/read-the-damn-docsSAFE
Skills for agents
Overview
From the repository's own README, as read at the audited commit. Badges and raw HTML are left out.
Make agents web-search for the docs before they guess.
/read-the-damn-docs is a docs-first discipline skill for implementation, debugging, and technical answers that depend on versioned or external behavior. It tells the agent when docs are mandatory, why web search is usually the right way to find them, which sources count as authoritative, and how to report the evidence it used.
What It Does
- Forces a docs pass for third-party APIs, libraries, frameworks, CLIs, cloud
services, model SDKs, and provider integrations.
- Directs the agent to web-search for current official docs unless the relevant
docs are already local or supplied by the user.
- Requires current version checks before adding packages or writing install,
import, config, or CLI commands.
- Prioritizes local repo docs, specs, schemas, generated types, and tests for
internal contracts.
- Treats auth, security, billing, data, migrations, deploys, quotas, caching,
and compliance as docs-required surfaces.
- Makes the agent name the docs or files it relied on when that evidence affects
the implementation.
When To Use It
Use it when an agent might otherwise rely on stale model memory. Most of the time, that means it should search the web for official docs first: latest/current behavior, package setup, SDK usage, platform limits, provider APIs, upgrade guides, framework config, OAuth, payments, webhooks, migrations, CI/CD, browser APIs, and repo-specific contracts.
Skip it for trivial typo fixes, formatting, self-contained local code, or cases where nearby tests and types fully answer the question.
Examples
These should trigger docs before code:
- Adding Tailwind, Next.js, React, Vite, Nitro, Drizzle, Prisma, or an AI SDK.
- Streaming model responses with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or a provider SDK.
- Wiring Stripe webhooks, OAuth, GitHub Actions, Slack apps, or Notion APIs.
- Debugging deprecations, unknown config fields, missing exports, or changed
f
fb822f174542OBSERVED · 2026-10-22Host compatibility
What the documentation claims. We have not run a compatibility test.
| Host | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| codex | mentioned |
What it tells the agent
The instruction file, verbatim from the audited commit — this is the text the model reads, and the surface the audit's instruction layer examines. Quoted here so you can judge it without cloning anything.
--- name: read-the-damn-docs description: >- Use when implementing, integrating, upgrading, debugging, or answering anything involving third-party APIs, libraries, frameworks, CLIs, cloud services, model/provider SDKs, fast-moving product behavior, user requests for latest/current/official behavior, unfamiliar repo docs/specs, errors that may indicate API drift, or high-stakes auth, security, billing, data, migration, deployment, compliance, or privacy behavior. Forces Codex to web-search for current official docs and read primary docs before assuming from memory. --- # Read The Damn Docs Do not guess where authoritative docs can answer the question. The most common right move is to web-search for the current official docs, open the relevant pages, and read them before coding. For APIs, versions, provider behavior, config, limits, lifecycle hooks, or security-sensitive flows, ground the answer in what the docs actually say. ## Docs-First Triggers Read docs before proceeding when any of these are true: - The user asks for "latest", "current", "official", "supported", "best practice", "recommended", "today", "now", or "look it up". - The needed docs are not already in the repo or supplied by the user. Search the web for the official docs rather than hoping model memory is current. - The task adds, upgrades, configures, or imports a package, SDK, framework, plugin, CLI, model, cloud resource, or provider integration. - The API is fast-moving or version-sensitive: AI SDKs, OpenAI/Anthropic/Google APIs, Next.js, React, Tailwind, Vite, Nitro, Drizzle, Prisma, Stripe, GitHub, Slack, Notion, browser APIs, deployment platforms, auth libraries, and similar. - The implementation depends on auth, OAuth scopes, permissions, secrets, webhooks, billing, payments, PII, encryption, data retention, migrations, retries, rate limits, quotas, caching, deploys, or compliance. - An error mentions deprecation, unknown options, missing exports, invalid config, unsupported fields, changed defaults, or version mismatch. - A repo has local docs, ADRs, generated schemas, OpenAPI specs, route/action registries, design-system docs, or package-level READMEs that could define the contract. - The choice is expensive to reverse: public wire formats, database schema, migration strategy, persistent IDs, event names, customer-visible behavior, or external automation contracts. - You catch yourself about to write "usually", "probably", "I think", "from memory", or code copied from model memory for an external API. ## What Counts As Docs Use the most authoritative source available: - Local repo docs, specs, ADRs, schemas, generated