T
typescript-best-practices
About typescript-best-practices
A TypeScript best-practices skill for developers and coding agents, centered on disciplined type modeling and validation at data boundaries. It also covers testing and structured diagnostics.
Key features
- 01Model variants with discriminated unions
- 02Use branded types for primitives
- 03Validate external data at boundaries
- 04Prefer unknown over any
- 05Use exhaustive checks
- 06Favor real tests and structured logs
Use cases
- 01Design safer TypeScript domain types
- 02Validate data entering an application
- 03Review TypeScript code for type discipline
Install
Copy the command and run it in a terminal.
$
npx skills add https:/After installing, type/typescript-best-practicesin Claude Code to confirm it loaded.
Bundled filesreferences/patterns.md
Details
From the project READMETypeScript best practices
Apply the type-system-discipline principle skill first.
| Rule | Summary |
|---|---|
| Discriminated unions | Model variants with a kind literal discriminant so impossible states can't be represented. No optional-field bags. |
| Branded types | Brand primitives with & { readonly __brand: "X" } so they can't be mixed up. Validate once at the boundary. A brand comes from a verifying type guard (input is AgentId), never from as. |
| Constructive modeling | Build the shape so the illegal value can't be constructed. [T, ...T[]] for non-empty, [T, T][] for even length, start plus duration for a range. Not a runtime guard, not a wish for refinement types. |
| Simplest total type | Keep T[] while every operation on it stays total. Strengthen to NonEmpty<T> only where the loose type forces !, a cast, or a "should never happen" throw. |
unknown over any | External data is unknown. |
| Schemas before guards | Before hand-writing a property-by-property type guard, use the repository's runtime schema library and infer the type from the schema, such as z.infer. |
No as casts | Every as is a runtime crash waiting. Cast only after validation. |
| Narrowing hierarchy | Discriminant switch > in operator > typeof/instanceof > user-defined type guard > as. |
| Type guards | Must verify the claim. A lying guard is worse than as because the bug hides behind a name that says it's safe. Name them isX or hasX. |
| Exhaustiveness | Inline const _exhaustive: never = x; in default arms so the compiler errors when a new variant is added. |
satisfies over as | Validates the value without widening literal types. |
| Boundary validation | Parse where data crosses in, into a named domain type. Record<string, unknown> (however spelled) stops at that parse. Trust types inside. See the boundary-discipline principle skill. |
| Schema-derived types | Reach for Pick/Omit/Parameters/ReturnType/Awaited/typeof before declaring a new interface. |
| Object args | Pass objects, not positional, so argument order is self-documenting. Skip on hot paths (per-frame render, tokenizers, parsers). |
| Real tests | Don't mock what you can run. Prefer the framework's real test primitives with leak/disposable checks, and verify UI in a running build. Mock only what you can't run locally. |
| Structured telemetry | Prefer structured logger diagnostics with enough context to debug from an id. No console.log in shipped code. |
Examples: references/patterns.md.
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