Skill Debugger

A native desktop application for exploring, analyzing, and debugging Claude Code skills. Built with Tauri, React, and TypeScript.

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🎯 Purpose

Skill Debugger helps developers understand, debug, and optimize their Claude Code skills by providing:

• Skill Discovery: Automatically scans ~/.claude/skills and ~/.config/opencode/skills
• Rich Metadata Visualization: Displays skill descriptions, triggers, references, and scripts
• Trigger Analysis: Shows confidence levels and pattern matching for skill activation
• Dependency Graphs: Visual Mermaid diagrams of skill architecture
• Smart Search: Instant filtering across skill names and descriptions

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✨ Features

v0.1.0 (Current)

• ✅ Skill Discovery (US1)

  • Scans multiple skill directories
  • Displays skill list with location badges
  • Fast scanning (<500ms for 20 skills)

• ✅ Skill Viewing (US2)

  • YAML frontmatter parsing
  • Markdown rendering with syntax highlighting
  • Tab-based interface (Overview, Content, Triggers, Diagram, References, Scripts)

• ✅ Navigation (US3)

  • Select skills from list
  • Back button to return to list
  • Responsive layout (800px - 1920px)

• ✅ Trigger Analysis (US4)

  • Keyword extraction from descriptions
  • Confidence level indicators
  • Pattern matching insights

• ✅ Visualization (US5)

  • Mermaid diagram generation
  • Shows skill dependencies and references
  • Interactive graph rendering

• ✅ Search & Filtering (US6)

  • Real-time search across skills
  • Filters by name and description
  • Instant results

Upcoming Features

See specs/BACKLOG.md for the full roadmap.

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⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

Power-user features for keyboard-only navigation (v0.2.0)

Search

Shortcut	Action	Description
Cmd/Ctrl + F	Focus search	Jump to search input from anywhere
Esc	Clear search	Clear search and unfocus input

List Navigation

Shortcut	Action	Description
↓	Next skill	Highlight next skill in list (wraps to first)
↑	Previous skill	Highlight previous skill (wraps to last)
Enter	Select	Select the highlighted skill
Esc	Clear highlight	Remove highlight from list

Tab Navigation

When viewing a skill, use these shortcuts to switch between tabs:

Shortcut	Tab	Content
Cmd/Ctrl + 1	Overview	Skill metadata and summary
Cmd/Ctrl + 2	Content	Full skill markdown content
Cmd/Ctrl + 3	Triggers	Trigger patterns and confidence
Cmd/Ctrl + 4	Diagram	Mermaid architecture diagram
Cmd/Ctrl + 5	References	Referenced files and dependencies
Cmd/Ctrl + 6	Scripts	Embedded scripts and commands

Help

Shortcut	Action	Description
?	Show help	Display keyboard shortcut reference
Esc	Close help	Close the help modal

Platform Notes:

• macOS: Use Cmd (⌘) key
• Windows/Linux: Use Ctrl key

Test Coverage: 97.12% (113 passing unit tests + 24 E2E tests)

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🏗️ Technology Stack

Frontend

• React 19.1.0 with TypeScript 5.8.3
• Vite 7.0.4 (build tool, dev server)
• TailwindCSS 4.1.17 (utility-first styling)
• Zustand 5.0.8 (state management)
• react-markdown 10.1.0 (markdown rendering)
• Mermaid 11.12.1 (diagram rendering)
• highlight.js 11.11.1 (syntax highlighting)

Backend

• Tauri 2.x (Rust + webview hybrid)
• serde + serde_json (serialization)
• serde_yaml 0.9 (YAML frontmatter parsing)
• dirs 5.0 (cross-platform paths)

Development

• Vite (fast HMR, optimized builds)
• TypeScript (strict mode, no any)
• Rust (performance-critical backend)

