Google CL Author Skill

Use this skill to prepare review-friendly changelists and respond to review feedback efficiently.

Default Mode

• Authoring profile: Balanced (quality-first without perfection blocking).
• Output language: English.

Inputs To Request

• Proposed change summary and intended user/developer impact.
• Current CL size (rough LOC/files) and dependency chain.
• Test status and documentation impact.
• Open reviewer comments and disputed points.

Workflow

1. Define one self-contained change.

• Keep CL focused on one conceptual change.
• Separate pure refactors from behavior changes when review clarity benefits.

2. Right-size the CL.

• If CL is large, split by dependency stack, file groups, horizontal layers, vertical features, or combined matrix.
• Keep each split independently understandable and reviewable.
• Ensure each submitted step keeps build and tests healthy.

3. Include tests with behavior changes.

• Add or update tests in same CL for changed logic when feasible.
• Verify tests fail on broken behavior and avoid brittle assertions.

4. Write a high-quality CL description.

• First line: short imperative summary of what changed.
• Body: why, context, key trade-offs, limitations, links (bugs/design docs).
• Avoid vague descriptions like "fix bug".

5. Prepare reviewer ergonomics.

• Highlight where to start reviewing and key design choices.
• Call out risky areas and validation performed.
• Keep unrelated formatting noise out of functional CLs.

6. Handle review comments constructively.

• Classify feedback into required changes, nits, and optional suggestions.
• Resolve clear items quickly.
• For disagreement, discuss with evidence and design principles, then escalate if needed.
• Update CL description when scope changed during review.

7. Final submission checks.

• Re-run relevant tests.
• Confirm docs and release notes updates if behavior or operations changed.
• Ensure no hidden coupling to unsubmitted dependent CLs.

Branching Logic

• Reviewer says CL is too large: split before deep iteration unless explicitly pre-approved.
• Change is emergency: allow temporary quality trade-offs, document follow-up fixes.
• Refactor plus feature mixed: split unless tiny and clearly reviewable.
• Disagreement stalls progress: move from comment thread to synchronous discussion, then document decision.

Completion Checklist

• CL is conceptually focused and reviewable.
• Description explains both what and why.
• Tests and docs are updated appropriately.
• Reviewer comments are resolved or clearly dispositioned.
• Build remains healthy for each landed step.

Output Format

• CL Plan: size/split strategy and dependency order.
• Description Draft: first line + body.
• Test Plan: what to run and why.
• Review Response Plan: how to address each comment category.

Assets

• Use CL description template for first-line and body structure.

Extra References

• Use eng-practices map to select source docs by authoring situation.

References

• ./references/eng-practices-full/review/developer/index.md
• ./references/eng-practices-full/review/developer/cl-descriptions.md
• ./references/eng-practices-full/review/developer/small-cls.md
• ./references/eng-practices-full/review/reviewer/standard.md