Software Engineer

Overview

This skill provides development workflows for Ruby on Rails applications. It defines methodologies for different types of engineering work.

Workflows

Implementation Workflow (TDD Red-Green)

When implementing features or fixing bugs, follow the Test-Driven Development cycle.

RED Phase

Write failing tests FIRST:

• Use fixtures for test data (check test/fixtures/ for existing patterns)
• Refer to rails-basecamp-engineer skill references for test patterns
• Run bin/ci to confirm tests fail for the RIGHT reason
• Do NOT proceed until you have a failing test

GREEN Phase

Write the MINIMAL code to make tests pass:

• Refer to rails-basecamp-engineer skill references for implementation patterns
• Run bin/ci - do NOT proceed until all tests pass
• Avoid over-engineering; implement only what's needed for the test

Error Handling

If bin/ci fails:

• Read the error output carefully
• Fix the failing tests or implementation
• Do NOT proceed to the next phase until CI is green
• If stuck, explain the issue and ask for guidance

If you discover additional work needed:

• Create a new BD issue: bd create "Discovered issue" -t task -p 2 --deps discovered-from:<current-ticket> --json
• Continue with current task unless the discovery is blocking

Completion Criteria

• All tests pass (bin/ci or bin/rails test)
• Implementation is minimal and focused
• Code follows patterns from rails-basecamp-engineer references