mcpbeat Sign in

Author Contributions Agent Skill

Identify all files a specific author contributed to on a branch vs its upstream, tracing code through renames. Use when asked who edited what, what code an author contributed, or to audit authorship before a merge. This skill should be run as a subagent — it performs many git operations and returns a concise table.

1.7k tokens
context cost
SKILL.md, read when the skill is used
1
files
instructions only
0
copies elsewhere
how many repositories repackaged it
188 278
stars on the repo
on the repository, not the skill itself

Install

one command, takes just this skill from the repository
npx skills add https://github.com/microsoft/vscode --skill author-contributions

What it tells the agent to use

found in the instruction text
Task spawns other agents

The instruction itself

12 sections, as written by the author

When asked to find all files a specific author contributed to on a branch (compared to main or another upstream), follow this procedure. The goal is to produce a simple table that both humans and LLMs can consume.

Run as a Subagent

This skill involves many sequential git commands. Delegate it to a subagent with a prompt like:

> Find every file that author "Full Name" contributed to on branch <branch> compared to <upstream>. Trace contributions through file renames. Return a markdown table with columns: Status (DIRECT or VIA_RENAME), File Path, and Lines (+/-). Include a summary line at the end.

Procedure

1. Identify the author's exact git identity

git log --format="%an <%ae>" <upstream>..<branch> | sort -u

Match the requested person to their exact --author= string. Do not guess — short usernames won't match full display names (resolve via git log or the GitHub MCP get_me tool).

2. Collect all files the author directly committed to

git log --author="<Exact Name>" --format="%H" <upstream>..<branch>

For each commit hash, extract touched files:

git diff-tree --no-commit-id --name-only -r <hash>

Union all results into a set (author_files).

3. Build rename map across the entire branch

For every commit on the branch (not just the author's), extract renames:

git diff-tree --no-commit-id -r -M <hash>

Parse lines with R status to build a map: new_path → {old_paths}.

4. Get the merge diff file list

git diff --name-only <upstream>..<branch>

These are the files that will actually land when the branch merges.

5. Classify each file in the merge diff

For each file in step 4:

  • If it's in author_files → DIRECT
  • Else, walk the rename map transitively (follow chains: current → old → older) and check if any ancestor is in author_files → VIA_RENAME
  • Otherwise → not this author's contribution

6. Get diff stats

git diff --stat <upstream>..<branch> -- <file1> <file2> ...

7. Return the table

Format the result as a markdown table:

| Status | File | +/- |
|--------|------|-----|
| DIRECT | src/vs/foo/bar.ts | +120/-5 |
| VIA_RENAME | src/vs/baz/qux.ts | +300 |
| ... | ... | ... |

**Total: N files, +X/-Y lines**

Important Notes

  • Use Python for the heavy lifting. Shell loops with inline comments break in zsh. Write a temp .py script, run it, then delete it.
  • Author matching is exact. Always run step 1 first. --author does substring matching but you must verify the right person is matched (e.g., don't match "Joshua Smith" when looking for "Josh S."). Use the GitHub MCP get_me tool or git log output to resolve the correct full name.
  • Renames can be multi-hop. A file may have moved contrib/chat/ → agentSessions/ → sessions/. The rename map must be walked transitively.
  • Only report files in the merge diff (step 4). Files the author touched that were later deleted entirely should not appear — they won't land in the upstream.
  • The rename map must include all authors' commits, not just the target author's. Other people often do the rename commits (e.g., bulk refactors/moves).

Example Python Script

import subprocess, os

os.chdir('<repo_root>')
UPSTREAM = 'main'
AUTHOR = '<Author Name>'  # Resolve via `git log` or GitHub MCP `get_me`

# Step 2: author's files
commits = subprocess.check_output(
    ['git', 'log', f'--author={AUTHOR}', '--format=%H', f'{UPSTREAM}..HEAD'],
    text=True).strip().split('\n')
author_files = set()
for h in (c for c in commits if c):
    files = subprocess.check_output(
        ['git', 'diff-tree', '--no-commit-id', '--name-only', '-r', h],
        text=True).strip().split('\n')
    author_files.update(f for f in files if f)

# Step 3: rename map from ALL commits
all_commits = subprocess.check_output(
    ['git', 'log', '--format=%H', f'{UPSTREAM}..HEAD'],
    text=True).strip().split('\n')
rename_map = {}  # new_name -> set(old_names)
for h in (c for c in all_commits if c):
    out = subprocess.check_output(
        ['git', 'diff-tree', '--no-commit-id', '-r', '-M', h],
        text=True, timeout=5).strip()
    for line in out.split('\n'):
        if not line:
            continue
        parts = line.split('\t')
        if len(parts) >= 3 and 'R' in parts[0]:
            rename_map.setdefault(parts[2], set()).add(parts[1])