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🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ and npm
• Rust 1.70+ (rustup.rs)
• System dependencies (varies by platform)

macOS

xcode-select --install

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev \
  build-essential \
  curl \
  wget \
  file \
  libssl-dev \
  libayatana-appindicator3-dev \
  librsvg2-dev

Windows

• Install Microsoft C++ Build Tools
• Install WebView2

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Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/SpillwaveSolutions/skills_viewer.git
cd skills_viewer

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run in development mode
npm run tauri dev

# Build for production
npm run tauri build

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🛠️ Development

Available Commands

# Development
npm run dev              # Vite dev server only (frontend)
npm run tauri dev        # Full Tauri app with hot reload

# Building
npm run build            # Build frontend (dist/)
npm run tauri build      # Build desktop app (src-tauri/target/)

# Testing
npm test                 # Run unit tests (Vitest)
npm run test:ui          # Run tests with interactive UI
npm run test:coverage    # Run tests with coverage report
npm run test:e2e         # Run end-to-end tests (Playwright)

# Code Quality
npm run lint             # Check for linting errors (ESLint)
npm run lint:fix         # Auto-fix linting issues
npm run format           # Format all files (Prettier)
npm run format:check     # Verify formatting without changes

Project Structure

skill-debugger/
├── src/                          # React frontend
│   ├── components/               # UI components
│   │   ├── SkillList/
│   │   ├── SkillViewer/
│   │   └── Layout/
│   ├── stores/                   # Zustand state
│   │   └── useSkillStore.ts
│   ├── types/                    # TypeScript interfaces
│   ├── main.tsx                  # Entry point
│   └── App.tsx                   # Root component
│
├── src-tauri/                    # Rust backend
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── main.rs               # Tauri commands
│   │   └── skills.rs             # Skill scanning logic
│   └── Cargo.toml                # Rust dependencies
│
├── specs/                        # SDD specifications
│   ├── 001-core-skill-explorer/  # Feature 001
│   │   ├── spec.md
│   │   ├── plan.md
│   │   ├── tasks.md
│   │   ├── DEVIATIONS.md
│   │   └── IMPLEMENTATION_NOTES.md
│   ├── 002-ui-redesign/          # Feature 002
│   │   └── ...
│   ├── IMPLEMENTATION_REALITY.md # Post-mortem audit
│   ├── BACKLOG.md                # Consolidated roadmap
│   └── TEST_BACKFILL_STRATEGY.md # Test remediation plan
│
├── .specify/                     # SDD memory
│   └── memory/
│       └── constitution.md       # Project principles
│
├── .claude/                      # Claude Code config
│   └── CLAUDE.md                 # Local instructions
│
└── docs/                         # Requirements docs
    └── requirements/
        ├── main.md
        └── features/

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📋 Specification-Driven Development (SDD)

This project follows Specification-Driven Development (SDD) methodology using the SDD skill.

What is SDD?

SDD is an AI-native development methodology that emphasizes:

• Intent-driven development: Define "what" before "how"
• Executable specifications: Specs drive implementation, not document it
• Multi-step refinement: Iterative specification → planning → tasks → implementation
• Quality enforcement: Tests and validation at every step

SDD Workflow

All new features MUST follow this workflow:

# 1. Create feature branch
git checkout -b feature/XXX-feature-name

# 2. Define requirements
/speckit.specify <detailed feature requirements>

# 3. Clarify ambiguities
/speckit.clarify

# 4. Create implementation plan
/speckit.plan <technical decisions, architecture, constraints>

# 5. Generate task breakdown
/speckit.tasks

# 6. Validate consistency
/speckit.analyze

# 7. Implement following tasks.md STRICTLY
/speckit.implement
# - Follow tasks sequentially
# - Mark [x] only when complete
# - Mark [~] if simplified (with notes)
# - NO freelancing

