shinpr/claude-code-workflows/external-resource-context

External Resource Context

Purpose

Repository evidence does not contain every external resource surrounding a system. This skill captures, in a deterministic location, the access methods to resources outside the repository so downstream work (design, planning, implementation, review) can reach them without repeatedly rediscovering access details.

Resources covered: design origin (where the canonical visual specification lives), design system (component library and tokens), guidelines (usage docs, accessibility rules), visual verification environment (how to confirm rendering), database schema source, migration history, secret store location, API schema source (OpenAPI / proto / GraphQL SDL), mock environment, IaC source, environment configuration.

Storage Locations (Two-Tier)

Single Source of Truth Rule

The project tier owns environment facts. Feature-tier sections list only feature-specific identifiers (node id within the design source, specific endpoint path within the API, specific IaC module name) and reference project-tier entries by label; URLs, MCP names, and access commands remain in the project-tier file. When the environment changes, only the project-tier file is updated.

Example feature-tier entry uses the table format defined in references/template.md: a row with the project-tier label in the first column and the feature-specific identifier in the second column.

Reference Protocol (For Downstream Consumers)

Before investigating the repository for an external fact, check whether it is already recorded:

1. Read docs/project-context/external-resources.md (if present) to learn what is available and how to access it.
2. Read the target UI Spec or Design Doc's ## External Resources Used section for feature-specific identifiers.
3. Use the access method declared in the project tier (e.g., the named MCP, the URL, the file path) to fetch the actual resource content.

When the file is absent or the resource is unreachable, continue from governing and repository evidence. Each consumer records the limitation in its applicable output.

Capturing and Updating Records

Capture only resources needed by the current decision. Reuse supplied access details and repository records, verify them within current authority, and ask only for missing information that prevents that decision. Follow references/hearing.md for evidence, questions and storage.

Output Format

Use references/template.md for a compact project record. Preserve existing labels referenced by consumers; include only relevant entries with their access details and source evidence.

For feature-tier sections inside UI Spec or Design Doc, the heading text "External Resources Used" is fixed; the heading level matches the parent document's natural structure (h2 in UI Spec where it is a sibling of other top-level sections, h3 in Design Doc where it sits under Background and Context).

References

• references/hearing.md — Decision-specific capture and storage
• references/frontend.md — Frontend domain axes
• references/backend.md — Backend domain axes
• references/api.md — API contract domain axes
• references/infra.md — Infrastructure domain axes
• references/template.md — Project-tier and feature-tier structure templates