force-push.json

# For PR reviews with multiple components
Use the component-reviewer agent to review all modified components in cli-tool/components/

What the Component Reviewer Checks

The agent validates:

✅ Valid YAML frontmatter and required fields
✅ Proper kebab-case naming conventions
✅ No hardcoded secrets (API keys, tokens, passwords)
✅ Relative paths only (no absolute paths)
✅ Supporting files exist (for hooks with scripts)
✅ Clear, specific descriptions
✅ Correct category placement
✅ Security best practices

Review Feedback Levels

The agent provides prioritized feedback:

❌ Critical Issues: Must fix before merge (security, missing fields)
⚠️ Warnings: Should fix (clarity, best practices)
📋 Suggestions: Nice to have improvements

Component Creation Workflow

Create Component File

Create your component file in the appropriate directory:

cli-tool/components/{type}/{category}/{name}.md

Use Descriptive Naming

Use kebab-case (lowercase with hyphens):

✅ frontend-developer.md
✅ generate-tests.md
❌ FrontendDeveloper.md
❌ generate_tests.md

Add Clear Description

Include clear descriptions and usage examples in the component.

Review with Component Reviewer

CRITICAL: Review with the component-reviewer agent:

Use the component-reviewer agent to review [component-path]

Fix Issues

Address any critical issues or warnings identified by the reviewer.

Update Catalog

Run the Python script to update the component catalog:

python scripts/generate_components_json.py

Naming Conventions

File Names

All component files must use kebab-case:

# ✅ Correct
frontend-developer.md
generate-tests.md
simple-notifications.json
api-security-audit.md

# ❌ Wrong
FrontendDeveloper.md
generate_tests.md
SimpleNotifications.json
API-Security-Audit.md

Component Names (in frontmatter)

Component names in YAML frontmatter must match the filename:

# ✅ Correct (file: frontend-developer.md)
name: frontend-developer

# ❌ Wrong (file: frontend-developer.md)  
name: FrontendDeveloper
name: frontend_developer

Security Requirements

NEVER hardcode secrets in components. This includes API keys, tokens, passwords, URLs, project IDs, or any sensitive identifier.

Prohibited Content

// ❌ WRONG - Hardcoded API key
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "service": {
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "sk-proj-abc123xyz"
      }
    }
  }
}

// ✅ CORRECT - Placeholder format
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "service": {
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "<YOUR_API_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Path Requirements

Use relative paths only:

# ✅ Correct
.claude/scripts/
.claude/hooks/
$CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR/.claude/

# ❌ Wrong
/Users/username/.claude/
/home/user/project/.claude/
~/project/.claude/

Component-Specific Guidelines

Agents

Required Fields

---
name: frontend-developer
description: Frontend development specialist for React applications
tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Glob, Grep
model: sonnet
---

Description Quality

Descriptions must be:

Specific - Not generic (“helps with frontend” ❌)
Comprehensive - Explain full capabilities
Example-driven - Include use cases

# ❌ Generic description
description: "Frontend developer agent"

# ✅ Specific description  
description: "Frontend development specialist for React applications with expertise in responsive design, state management, TypeScript, and testing. Use for building complete frontend applications with 85%+ test coverage."

Content Structure

Agents should include:

Clear role definition - What the agent does
Communication protocol - How to interact with other agents
Execution flow - Step-by-step process
Best practices - Guidelines and standards
Deliverables - What the agent produces

Commands

Required Fields

---
allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash
argument-hint: [file-path] | [component-name]
description: Generate comprehensive test suite with unit, integration, and edge case coverage
---

Allowed Tools Specification

Be specific about permitted bash commands:

# ✅ Specific permissions
allowed-tools: Bash(git add:*), Bash(git status:*), Bash(git commit:*)

# ⚠️ Too broad (only if necessary)
allowed-tools: Bash

Argument Hints

Provide clear usage syntax:

# ✅ Clear argument patterns
argument-hint: [file-path] | [component-name]
argument-hint: [message] | --no-verify | --amend
argument-hint: <pattern> [--include-tests]

# ❌ Vague
argument-hint: options

Current State Queries

Use ! syntax for dynamic values:

## Current Testing Setup

- Test framework: @package.json or @jest.config.js
- Existing tests: !`find . -name "*.test.*" | head -5`
- Test coverage: !`npm run test:coverage 2>/dev/null || echo "No coverage script"`
- Target file: @$ARGUMENTS

