thoughtbot

explain

Explain what a piece of code does — a specific file, class, or method in close detail, or a user-facing flow as a concise system overview. What it does and why, not whether it's good.

prior-art

Discover how a codebase already handles a specific concern — search broadly, find every instance, and assess consistency. The "how does this app do X?" tool.

challenge

Pressure-test an assumption, decision, or inherited constraint — Socratic cross-examination that forces you to defend or abandon your position

hard-news

Prepare to deliver difficult technical news to a client — a conversational prep session before the hard conversation happens

offboard

Walk through the Designer/Developer wrap-up checklist for offboarding a client engagement — conversationally, one item at a time.

rubber-duck

Think out loud about a problem, decision, or approach — Socratic friction to help you find clarity, not sympathy

slice

Turn a feature into well-defined, independently shippable slices — whether it's an epic that needs breaking apart or a single story that needs sharpening into a job story

Code & Development Listed

Socratic code review and refactoring session — whether it's your own code, a teammate's PR, or something you inherited. Leads you to see the issues through questions, names smells and moves precisely, then closes with a concrete plan.

standup

Write a client update — identify what was done, what's next, and surface risks before they become surprises. End of day, start of day, or end of week.

Testing & QA Listed

test-driven-development

Strict red-green-refactor TDD workflow for implementing features, fixing bugs, or changing behavior in Rails applications. Enforces the discipline of writing a failing test before any production code. Use whenever you want to implement with TDD — whether a new feature, a bugfix, a refactor, or any behavior change.