Standards

What standards are

Standards are Markdown files under toolbox/standards/ that define rules Claude follows when writing code. They cover architecture, naming, security, testing, git hygiene, and more. Claude reads the applicable standards before writing any code — this is enforced by a shell hook that blocks file edits until standards are loaded. The hook is active in any project that has .claude/memory/MEMORY.md (created by /new-project). Projects without this file bypass the gate silently.

How they load

Per session, once. When Claude is about to write code for the first time in a session, it runs /load-standards:

1. Reads standards/universal/DIGEST.md (a one-page summary of all 9 universal standards)
2. Detects the project stack from .claude/memory/stack.md
3. Reads the applicable stack standards
4. Sets a session flag — the pre-tool hook allows edits from this point forward

Standards are never re-read during the same session.

Available stacks

Stack	What's covered
typescript-react	Components, naming, styling, testing, TypeScript conventions
typescript-nextjs	Routing, rendering (SSR/SSG/ISR), API routes — inherits React standards
go	Package design, error handling, testing, toolchain
python-fastapi	Route structure, dependency injection, validation, testing
drizzle-postgres	Schema design, migrations, query patterns, type safety

Adding standards for a new stack

Say:

add standards for [stack name]

Claude runs /add-stack-standards — it asks about the stack's conventions, then writes a new directory under toolbox/standards/stacks/<stack-name>/ and wires it into the load-standards skill.

See Standards Reference / Stacks for detail on stack inheritance and file format.