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Update instructions for object naming - #26

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JamesY-Appian:naming-convention-improvement
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Update instructions for object naming#26
JamesY-Appian wants to merge 1 commit into
appian:mainfrom
JamesY-Appian:naming-convention-improvement

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What this changes

SKILL.md file:

  • Included an additional row in the Resource Reference Map to describe which reference files to load when deciding object naming
  • Updated the common failure modes wrong naming convention section to refer to this new row instead of a specific file

Failure mode addressed

When asked to audit naming conventions, Claude performed a multi-step failure:

  1. Initial audit (incorrect): Generated a report flagging 21 naming violations across the application, resulting in only 83% compliance
  2. Retry loop: When asked to cite sources, Claude realized it had consulted only data-modeling.md (covering database and field naming only)
  3. Fabrication: Without documented standards for Web APIs, Robotic Tasks, and Documents, Claude invented standards and applied them as violations
  4. Over-enforcement: Claude flagged optional type indicators in constants (e.g., JYS_INT_CHARS_PER_NOTE) as non-compliant, when the documented standard is actually JYS_CHARS_PER_NOTE with type indicators being optional enhancements
  5. Final output (corrected): After manually loading all 7 reference files and re-auditing, the correct compliance rate was 99% with only 1 actual critical violation

The core problem: Claude reported violations for naming standards that don't exist in the Appian skill documentation, and failed to load the conventions where appropriate.

How this fixes it

  • Makes naming conventions an explicitly defined operation with appropriate references, preventing ad-hoc file loading of the data modelling file whilst forgetting the naming conventions for other objects.
  • Claude now understands that some object types do not have defined naming conventions (Web APIs/Robotic Tasks/Folders), skipping violation checking for fabricated standards and instead understanding that a consistent pattern = compliant

Notes

  • This fix is knowledge-only — no reference files are modified, only the skill file
  • The fix is minimal — 2 sections, ~2 lines
  • The fix is backward compatible — no breaking changes to existing reference files or workflows

Minor changes to the SKILL.md file:
- Included an additional row in the Resource Reference Map to describe what to do when deciding object naming
- Updated the common failure modes wrong naming convention section to refer to this new row

Signed-off-by: JamesY-Appian <james.young@appian.com>
@JamesY-Appian
JamesY-Appian requested a review from a team as a code owner July 10, 2026 06:06
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