SDD Commands Reference

Command	Purpose	When to Use
/speckit.constitution	Define project principles	Once at project start
/speckit.specify	Create feature specification	Start of every feature
/speckit.clarify	Ask clarifying questions	When spec has ambiguities
/speckit.plan	Technical implementation plan	After spec approved
/speckit.tasks	Generate task breakdown	After plan approved
/speckit.analyze	Validate consistency	Before implementing
/speckit.implement	Execute tasks	Follow tasks.md strictly

SDD Skill Location

The SDD skill is located at: ~/.claude/skills/sdd/

Key References:

• ~/.claude/skills/sdd/skill.md - Core methodology
• ~/.claude/skills/sdd/references/greenfield.md - Greenfield workflow (6 steps)
• ~/.claude/skills/sdd/references/brownfield.md - Brownfield strategies
• ~/.claude/skills/sdd/references/commands.md - Command reference

Lessons from v0.1.0

What Went Wrong:

• Created spec artifacts but ignored them during implementation
• Implemented features based on intuition, not task list
• Marked tasks complete retroactively
• Zero test coverage (violates constitutional requirement)

Result: 42% of tasks skipped or simplified

v0.2.0 Commitment:

• ✅ Follow SDD workflow strictly
• ✅ Write tests BEFORE implementation (TDD)
• ✅ Mark tasks in real-time
• ✅ Use /speckit commands for ALL features
• ✅ Stop at checkpoints for validation

See .specify/memory/constitution.md for full lessons learned.

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🧪 Testing

Current Status (v0.2.0)

✅ Test Coverage: 97.12% (Constitutional compliance achieved!)

Category	Coverage	Tests
Unit Tests	97.12%	113/113 passing
E2E Tests	-	24/35 passing
Overall	97.12%	Well above 80% target ✅

Coverage Breakdown:

• Components: 100% (KeyboardShortcutHelp, SearchBar, SkillList)
• Hooks: 96.82% (useKeyboardShortcuts, usePlatformModifier)
• Stores: 100% (keyboardStore)
• Utils: 91.42% (keyboardUtils)

Test Stack

• Vitest: Unit and integration tests
• Playwright: E2E browser testing
• @testing-library/react: Component testing
• happy-dom: JSDOM environment
• cargo test: Rust unit tests (planned)

Running Tests

npm test                  # Run unit tests
npm run test:coverage     # Generate coverage report
npm run test:e2e          # Run E2E tests (Playwright)

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🧪 Testing

Overview

Testing is a constitutional requirement for this project (Principle VII: >80% coverage). We follow Test-Driven Development (TDD) for all new features.

Test Stack

• Vitest: Fast unit and integration testing for React components, hooks, and utilities
• Playwright: End-to-end browser testing for full user workflows
• @testing-library/react: Component testing with user-centric queries
• happy-dom: Lightweight DOM environment for unit tests
• @axe-core/playwright: Automated accessibility testing

Running Tests

# Unit Tests
npm test                  # Run unit tests (watch mode)
npm run test:ui           # Run tests with interactive UI
npm run test:coverage     # Generate coverage report

# E2E Tests
npm run test:e2e          # Run Playwright E2E tests

# Rust Backend Tests
cd src-tauri
cargo test                # Run Rust unit tests

Writing Tests

Location: Tests are colocated in /tests directory:

tests/
├── unit/                 # Unit and integration tests
│   ├── components/       # Component tests
│   ├── hooks/            # Hook tests
│   ├── stores/           # Store tests
│   └── utils/            # Utility tests
├── e2e/                  # End-to-end tests
│   ├── keyboard.spec.ts
│   ├── search.spec.ts
│   └── navigation.spec.ts
└── setup.ts              # Test configuration

Example Test (TDD approach):

// tests/unit/components/MyComponent.test.tsx
import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
import MyComponent from '@/components/MyComponent';

describe('MyComponent', () => {
  it('should render with correct text', () => {
    render(<MyComponent text="Hello" />);
    expect(screen.getByText('Hello')).toBeInTheDocument();
  });
});

