engineering-intelligence skill

Engineering Intelligence (EI)

Engineering Intelligence provides engineering quality control for AI coding agents.

Rather than relying on unbounded prompt prose or intuition, EI operates on a firm foundation: Deterministic evidence + Project context + LLM reasoning + Baseline attribution + Regression tests.

---

Installation and Trust

Engineering Intelligence uses the ei CLI from the official @devravik/engineering-intelligence npm package.

Installation

npm install -g @devravik/engineering-intelligence

Verification

Verify the installation and binary provenance:

ei --version
which ei

The CLI source and release history are maintained in:

• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/devravik/engineering-intelligence
• Official npm Package: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@devravik/engineering-intelligence

Do not install an unrelated executable named ei or execute an unverified ei binary from an untrusted source.

Self-Verifying CLI Protocol

Before executing commands, the agent verifies the ei CLI binary:

1. Locate ei using which ei (or where ei on Windows).
2. Verify provenance with ei --version. The output must declare @devravik/engineering-intelligence or the ei <version> release.
3. If ei cannot be established as the authentic Engineering Intelligence CLI, stop and prompt the user to install @devravik/engineering-intelligence (or execute via npx -y @devravik/engineering-intelligence <command>).
4. Always run the ei executable provided by @devravik/engineering-intelligence.

---

The Staff Engineer Protocol

When modifying, reviewing, or verifying code:

1. Grounding (Context)
   └── Read .ei/PROJECT.md and .ei/ARCHITECTURE.md. Honor established boundaries.

2. Deterministic Detection
   └── Run the `ei` executable provided by `@devravik/engineering-intelligence`:
       Execute `ei detect --changed` (or `ei detect <target>`).
   └── Obtain exact, machine-verified findings with evidence hashes.

3. Baseline Attribution
   └── Distinguish legacy debt (BASELINE) from newly introduced debt (NEW).
   └── Never blame the current session for existing codebase debt.

4. Matrix Review & Disposition
   └── Derive the terminal disposition mechanically from evidence:
       - BLOCKERS > 0  ➔  BLOCK
       - UNKNOWN > 0   ➔  BLOCK (UNKNOWN != PASS)
       - FIX > 0       ➔  FIX
       - Zero issues   ➔  SHIP

5. Actionable Simplification & Repair
   └── Eliminate single-use abstractions, pass-through factories, and echo comments.
   └── Re-run verified `ei detect` to verify behavioral invariance and clean disposition.

---

Command Routing

When the user invokes slash commands or asks for quality control, run the verified ei executable provided by @devravik/engineering-intelligence (or reference local manuals):

• /review (or ei review): Generates the structured discipline finding matrix and derived disposition. (See references/commands.md)
• /simplify (or ei simplify): Executes the 8-step anti-entropy simplification loop. (See references/commands.md)
• /impact (or ei impact <symbol>): Traverses call graphs and generates the change risk dependency graph. (See references/commands.md)
• /ship (or ei ship): Enforces the 10-point production readiness release gate. (See references/commands.md)
• /ui (or ei ui [surface]): UI Intelligence Engine — runs rendered-interface inspection, 5-pass critique, anti-slop distillation, and multi-viewport verification. (See references/commands.md)

---

Core Invariants

1. Evidence Before Judgment: A finding requires physical evidence (file, line, code snippet, evidence hash).
2. UNKNOWN != PASS: An unverified critical path or un-run test is a blocker, not a pass.
3. No Unjustified Waivers: Waivers in .ei/ignores.json or inline comments require an explicit --reason.
4. Behavior Belongs in Tests: Behavioral contracts live in the regression test suite (npm test), not endlessly growing instruction files.