Skills For Real Engineers: pricing, features, alternatives

Skills For Real Engineers is Matt Pocock's daily skill pack for coding agents. The README calls it skills for real engineering, not vibe coding: small, composable files you can hack, instead of a process framework that owns the whole pipeline. The GitHub repo mattpocock/skills is MIT. The API listed about 252.7K stars on 2026-09-06. Product pages: aihero.dev/skills and skills.sh/mattpocock/skills.

Install as a Claude Code plugin (claude plugins install mattpocock-skills) or copy editable files with npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills. Do not install both in the same repo: you will get every skill twice. After install, run /setup-matt-pocock-skills once per repo to pick an issue tracker (GitHub, Linear, or local files), triage labels, and where docs live.

Compare Agent Skills if you want Addy Osmani's lifecycle commands, or Using Superpowers for another portable pack.

Key Features

Grilling before code: /grill-me (non-code) and /grill-with-docs interview you until the design tree is resolved. /grill-with-docs also builds a shared language into CONTEXT.md and ADRs.
Wayfinder for work that does not fit one session: /wayfinder maps a large chunk of work as decision tickets on the tracker and resolves them one at a time.
User-invoked vs model-invoked: slash commands such as /grill-me only run when you type them. Model-invoked skills such as /tdd, /code-review, and /grilling can be reached automatically. A user-invoked skill may call a model-invoked one, never another user-invoked skill.
Implement with TDD and review: /implement drives /tdd at agreed seams and closes with /code-review (Standards axis plus Spec axis, parallel sub-agents).
Triage and tickets: /triage moves issues through a state machine. /to-spec and /to-tickets turn a conversation into a spec and tracer-bullet tickets.

Limitation: these skills do not replace judgment. /improve-codebase-architecture surveys deepening opportunities; it will not untangle a genuinely old codebase for you. The pack also does not ship a model. You still pay Claude Code, Codex, or whoever you already use.

Use Cases

Stop the agent building the wrong thing: grill before the first file changes.
Keep a domain language: /grill-with-docs so the agent stops using twenty words for one term.
Plan work larger than one context window: /wayfinder on the issue tracker, then /implement ticket by ticket.

Pricing

The skills are MIT licensed and free. You pay only the tokens of the agent you already run. Newsletter signup on the README claims about 60,000 developers; treat that as a vendor figure, not an audited metric.

Getting Started

Pick one install path. Claude Code plugin: claude plugins install mattpocock-skills. Other agents: npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills and include setup-matt-pocock-skills.
In the repo, run /setup-matt-pocock-skills.
For the next change, run /grill-with-docs before /implement.

First-party resource: github.com/mattpocock/skills.

Frequently Asked Questions

Plugin or files?

Plugin is a managed, read-only bundle that updates when Matt ships. npx skills add copies files you own. Pick one.

Which agents?

Claude Code via the official marketplace plugin. Codex and others via the skills CLI. A native Codex plugin is listed as on the roadmap in the repo ADR, not as shipping.

Do I need GitHub issues?

No. Setup asks for GitHub, Linear, or local files.

Alternatives

Agent Skills: 25 skills and lifecycle slash commands from Addy Osmani.
Using Superpowers: another engineering skill pack with planning and review gates.
Claude Code: the agent these skills most often ride on.

Tips

Include setup-matt-pocock-skills when the installer asks which skills to copy.
Use /grill-with-docs on every non-trivial change, not only at repo start.
Fire /wait-what the moment a message does not land, instead of restating the whole plan.

Conclusion

If your agent keeps shipping the wrong shape, this pack's bet is alignment and feedback loops, not a heavier process owner. Start with grilling, then wayfinder when the work no longer fits one session.