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taste

Evaluate code, architecture, product, design, and communication quality through calibrated 5-dimension judgment framework for Claude Code.

What It Does

taste is a Claude Code skill that answers “is this good?” rather than “does this work?” It evaluates quality across five interconnected dimensions: code consistency, architecture resilience, product composability, design intentionality, and communication clarity.

The skill provides quick verdicts with highest-leverage fixes for individual files, deep dimension-by-dimension analysis for large codebases, taste-informed generation with explicit rationale, and judgment-oriented comparisons between approaches.

The Five Dimensions

Each dimension balances a core tension and asks an ultimate test question:

  • Code: Consistency over cleverness — can a tired engineer understand this?
  • Architecture: Resilience over elegance — will this survive the next requirement changes?
  • Product: Composability over completeness — does removing this make it better?
  • Design: Intentionality over decoration — does every pixel earn its place?
  • Communication: Teaching over describing — can a newcomer understand intent without asking?

Use Cases

Designers and product managers use taste to review design system components, PRD quality, and product architecture. Engineers leverage it for code and architecture reviews. Teams apply it to compare implementation approaches before committing. It works with code snippets, design files, architecture docs, or product requirements.

Who Benefits

Product designers assessing component intentionality, design system curators evaluating consistency, product managers writing clearer PRDs, and tech leads building resilient systems all benefit from taste’s calibrated judgment framework.

Frequently asked questions

What does the taste skill do?
taste evaluates whether code, architecture, product, design, and communication are *good* by analyzing five interconnected dimensions. It gives quick verdicts with fixes, deep reviews of large targets, taste-informed generation, and judgment-oriented comparisons between approaches.
How do I use taste in Claude Code?
Ask naturally: "How's the taste of this code?", "Deep review these files", "Refactor with good taste", or "Which implementation has better taste?" The skill triggers on "taste", subjective quality signals like "feels off" or "overengineered", or explicit quality goals.
What are the five dimensions?
Code (consistency), Architecture (resilience), Product (composability), Design (intentionality), and Communication (teaching). Each dimension owns specific territory and balances a core tension with an ultimate test question.
When should I use taste vs performance audits?
Use taste for subjective quality judgment—whether design choices are intentional, code is understandable, or architecture will evolve well. Don't use it for bug fixes, performance optimization, security audits, or functional requirements with no quality signal.
How is taste different from code review?
taste focuses on judgment quality across dimensions, not functional correctness. It evaluates consistency, resilience, composability, intentionality, and teaching—replacing gut feelings with calibrated principles and evidence.
Can taste compare design approaches?
Yes. taste compares implementations and explicitly labels which differences are taste judgments versus objective tradeoffs, helping teams make informed decisions about quality priorities.
Does taste work for design and product, not just code?
Absolutely. taste evaluates design system components, product requirements documents, architecture proposals, and communication quality—not just code. Each dimension applies across disciplines.
How do I install taste?
Copy the taste/ directory to your Claude Code skills path: `cp -r taste/ ~/.claude/skills/taste/`. The skill appears automatically in Claude Code's available skills.

Glossary

Engineering Taste
Calibrated judgment about whether code, architecture, product, design, or communication is good—balancing principles like consistency, resilience, composability, intentionality, and teaching quality.
Dimension
One of five interconnected quality lenses: Code, Architecture, Product, Design, or Communication. Each dimension owns specific territory and evaluates a core tension.
Cognitive Load
The mental effort required to understand code, design, or communication. Lower cognitive load means clearer intent and fewer mistakes by tired engineers.
Composability
Product quality principle where features work together seamlessly; removing one doesn't break others. Composable products are better than bloated ones.
Intentionality
Design quality principle where every visual element, interaction, and decision has clear purpose. Decoration without intention reduces clarity and trust.

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