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JuliusBrussee

Surgical Patch skill

Fix bugs and small behavior changes at the narrowest responsible layer. Use when regression proof, preserved surrounding behavior, and task-relevant tests matter.

$npx skills add JuliusBrussee/caveman --skill surgical-patch
GitHub stars
118,877
Pack installs
4.8M
Alyn Score
82/99
Updated
3 h ago
License
Apache-2.0
Coding Productivity Testing

Install Surgical Patch

Pick your agent. Every command is ready to paste.

$npx skills add JuliusBrussee/caveman --skill surgical-patch

The open skills CLI detects your agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and 70+ more) and installs to the right folder. Add -g to install globally.

01

Install it

Run the command above, or upload the folder in Claude.

02

Ask naturally

Describe the task. Your agent loads surgical-patch when the request matches its description.

03

Name it if needed

If it does not trigger, say “use the surgical-patch skill”. In Codex, type $surgical-patch.

The skill itself

SKILL.md

GitHub

Surgical patch

Reproduce failure first when economical; otherwise capture strongest available evidence.

  • Trace symptom to responsible mechanism.
  • Change narrowest layer that owns incorrect behavior.
  • Preserve unrelated behavior and user changes.
  • Avoid cleanup, renaming, and abstraction outside fix.
  • Add only regression proof relevant to task.

Run focused proof plus nearest affected gate. Stop when failure is fixed and regression proof passes.

Tips for Surgical Patch

  • • Start a fresh session after installing so your agent picks up the new skill.
  • • It is part of a pack with 22 skills. Install only the ones you need with --skill to keep triggers precise.
  • • If two skills overlap, mention the one you want by name.

Questions about Surgical Patch

What does the Surgical Patch skill do?

Fix bugs and small behavior changes at the narrowest responsible layer. Use when regression proof, preserved surrounding behavior, and task-relevant tests matter.

How do I install Surgical Patch?

Run "npx skills add JuliusBrussee/caveman --skill surgical-patch" in your project. The skills CLI installs it for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and 70+ other agents. In Claude on the web, upload the skill folder as a ZIP under Customize > Skills.

Does Surgical Patch work in Cursor and Codex?

Yes. Surgical Patch uses the open SKILL.md format, so it works in Claude Code, Claude, Cursor, OpenAI Codex, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and other agents that support agent skills.

Is Surgical Patch free?

Surgical Patch is open source on GitHub under the Apache-2.0 license. It is free to install; check the license before commercial use.

Who made Surgical Patch?

Surgical Patch is published by JuliusBrussee in the JuliusBrussee/caveman repository, together with 21 other skills.

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