skill-seekers-reference/docs/reference/CODE_QUALITY.md

Code Quality Standards

Version: 2.7.0 Last Updated: 2026-01-18 Status: ✅ Production Ready

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Overview

Skill Seekers maintains high code quality through automated linting, comprehensive testing, and continuous integration. This document outlines the quality standards, tools, and processes used to ensure reliability and maintainability.

Quality Pillars:

1. Linting - Automated code style and error detection with Ruff
2. Testing - Comprehensive test coverage (1200+ tests)
3. Type Safety - Type hints and validation
4. Security - Security scanning with Bandit
5. CI/CD - Automated validation on every commit

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Linting with Ruff

What is Ruff?

Ruff is an extremely fast Python linter written in Rust that combines the functionality of multiple tools:

• Flake8 (style checking)
• isort (import sorting)
• Black (code formatting)
• pyupgrade (Python version upgrades)
• And 100+ other linting rules

Why Ruff:

• ⚡ 10-100x faster than traditional linters
• 🔧 Auto-fixes for most issues
• 📦 Single tool replaces 10+ legacy tools
• 🎯 Comprehensive rule coverage

Installation

# Using uv (recommended)
uv pip install ruff

# Using pip
pip install ruff

# Development installation
pip install -e ".[dev]"  # Includes ruff

Running Ruff

Check for Issues

# Check all Python files
ruff check .

# Check specific directory
ruff check src/

# Check specific file
ruff check src/skill_seekers/cli/doc_scraper.py

# Check with auto-fix
ruff check --fix .

Format Code

# Check formatting (dry run)
ruff format --check .

# Apply formatting
ruff format .

# Format specific file
ruff format src/skill_seekers/cli/doc_scraper.py

Configuration

Ruff configuration is in pyproject.toml:

[tool.ruff]
line-length = 100
target-version = "py310"

[tool.ruff.lint]
select = [
    "E",    # pycodestyle errors
    "W",    # pycodestyle warnings
    "F",    # pyflakes
    "I",    # isort
    "B",    # flake8-bugbear
    "SIM",  # flake8-simplify
    "UP",   # pyupgrade
]

ignore = [
    "E501",  # Line too long (handled by formatter)
]

[tool.ruff.lint.per-file-ignores]
"tests/**/*.py" = [
    "S101",  # Allow assert in tests
]

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Common Ruff Rules

SIM102: Simplify Nested If Statements

Before:

if condition1:
    if condition2:
        do_something()

After:

if condition1 and condition2:
    do_something()

Why: Improves readability, reduces nesting levels.

SIM117: Combine Multiple With Statements

Before:

with open('file1.txt') as f1:
    with open('file2.txt') as f2:
        process(f1, f2)

After:

with open('file1.txt') as f1, open('file2.txt') as f2:
    process(f1, f2)

Why: Cleaner syntax, better resource management.

B904: Proper Exception Chaining

Before:

try:
    risky_operation()
except Exception:
    raise CustomError("Failed")

After:

try:
    risky_operation()
except Exception as e:
    raise CustomError("Failed") from e

Why: Preserves error context, aids debugging.

SIM113: Remove Unused Enumerate Counter

Before:

for i, item in enumerate(items):
    process(item)  # i is never used

After:

for item in items:
    process(item)

Why: Clearer intent, removes unused variables.

B007: Unused Loop Variable

Before:

for item in items:
    total += 1  # item is never used

After:

for _ in items:
    total += 1

Why: Explicit that loop variable is intentionally unused.

ARG002: Unused Method Argument

Before:

def process(self, data, unused_arg):
    return data.transform()  # unused_arg never used

After:

def process(self, data):
    return data.transform()

Why: Removes dead code, clarifies function signature.

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Recent Code Quality Improvements

v2.7.0 Fixes (January 18, 2026)

Fixed all 21 ruff linting errors across the codebase:

Rule	Count	Files Affected	Impact
SIM102	7	config_extractor.py, pattern_recognizer.py (3)	Combined nested if statements
SIM117	9	test_example_extractor.py (3), unified_skill_builder.py	Combined with statements
B904	1	pdf_scraper.py	Added exception chaining
SIM113	1	config_validator.py	Removed unused enumerate counter
B007	1	doc_scraper.py	Changed unused loop variable to _
ARG002	1	test fixture	Removed unused test argument
Total	21	12 files	Zero linting errors

Result: Clean codebase with zero linting errors, improved maintainability.

