COMPILE_CMD/TEST_CMD assume a runnable test suite exists #56

What

The generated-skill template uses {{COMPILE_CMD}} and {{TEST_CMD}} as if every repo has a runnable build and test command:

• create-dev-loop.md:262-263 — the Phase 3 "Verify the build is clean" fenced block
• create-dev-loop.md:406 — Phase 6, "Run {{TEST_CMD}} after every fix. Do not push a broken build."
• create-dev-loop.md:530 — the Phase 8 rebase edge case

Their Step 4 substitution-table rows offer no guidance for a repo that has neither:

Compare LINT_CMD ("omit section if absent") and EXTERNAL_SIGNAL_CMD (explicitly handles the manual-validation case) — both tell the generator what to do when the thing doesn't exist. COMPILE_CMD and TEST_CMD don't.

Why it matters

create-dev-loop itself is such a repo — CLAUDE.md states "There is no automated test suite" — and so is any docs-only or config-only repo. The generator currently has to improvise: the existing create-dev-loop-dev-loop skill renders Phase 6 as "Re-run the Phase 3 manual validation checklist after every fix" and the build block as a grep placeholder-consistency check with a parenthetical noting no test command exists. That improvisation works, but it is re-derived per repo instead of being encoded, which is exactly the drift the template is supposed to prevent.

PR #28 fixed this class of problem for the self-review anchor by introducing EXTERNAL_SIGNAL_LABEL / EXTERNAL_SIGNAL_CMD. The build/test commands were not given the same treatment.

Suggested fix

Give both rows explicit no-build-system / no-test-suite guidance, and make the Phase 3 block and the Phase 6 / Phase 8 sentences degrade gracefully (e.g. conditional blocks, or substitute the project's validation checklist the same way EXTERNAL_SIGNAL_CMD already does). Keep phase numbers stable and add table rows for any new placeholder.

Research grounding

RESEARCH.md §8 (prompt/model drift): forward-only template fixes leave existing skills silently lagging, and a rule re-derived per generation rather than encoded is the same failure mode by a different route. No finding speaks directly to build-command modeling — flagging that honestly rather than reaching for one.

Provenance

Found during a Stage A documentation-accuracy sweep; deferred out of that cycle's PR because fixing it properly is a template design change (likely a new conditional or placeholder), not doc drift.

drafted by Claude on behalf of Daniel Stephenson