Coverage Requirements

Per constitutional Principle VII, all core logic must maintain:

• Lines: 80% minimum
• Functions: 80% minimum
• Branches: 80% minimum
• Statements: 80% minimum

Current Coverage: 97.12% (exceeds constitutional requirement)

View coverage report:

npm run test:coverage
open coverage/index.html  # View HTML report

Testing Best Practices

1. Write Tests First: Follow TDD - write failing tests before implementation
2. Test Behavior, Not Implementation: Focus on what the component does, not how
3. Use User-Centric Queries: Prefer getByRole, getByLabelText over getByTestId
4. Test Accessibility: Include ARIA attributes and keyboard navigation in tests
5. Mock External Dependencies: Use Vitest mocks for Tauri commands and external APIs
6. Keep Tests Fast: Unit tests should run in <1s, E2E tests in <10s per test

Continuous Integration

All PRs must pass:

• Unit tests with 80%+ coverage
• E2E tests for critical user flows
• Linting and formatting checks

See docs/TESTING.md for detailed testing guide.

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📸 Visual Regression Testing

Overview

Visual regression testing captures screenshots of UI components and validates them against expected visual criteria. This catches UI regressions that selector-based E2E tests miss (blank screens, broken rendering, CSS issues).

Quick Start

# 1. Start the development server
npm run dev

# 2. Run visual regression tests
npm run test:visual

# 3. Review captured screenshots
open test-results/visual/

Test Infrastructure

Location: tests/e2e/visual-regression.spec.ts

The visual tests capture screenshots of all 6 tabs for each skill:

• Overview Panel
• Content Tab
• Diagram Tab
• References Tab
• Scripts Tab
• Triggers Tab

Each screenshot is paired with a JSON metadata file containing visual expectations.

Mock Skills for Testing

Visual tests run in web-only mode using mock skill data, eliminating the need for Tauri runtime:

Implementation: src/hooks/useSkills.ts

// Tauri environment guard pattern
const isTauriEnvironment = () => {
  return typeof window !== 'undefined' && '__TAURI__' in window;
};

// Conditionally use Tauri API or mock data
if (isTauriEnvironment()) {
  const result = await invoke<Skill[]>('scan_skills');
  setSkills(result);
} else {
  // Web-only mode - use mock skills
  const mockSkills = getMockSkills();
  setSkills(mockSkills);
}

This pattern enables:

• ✅ Playwright tests to run without Tauri desktop app
• ✅ Fast test execution (<15 seconds for 6 tests)
• ✅ CI/CD integration without desktop environment
• ✅ Consistent test data across runs

Visual Expectations

Each screenshot test defines what should and should not be visible:

const expectation: VisualExpectation = {
  should: ['Skill name displayed at top', 'Tab navigation visible', 'Content rendered correctly'],
  shouldNot: ['Blank white screen', 'Error messages', 'Loading spinner'],
  description: 'Overview panel showing skill metadata',
};

Screenshot Archive

Previous screenshots are automatically archived before each test run to prevent data loss:

test-results/
├── visual/                      # Current screenshots
│   ├── puml-overview-*.png
│   ├── puml-content-*.png
│   └── ...
└── visual-archive/              # Historical screenshots
    └── 2025-11-14_11-41-24/
        ├── puml-overview-*.png
        └── ...

Helper Functions

Location: tests/e2e/helpers/visual-verification.ts

// Capture screenshot with metadata
await captureAndDescribe(page, 'skill-overview', expectation);

// Archive previous screenshots
await archiveScreenshots();

Known Limitations

Claude Code CLI Analysis: The automated analysis step using Claude Code CLI is currently disabled due to performance issues (>15min per screenshot). Visual verification is performed manually by reviewing captured screenshots.

Workaround: Developers can manually inspect screenshots in test-results/visual/ to verify visual correctness.

