posit-dev Skills

> Generate and improve accessible alt text for data visualizations and images in R packages and Quarto documents. Use when the user wants to add, improve, or audit alt text for figures in a pkgdown site or .qmd files. Activate for requests that mention fig-alt, fig.alt, figure descriptions, or alt text in the context of an R package or Quarto document.

Create and use brand.yml files for consistent branding across Shiny apps and Quarto documents. Covers: (1) Creating new _brand.yml files, (2) Applying to Shiny (R and Python), (3) Using in Quarto, (4) Modifying existing files, and (5) Troubleshooting. Includes complete specifications and integration guides.

> Comprehensive R package for command-line interface styling, semantic messaging, (1) Format console output with inline markup and colors, (2) Display errors, warnings, or messages with cli_abort/cli_warn/cli_inform, (3) Show progress indicators for long-running operations, (4) Create semantic CLI elements (headers, lists, alerts, code blocks), (5) Apply themes and customize output styling, (6) Handle pluralization in user-facing text, (7) Work with ANSI strings, hyperlinks, or custom containers. Also use when migrating from base R message/warning/stop, debugging cli code, or improving existing cli usage.

>

> Create a release checklist and GitHub issue for an R package. Use when the user asks to "create a release checklist" or "start a release" for an R package.

Conduct rigorous, adversarial code reviews with zero tolerance for mediocrity. Use when users ask to "critically review" my code or a PR, "critique my code", "find issues in my code", or "what's wrong with this code". Identifies security holes, lazy patterns, edge case failures, and bad practices across Python, R, JavaScript/TypeScript, SQL, and front-end code. Scrutinizes error handling, type safety, performance, accessibility, and code quality. Provides structured feedback with severity tiers (Blocking, Required, Suggestions) and specific, actionable recommendations.

>- Deploy or publish Python and R content to a Posit Connect server using rsconnect-python or the R rsconnect package. Handles interactive apps and dashboards, web APIs, rendered documents, and prepared bundles/manifests. Use whenever the user asks to deploy, publish, or redeploy content to Posit Connect, or mentions rsconnect. Consult this skill instead of guessing flags or commands.

Research a codebase and create architectural documentation describing how features or systems work. Use when the user asks to: (1) Document how a feature works, (2) Create an architecture overview, (3) Explain code structure for onboarding or knowledge transfer, (4) Research and describe a system's design. Produces markdown documents with Mermaid diagrams and stable code references suitable for humans and AI agents.

Write ggsql queries — a grammar of graphics for SQL. Use when the user wants to create, modify, or understand a ggsql visualization query.

Orchestrates implementation of a plan file by delegating work to subagents in parallel. Verifies git branch state, tracks progress, and ensures high-quality implementation. Invoke with a plan file path and optional model override: /implement plans/my-plan.md [--model sonnet]

Guidance for managing R package lifecycle according to tidyverse principles using the lifecycle package. Use when: (1) Setting up lifecycle infrastructure in a package, (2) Deprecating functions or arguments, (3) Renaming functions or arguments, (4) Superseding functions, (5) Marking functions as experimental, (6) Understanding lifecycle stages (stable, experimental, deprecated, superseded), or (7) Writing deprecation helpers for complex scenarios.

Guide for drafting issue closure and decline responses as an open-source package maintainer. Use when helping compose a reply that says \"no\" to a feature request, closes an issue as won't-fix, redirects a user to a different package, explains why a design choice is intentional, or otherwise declines or closes a community contribution. Also use when the maintainer needs to explain a deprecation, point out a user misunderstanding, or communicate an effort/scope tradeoff to a contributor.

Help users write correct R code for async, parallel, and distributed computing using mirai. Use when users need to run R code asynchronously or in parallel, write mirai code with correct dependency passing, set up parallel workers, convert from future or parallel, use mirai_map, integrate with Shiny or promises, or configure cluster/HPC computing.

Create and manage todo tracking documents for features, bugs, and multi-step tasks. Use when starting new work that benefits from a persistent record of decisions, progress, and context.

Creates a pull request from current changes, monitors GitHub CI, and debugs any failures until CI passes. Activate when the user says "create pr", "make a pr", "open pull request", "submit pr", "pr for these changes", or wants to get their current work into a reviewable PR. Assumes the project uses git, is hosted on GitHub, and has GitHub Actions CI with automated checks (lint, build, tests, etc.). Does NOT merge - stops when CI passes and provides the PR link.

Address PR review feedback by systematically working through every unresolved PR review thread on the current branch's PR - analyze each comment, make the requested code changes (with tests where useful), commit, and optionally reply and resolve.

Bulk resolve unresolved PR review threads on the current branch’s PR — typically after threads have been addressed manually or via /pr-threads-address

Use when the user is explicitly working with Quarto, .qmd files, _quarto.yml, Quarto projects, or Quarto features such as callouts, cross-references, citations, Mermaid diagrams, extensions, websites, books, presentations, and reports. Also use for explicit migration from or comparison with R Markdown, bookdown, blogdown, xaringan, distill, or Jupyter notebooks to Quarto. Do not use for general R Markdown or related-format questions unless Quarto or migration to Quarto is explicitly mentioned.

Build command-line apps in R using the Rapp package. Use when creating a CLI tool in R, adding argument parsing to an R script, turning an R script into a command-line app, shipping CLIs in an R package, or using Rapp (the alternative Rscript front-end). Also use for shebang scripts, exec/ directory in R packages, or subcommand-based R tools.

> Create professional package release blog posts following Tidyverse or Shiny blog conventions. for tidyverse.org or shiny.posit.co, (2) Transform NEWS/changelog content into blog format, (3) Generate acknowledgments sections with contributor lists, (4) Format posts following specific blog platform requirements. Supports both Tidyverse (hugodown) and Shiny (Quarto) blog formats with automated contributor fetching and comprehensive style guidance.

Review test code for quality, design, and completeness after implementing a feature or fixing a bug. Use when the user asks to "review my tests", "check my test quality", "are these tests good enough", "review testing", or after completing a feature implementation that includes tests. Also use when tests feel brittle, flaky, or superficial. Cross-references production code to find coverage gaps.

R package development with devtools, testthat, and roxygen2. Use when the user is working on an R package, running tests, writing documentation, or building package infrastructure.

Build modern Shiny dashboards and applications using bslib (Bootstrap 5). Use when creating new Shiny apps, modernizing legacy apps (fluidPage, fluidRow/column, tabsetPanel, wellPanel, shinythemes), or working with bslib page layouts, grid systems, cards, value boxes, navigation, sidebars, filling layouts, theming, accordions, tooltips, popovers, toasts, or bslib inputs. Assumes familiarity with basic Shiny.

Advanced theming for Shiny apps using bslib and Bootstrap 5. Use when customizing app appearance with bs_theme(), Bootswatch themes, custom colors, typography, brand.yml integration, Bootstrap Sass variables, custom Sass/CSS rules, dark mode and color modes, dynamic theme switching, real-time theming, theme inspection, or making R plots match the app theme with thematic.

Best practices for writing R package tests using testthat version 3+. Use when writing, organizing, or improving tests for R packages. Covers test structure, expectations, fixtures, snapshots, mocking, and modern testthat 3 patterns including self-sufficient tests, proper cleanup with withr, and snapshot testing.

Set a tracking document as the source of truth for the current feature or task. Use when starting work on a feature, bug fix, or multi-step task that benefits from a persistent record of decisions, discoveries, and progress. Keeps the document updated as work proceeds.