Hooks

Required Structure

{
  "description": "Clear description of what the hook does",
  "hooks": {
    "PostToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "*",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "command to execute"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Supporting Scripts

If your hook references a Python or shell script:

Create the script file with matching name
Use correct file extension (.py, .sh)
Use relative paths in the hook JSON
Make scripts executable for .sh files

# Hook file structure
cli-tool/components/hooks/git/
├── prevent-force-push.json       # Hook configuration
└── prevent-force-push.py         # Supporting script

Hook Matchers

Valid matcher values:

* - All tools
Bash - Bash commands
Read - File reads
Write - File writes
Edit - File edits

MCPs

Environment Variables

Always use placeholder format:

{
  "env": {
    "API_KEY": "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
    "BASE_URL": "<YOUR_BASE_URL>",
    "DATABASE_URL": "<YOUR_DATABASE_URL>"
  }
}

Include Description

Every MCP server configuration should include a description:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
      "description": "GitHub integration for repository management, issues, and PRs",
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "<YOUR_GITHUB_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Quality Standards

Documentation

All components must include:

Clear purpose and use cases
Usage examples
Configuration instructions
Required dependencies (if any)
Expected behavior

Testing

Before submitting:

# Test dry-run installation
npx claude-code-templates@latest --agent your-agent --dry-run
npx claude-code-templates@latest --command your-command --dry-run
npx claude-code-templates@latest --hook your-category/your-hook --dry-run

# Verify no errors occur

Comprehensive Configuration

For templates:

Include all necessary Claude Code setup files
Well-documented CLAUDE.md with examples
Useful slash commands for the domain
Relevant external integrations (MCPs)

Common Issues and Fixes

Invalid YAML Frontmatter

# ❌ Wrong - Missing closing ---
---
name: my-agent

# ✅ Correct
---
name: my-agent
---

Missing Required Fields

# ❌ Missing model field
---
name: my-agent
description: Does things
tools: Read, Write
---

# ✅ Complete
---
name: my-agent  
description: Does things
tools: Read, Write
model: sonnet
---

Incorrect File Location

# ❌ Wrong - No category
cli-tool/components/agents/my-agent.md

# ✅ Correct - In proper category
cli-tool/components/agents/domain-experts/my-agent.md

Update Component Catalog

After creating or modifying components, update the catalog:

python scripts/generate_components_json.py

This script:

Scans all components in cli-tool/components/
Validates format and structure
Generates docs/components.json with embedded content
Updates the website component browser

The generate_components_json.py script automatically validates component format and detects common issues during catalog generation.

Next Steps

After following these guidelines:

Review with component-reviewer agent
Fix any issues identified
Update component catalog
Test installation with --dry-run
Submit pull request

See the Testing Workflow for comprehensive testing instructions.

Development

Resources

Documentation Index

​Critical: Component Reviewer Agent

​When to Use Component Reviewer

​What the Component Reviewer Checks

​Review Feedback Levels

​Component Creation Workflow

​Naming Conventions

​File Names

​Component Names (in frontmatter)

​Security Requirements

​Prohibited Content

​Path Requirements

​Component-Specific Guidelines

​Agents

​Required Fields

​Description Quality

​Content Structure

​Commands

​Required Fields

​Allowed Tools Specification

​Argument Hints

​Current State Queries

​Hooks

​Required Structure

​Supporting Scripts

​Hook Matchers

​MCPs

​Environment Variables

​Include Description

​Quality Standards

​Documentation

​Testing

​Comprehensive Configuration

​Common Issues and Fixes

​Invalid YAML Frontmatter

​Missing Required Fields

​Incorrect File Location

​Update Component Catalog

​Next Steps

Critical: Component Reviewer Agent

When to Use Component Reviewer

What the Component Reviewer Checks

Review Feedback Levels

Component Creation Workflow

Naming Conventions

File Names

Component Names (in frontmatter)

Security Requirements

Prohibited Content

Path Requirements

Component-Specific Guidelines

Agents

Required Fields

Description Quality

Content Structure

Commands

Required Fields

Allowed Tools Specification

Argument Hints

Current State Queries

Hooks

Required Structure

Supporting Scripts

Hook Matchers

MCPs

Environment Variables

Include Description

Quality Standards

Documentation

Testing

Comprehensive Configuration

Common Issues and Fixes

Invalid YAML Frontmatter

Missing Required Fields

Incorrect File Location

Update Component Catalog

Next Steps