# Step 4: merge diff
diff_files = subprocess.check_output(
    ['git', 'diff', '--name-only', f'{UPSTREAM}..HEAD'],
    text=True).strip().split('\n')

# Step 5: classify
results = []
for f in (x for x in diff_files if x):
    if f in author_files:
        results.append(('DIRECT', f))
    else:
        # walk rename chain
        chain, to_check = set(), [f]
        while to_check:
            cur = to_check.pop()
            if cur in chain:
                continue
            chain.add(cur)
            to_check.extend(rename_map.get(cur, []))
        chain.discard(f)
        if chain & author_files:
            results.append(('VIA_RENAME', f))

# Step 6: stats
if results:
    stat = subprocess.check_output(
        ['git', 'diff', '--stat', f'{UPSTREAM}..HEAD', '--'] +
        [f for _, f in results], text=True)
    print(stat)

# Step 7: table
for kind, f in sorted(results, key=lambda x: x[1]):
    print(f'| {kind:12s} | {f} |')
print(f'\nTotal: {len(results)} files')

Alternative Script

After following the process above, run this script to cross-check files touched by an author against the branch diff. You can do this both with an without src/vs/sessions.

AUTHOR=""

# 1. Find commits by author on this branch (not on main)
git log main...HEAD --author="$AUTHOR" --format="%H"

# 2. Get unique files touched across all those commits, excluding src/vs/sessions/
git log main...HEAD --author="$AUTHOR" --format="%H" \
  | xargs -I{} git diff-tree --no-commit-id -r --name-only {} \
  | sort -u \
  | grep -v '^src/vs/sessions/'

# 3. Cross-reference with branch diff to keep only files still changed vs main
git log main...HEAD --author="$AUTHOR" --format="%H" \
  | xargs -I{} git diff-tree --no-commit-id -r --name-only {} \
  | sort -u \
  | grep -v '^src/vs/sessions/' \
  | while read f; do git diff main...HEAD --name-only -- "$f" 2>/dev/null; done \
  | sort -u

Other skills for the same job

different authors, same section of the catalogue
Hook Development
by anthropics
vendor ×3

This skill should be used when the user asks to "create a hook", "add a PreToolUse/PostToolUse/Stop hook", "validate tool use", "implement prompt-based hooks", "use ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}", "set up event-driven automation", "block dangerous commands", or mentions hook events (PreToolUse, PostToolUse, Stop, SubagentStop, SessionStart, SessionEnd, UserPromptSubmit, PreCompact, Notification). Provides comprehensive guidance for creating and implementing Claude Code plugin hooks with focus on advanced prompt-based hooks API.

4.1k tokens scripts
Hook Development
by anthropics
vendor ×2

This skill should be used when the user asks to "create a hook", "add a PreToolUse/PostToolUse/Stop hook", "validate tool use", "implement prompt-based hooks", "use ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}", "set up event-driven automation", "block dangerous commands", or mentions hook events (PreToolUse, PostToolUse, Stop, SubagentStop, SessionStart, SessionEnd, UserPromptSubmit, PreCompact, Notification). Provides comprehensive guidance for creating and implementing Claude Code plugin hooks with focus on advanced prompt-based hooks API.

4.1k tokens scripts
Copilot SDK
by christophacham
×2

Build agentic applications with GitHub Copilot SDK. Use when embedding AI agents in apps, creating custom tools, implementing streaming responses, managing sessions, connecting to MCP servers, or creating custom agents. Triggers on Copilot SDK, GitHub SDK, agentic app, embed Copilot, programmable agent, MCP server, custom agent.

5.6k tokens
Cass
by Dicklesworthstone
×2

Coding Agent Session Search - unified CLI/TUI to index and search local coding agent history from Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, Cursor, Aider, ChatGPT, Pi-Agent, Factory, and more. Purpose-built for AI agent consumption with robot mode.

6.5k tokens
Dcg
by Dicklesworthstone
×2

Destructive Command Guard - High-performance Rust hook for Claude Code that blocks dangerous commands before execution. SIMD-accelerated, modular pack system, whitelist-first architecture. Essential safety layer for agent workflows.

4.1k tokens
Makepad Skills
by ComeOnOliver
×2

Makepad UI development skills for Rust apps: setup, patterns, shaders, packaging, and troubleshooting.

198 tokens
Varlock Claude Skill
by ComeOnOliver
×2

Secure environment variable management ensuring secrets are never exposed in Claude sessions, terminals, logs, or git commits

226 tokens
Create Agentsmd
by github
vendor ×1

Prompt for generating an AGENTS.md file for a repository

2k tokens

How to use it

Copy the folder

Take microsoft/author-contributions from the repository into ~/.claude/skills for personal use, or into .claude/skills inside a project.

Check the name does not clash

The agent identifies a skill by the name field in its header. Two skills with the same name cannot sit side by side — one of them will be ignored.