Files Updated

1. src/skill_seekers/cli/config_extractor.py (SIM102 fixes)
2. src/skill_seekers/cli/config_validator.py (SIM113 fix)
3. src/skill_seekers/cli/doc_scraper.py (B007 fix)
4. src/skill_seekers/cli/pattern_recognizer.py (3 × SIM102 fixes)
5. src/skill_seekers/cli/test_example_extractor.py (3 × SIM117 fixes)
6. src/skill_seekers/cli/unified_skill_builder.py (SIM117 fix)
7. src/skill_seekers/cli/pdf_scraper.py (B904 fix)
8. 6 test files (various fixes)

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Testing Requirements

Test Coverage Standards

Critical Paths: 100% coverage required

• Core scraping logic
• Platform adaptors
• MCP tool implementations
• Configuration validation

Overall Project: >80% coverage target

Current Status:

• ✅ 1200+ tests passing
• ✅ >85% code coverage
• ✅ All critical paths covered
• ✅ CI/CD integrated

Running Tests

All Tests

# Run all tests
pytest tests/ -v

# Run with coverage
pytest tests/ --cov=src/skill_seekers --cov-report=term --cov-report=html

# View HTML coverage report
open htmlcov/index.html

Specific Test Categories

# Unit tests only
pytest tests/test_*.py -v

# Integration tests
pytest tests/test_*_integration.py -v

# E2E tests
pytest tests/test_*_e2e.py -v

# MCP tests
pytest tests/test_mcp*.py -v

Test Markers

# Slow tests (skip by default)
pytest tests/ -m "not slow"

# Run slow tests
pytest tests/ -m slow

# Async tests
pytest tests/ -m asyncio

Test Categories

1. Unit Tests (800+ tests)

   • Individual function testing
   • Isolated component testing
   • Mock external dependencies

2. Integration Tests (300+ tests)

   • Multi-component workflows
   • End-to-end feature testing
   • Real file system operations

3. E2E Tests (100+ tests)

   • Complete user workflows
   • CLI command testing
   • Platform integration testing

4. MCP Tests (63 tests)

   • All 18 MCP tools
   • Transport mode testing (stdio, HTTP)
   • Error handling validation

Test Requirements Before Commits

Per user instructions in ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md:

"never skip any test. always make sure all test pass"

This means:

• ✅ ALL 1200+ tests must pass before commits
• ✅ No skipping tests, even if they're slow
• ✅ Add tests for new features
• ✅ Fix failing tests immediately
• ✅ Maintain or improve coverage

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CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions Workflow

Skill Seekers uses GitHub Actions for automated quality checks on every commit and PR.

Workflow Configuration

# .github/workflows/ci.yml (excerpt)
name: CI

on:
  push:
    branches: [main, development]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main, development]

jobs:
  lint:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v4
        with:
          python-version: '3.11'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: pip install ruff

      - name: Run Ruff Check
        run: ruff check .

      - name: Run Ruff Format Check
        run: ruff format --check .

  test:
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest]
        python-version: ['3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13']

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v4
        with:
          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}

      - name: Install package
        run: pip install -e ".[all-llms,dev]"

      - name: Run tests
        run: pytest tests/ --cov=src/skill_seekers --cov-report=xml

      - name: Upload coverage
        uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3
        with:
          file: ./coverage.xml

CI Checks

Every commit and PR must pass:

1. Ruff Linting - Zero linting errors
2. Ruff Formatting - Consistent code style
3. Pytest - All 1200+ tests passing
4. Coverage - >80% code coverage
5. Multi-platform - Ubuntu + macOS
6. Multi-version - Python 3.10-3.13

Status: ✅ All checks passing

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Pre-commit Hooks

Setup

# Install pre-commit
pip install pre-commit

# Install hooks
pre-commit install

Configuration

Create .pre-commit-config.yaml:

repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/astral-sh/ruff-pre-commit
    rev: v0.7.0
    hooks:
      # Run ruff linter
      - id: ruff
        args: [--fix]
      # Run ruff formatter
      - id: ruff-format

  - repo: local
    hooks:
      # Run tests before commit
      - id: pytest
        name: pytest
        entry: pytest
        language: system
        pass_filenames: false
        always_run: true
        args: [tests/, -v]

Usage

# Pre-commit hooks run automatically on git commit
git add .
git commit -m "Your message"
# → Runs ruff check, ruff format, pytest

# Run manually on all files
pre-commit run --all-files

# Skip hooks (emergency only!)
git commit -m "Emergency fix" --no-verify

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Best Practices

Code Organization

Import Ordering

# 1. Standard library imports
import os
import sys
from pathlib import Path

# 2. Third-party imports
import anthropic
import requests
from fastapi import FastAPI

# 3. Local application imports
from skill_seekers.cli.doc_scraper import scrape_all
from skill_seekers.cli.adaptors import get_adaptor

Tool: Ruff automatically sorts imports with I rule.

Naming Conventions

# Constants: UPPER_SNAKE_CASE
MAX_PAGES = 500
DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 30

# Classes: PascalCase
class DocumentationScraper:
    pass

# Functions/variables: snake_case
def scrape_all(base_url, config):
    pages_count = 0
    return pages_count

# Private: leading underscore
def _internal_helper():
    pass

Documentation

Docstrings

def scrape_all(base_url: str, config: dict) -> list[dict]:
    """Scrape documentation from a website using BFS traversal.