types, package READMEs, and tests for project-specific behavior. - Official product docs, API references, migration guides, changelogs, release notes, and SDK source/types for third-party behavior. Find these with web search when you do not already have the exact URL. - Package registry metadata for versions. Before adding a dependency, run `npm view <pkg> version`, `pnpm view <pkg> version`, or the ecosystem equivalent, then read the docs for that major version. - Source code or type definitions when official docs are incomplete. Treat this as evidence, not folklore. Avoid Stack Overflow, old blog posts, random snippets, and memory as the primary source when official docs exist. Use community sources only to debug symptoms after the authoritative contract is known. ## Required Workflow 1. Identify the exact surface: package name, installed version, target version, provider endpoint, CLI command, config file, local helper, schema, or product feature. 2. Search the web for the current official docs unless the relevant docs are already local or the user supplied a URL. Use targeted searches such as `<product> <feature> official docs`, `<package> migration guide`, or `<provider> API reference`. 3. Open and read the docs closest to that surface. Prefer local docs first for internal code, then official upstream docs. For new packages, verify the latest version before writing imports, config, or install commands. 4. Extract the few facts needed for the task: option names, imports, lifecycle rules, default behavior, breaking changes, limits, permissions, and examples for the current major version. 5. Implement or answer using those facts. If the docs conflict with existing code, inspect the local code path and call out the discrepancy. 6. Verify with the smallest useful check: typecheck, tests, build, CLI dry run, API schema validation, or a local reproduction. 7. In the final answer, name the docs or local files consulted when that evidence affects the recommendation or implementation. ## Examples That Must Trigger Docs - "Add Tailwind to this app." Check the current Tailwind major and its install docs from the web before creating config files or assuming old PostCSS setup. - "Use the AI SDK to stream responses." Verify the current AI SDK major, imports, provider package names, streaming helpers, and server/runtime examples from official docs. - "Wire up Stripe webhooks." Read Stripe's current signature verification, event retry, endpoint secret, and framework body-parsing docs before coding. - "Fix this Next.js caching bug." Read the docs for the installed Next.js major and router mode before assuming cache invalidation semantics. - "Add Drizzle migrations." Read the current Drizzle kit docs and existing repo migration conventions before generating files. - "Create a GitHub Action." Read official Actions syntax and permissions docs, especially for `pull_request`, `workflow_run`, OIDC, tokens, and artifacts. - "Why does this OAuth flow fail?" Read the provider's scopes, redirect URI, PKCE, token refresh, and app verification docs before changing code. - "Use this repo's plan/comment/action system." Read local docs, route/action registries, schemas, and tests before inventing endpoints or
Trust audit
SAFEgrade B · trust 89/100 Nothing in the source contradicts what it says it does. Grade A is reserved for packages that have also passed the behavioural sandbox.
| Layer | What it checks | Result |
|---|---|---|
| L0 | Provenance & inventory | PASS |
| L1 | Static analysis of the code | NA |
| L2 | Instruction surface (what it tells the agent) | PASS |
| L3 | Class-specific surface | PASS |
| L4 | Behavioural (sandbox) | SKIPPED |
What the source does
- Filesystem
- none-observed
- Network
- none-observed
- Shell
- none-observed
- Dependencies
- pinned
- Secrets in source
- none-found
Findings (0)
No findings outside the package's declared scope.
Gates applied: no_behavioural_pass.
fb822f174542full audit observations/trust-audit/skill/builderio__read-the-damn-docs.json · Report an issue / request a re-scanAudit history
Every audit this skill has had.
| Date | Source | Verdict | Grade | Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-22 | fb822f174542 | SAFE | B | 89 | first audit |
Questions
What does the read-the-damn-docs — builderio/skills skill do?
Skills for agents
Is read-the-damn-docs — builderio/skills safe to install?
The audit found nothing in the source that contradicts what it says it does, and graded it B (89/100). Grade A is held back for packages that have also passed a sandboxed behavioural run, which is why a clean skill reads B.
What can read-the-damn-docs — builderio/skills access on my machine?
The audit observed no filesystem, network or shell use at all in its source.
Which assistants does read-the-damn-docs — builderio/skills work with?
Its documentation mentions codex. That is what the text claims, not a compatibility test we ran.
How current is this page?
The grade is for one exact copy of the source (fb822f174542), read on 2026-10-22. The repository is watched, and a new audit runs when it changes — this is the first audit.
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