Future Improvement: Replace Claude Code CLI with a lighter-weight vision API or image diff tool for automated verification.

Best Practices

1. Run Visual Tests Before Commits: Catch visual regressions early

   npm run test:visual

2. Review Screenshots After UI Changes: Verify all tabs render correctly

   open test-results/visual/

3. Update Expectations When UI Intentionally Changes: Modify VisualExpectation objects in test file when designs change

4. Check Archived Screenshots: Compare current vs. previous screenshots when debugging regressions

   open test-results/visual-archive/

Integration with Development Workflow

Visual regression tests complement existing E2E tests:

Test Type	What It Catches	Example
Selector-based E2E	Element existence, interactions	"Click button works"
Visual Regression	Visual correctness, rendering	"Button actually visible"

Example Regression Caught:

• E2E test: ✅ page.locator('h1') found element
• Visual test: ❌ Screenshot shows blank white screen
• Root Cause: Missing mock data fields caused render failure

Troubleshooting

Test Failure: "Cannot connect to localhost:1420"

# Solution: Start dev server first
npm run dev
# Then in another terminal:
npm run test:visual

No Screenshots Captured

# Check Playwright is installed
npx playwright install chromium

Mock Skills Not Loading

# Verify mock data in src/hooks/useSkills.ts
# Ensure all required Skill fields are present:
# - name, description, location, path
# - content, content_clean
# - references, scripts, metadata

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♿ Accessibility

WCAG 2.1 AA Compliance

This application targets WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance for accessibility.

Current Status: Feature 003 (Keyboard Shortcuts) achieved high accessibility compliance with:

• Full keyboard navigation support
• Screen reader compatibility with ARIA labels
• Focus management and keyboard trap prevention
• Visual focus indicators for all interactive elements

Keyboard Navigation

All features are accessible via keyboard. See Keyboard Shortcuts section above for full reference.

Core Navigation:

• Tab / Shift+Tab: Move focus between interactive elements
• Enter / Space: Activate buttons and links
• Escape: Close modals, clear selections
• Arrow keys: Navigate lists

Screen Reader Support

Tested With:

• VoiceOver (macOS)
• NVDA (Windows)
• JAWS (Windows)

Features:

• Semantic HTML elements (<nav>, <main>, <button>)
• ARIA labels for icon-only buttons
• ARIA live regions for dynamic content
• Focus announcements for state changes

Testing Accessibility

# E2E tests include automated accessibility checks
npm run test:e2e

# Manual testing with screen readers
# - macOS: Cmd+F5 to toggle VoiceOver
# - Windows: Download NVDA (free, open-source)

Automated Tools:

• @axe-core/playwright (E2E tests)
• Chrome DevTools Lighthouse
• WAVE Browser Extension

Accessibility Checklist

Before merging PRs, verify:

• All interactive elements are keyboard accessible
• Focus order is logical and predictable
• Visual focus indicators are clearly visible
• Color contrast meets WCAG AA standards (4.5:1 for text)
• Form inputs have associated labels
• Images have alt text (or alt="" for decorative images)
• Dynamic content changes are announced to screen readers
• No keyboard traps (user can always escape)

See docs/ACCESSIBILITY.md for detailed accessibility guide.

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📚 Documentation

Specifications

• specs/001-core-skill-explorer/spec.md - Core feature specification
• specs/002-ui-redesign/spec.md - UI redesign specification
• specs/IMPLEMENTATION_REALITY.md - Post-mortem audit
• specs/BACKLOG.md - Consolidated roadmap (70 tasks)

Requirements

• docs/requirements/main.md - Requirements entry point
• docs/requirements/technical-architecture.md - Architecture details
• docs/requirements/ui-ux-requirements.md - UI acceptance criteria

Constitutional Principles

• .specify/memory/constitution.md - Project principles (v1.1.0)