    Args:
        base_url: The root URL to start scraping from
        config: Configuration dict with selectors and patterns

    Returns:
        List of page dictionaries containing title, content, URL

    Raises:
        NetworkError: If connection fails
        InvalidConfigError: If config is malformed

    Example:
        >>> pages = scrape_all('https://docs.example.com', config)
        >>> len(pages)
        42
    """
    pass

Type Hints

from typing import Optional, Union, Literal

def package_skill(
    skill_dir: str | Path,
    target: Literal['claude', 'gemini', 'openai', 'markdown'],
    output_path: Optional[str] = None
) -> str:
    """Package skill for target platform."""
    pass

Error Handling

Exception Patterns

# Good: Specific exceptions with context
try:
    result = risky_operation()
except NetworkError as e:
    raise ScrapingError(f"Failed to fetch {url}") from e

# Bad: Bare except
try:
    result = risky_operation()
except:  # ❌ Too broad, loses error info
    pass

Logging

import logging

logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

# Log at appropriate levels
logger.debug("Processing page: %s", url)
logger.info("Scraped %d pages", len(pages))
logger.warning("Rate limit approaching: %d requests", count)
logger.error("Failed to parse: %s", url, exc_info=True)

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Security Scanning

Bandit

Bandit scans for security vulnerabilities in Python code.

Installation

pip install bandit

Running Bandit

# Scan all Python files
bandit -r src/

# Scan with config
bandit -r src/ -c pyproject.toml

# Generate JSON report
bandit -r src/ -f json -o bandit-report.json

Common Security Issues

B404: Import of subprocess module

# Review: Ensure safe usage of subprocess
import subprocess

# ✅ Safe: Using subprocess with shell=False and list arguments
subprocess.run(['ls', '-l'], shell=False)

# ❌ UNSAFE: Using shell=True with user input (NEVER DO THIS)
# This is an example of what NOT to do - security vulnerability!
# subprocess.run(f'ls {user_input}', shell=True)

B605: Start process with a shell

# ❌ UNSAFE: Shell injection risk (NEVER DO THIS)
# Example of security anti-pattern:
# import os
# os.system(f'rm {filename}')

# ✅ Safe: Use subprocess with list arguments
import subprocess
subprocess.run(['rm', filename], shell=False)

Security Best Practices:

• Never use shell=True with user input
• Always validate and sanitize user input
• Use subprocess with list arguments instead of shell commands
• Avoid dynamic command construction

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Development Workflow

1. Before Starting Work

# Pull latest changes
git checkout development
git pull origin development

# Create feature branch
git checkout -b feature/your-feature

# Install dependencies
pip install -e ".[all-llms,dev]"

2. During Development

# Run linter frequently
ruff check src/skill_seekers/cli/your_file.py --fix

# Run relevant tests
pytest tests/test_your_feature.py -v

# Check formatting
ruff format src/skill_seekers/cli/your_file.py

3. Before Committing

# Run all linting checks
ruff check .
ruff format --check .

# Run full test suite (REQUIRED)
pytest tests/ -v

# Check coverage
pytest tests/ --cov=src/skill_seekers --cov-report=term

# Verify all tests pass ✅

4. Committing Changes

# Stage changes
git add .

# Commit (pre-commit hooks will run)
git commit -m "feat: Add your feature

- Detailed change 1
- Detailed change 2

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>"

# Push to remote
git push origin feature/your-feature

5. Creating Pull Request

# Create PR via GitHub CLI
gh pr create --title "Add your feature" --body "Description..."

# CI checks will run automatically:
# ✅ Ruff linting
# ✅ Ruff formatting
# ✅ Pytest (1200+ tests)
# ✅ Coverage report
# ✅ Multi-platform (Ubuntu + macOS)
# ✅ Multi-version (Python 3.10-3.13)

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Quality Metrics

Current Status (v2.7.0)

Metric	Value	Target	Status
Linting Errors	0	0	✅
Test Count	1200+	1000+	✅
Test Pass Rate	100%	100%	✅
Code Coverage	>85%	>80%	✅
CI Pass Rate	100%	>95%	✅
Python Versions	3.10-3.13	3.10+	✅
Platforms	Ubuntu, macOS	2+	✅

Historical Improvements

Version	Linting Errors	Tests	Coverage
v2.5.0	38	602	75%
v2.6.0	21	700+	80%
v2.7.0	0	1200+	85%+

Progress: Continuous improvement in all quality metrics.

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Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Linting Errors After Update

# Update ruff
pip install --upgrade ruff

# Re-run checks
ruff check .

2. Tests Failing Locally

# Ensure package is installed
pip install -e ".[all-llms,dev]"

# Clear pytest cache
rm -rf .pytest_cache/
rm -rf **/__pycache__/

# Re-run tests
pytest tests/ -v

3. Coverage Too Low

# Generate detailed coverage report
pytest tests/ --cov=src/skill_seekers --cov-report=html

# Open report
open htmlcov/index.html

# Identify untested code (red lines)
# Add tests for uncovered lines

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Related Documentation

• Testing Guide - Comprehensive testing documentation
• Contributing Guide - Contribution guidelines
• API Reference - Programmatic usage
• CHANGELOG - Version history and changes

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Version: 2.7.0 Last Updated: 2026-01-18 Status: ✅ Production Ready