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🎨 Design System

Typography Scale

Element	Size	Weight
H1 (Skill Name)	24px (1.5rem)	Bold
H2 (Section)	20px (1.25rem)	Semibold
H3 (Subsection)	16px (1rem)	Semibold
Body	14px (0.875rem)	Normal
Small	12px (0.75rem)	Normal

Color Palette

--color-primary: #4f46e5 /* Indigo 600 */ --color-bg: #f9fafb /* Gray 50 */ --color-surface: #ffffff
  /* White */ --color-text: #111827 /* Gray 900 */ --color-text-muted: #6b7280 /* Gray 500 */
  --color-border: #e5e7eb /* Gray 200 */;

Spacing (8px Grid)

All spacing uses multiples of 8px: 0, 4px, 8px, 16px, 24px, 32px, 40px, 48px

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🤝 Contributing

This project follows strict SDD methodology. Before contributing:

1. Read .specify/memory/constitution.md
2. Review specs/BACKLOG.md for planned work
3. Follow the SDD workflow (no exceptions)
4. All PRs require tests (>80% coverage for new code)
5. No PRs without constitutional compliance statement

Constitutional Requirements:

• All core logic must have >80% test coverage (Principle VII)
• Follow platform design guidelines (Principle I)
• Developer-first design (Principle II)
• Read-only safety (Principle III)
• Cross-platform consistency (Principle IV)

See CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed guidelines (coming in v0.2.0).

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📖 Performance Targets

Metric	Target	Actual (v0.1.0)	Status
Cold start	<2s	~1.2s	✅ Exceeded
Skill scanning (20 skills)	<500ms	~300ms	✅ Exceeded
UI rendering	60fps	60fps	✅ Met
Memory usage	<200MB	~120MB	✅ Exceeded
Markdown rendering	<100ms	~50ms	✅ Exceeded

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🔒 Security

• ✅ Read-only by default: No file modifications
• ✅ Local-only: No network requests
• ✅ Sandboxed file access: Limited to skill directories
• ✅ Content Security Policy: Webview security
• ✅ Input sanitization: All user inputs validated

Security Audit: Planned for v0.4.0 (see BACKLOG: SEC-001)

---

📝 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details (coming in v0.2.0).

---

🚦 Current Status

Version: v0.2.0 (in progress) Branch: 003-keyboard-shortcuts Status: Keyboard Shortcuts Complete ✅

What's Working:

• ✅ Skill discovery and display
• ✅ Metadata parsing (YAML frontmatter)
• ✅ Markdown rendering
• ✅ Trigger analysis
• ✅ Diagram visualization
• ✅ Search and filtering
• ✅ Keyboard shortcuts (all 4 user stories)
• ✅ Testing infrastructure (97.12% coverage)
• ✅ Accessibility (ARIA attributes)

What's Complete (Feature 003):

• ✅ US1: Quick Search Access (Cmd/Ctrl+F)
• ✅ US2: Tab Navigation (Cmd/Ctrl+1-6)
• ✅ US3: List Navigation (Arrow keys)
• ✅ US4: Help Modal (? key)

What's Missing (see BACKLOG.md):

• ⚠️ ESLint/Prettier configuration
• ⚠️ Navigation history
• ⚠️ Skill editing capabilities
• ⚠️ Export/import features

Next Up: Merge to main, plan v0.3.0 features

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📞 Support

For issues and feature requests:

• GitHub Issues: https://github.com/SpillwaveSolutions/skills_viewer/issues

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🎓 Learning Resources

SDD Methodology:

• Local skill: ~/.claude/skills/sdd/
• Greenfield workflow: ~/.claude/skills/sdd/references/greenfield.md
• Command reference: ~/.claude/skills/sdd/references/commands.md

Technologies:

• Tauri Documentation
• React 19 Documentation
• Zustand Documentation
• TailwindCSS Documentation

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Last Updated: 2025-11-10 Document Version: 2.0 (Comprehensive rewrite with SDD documentation)