Philosophy

The "Tiny Skills" Manifesto

Goldsmith is built on a simple idea: small, focused tools build trust faster than big, complex ones.

Why Not a Monolithic Interface?

Traditional bioinformatics tools often try to do everything. They have steep learning curves, complex UIs, and require extensive training. For GO curators who are already experts in biology, the technology shouldn't be the bottleneck.

Our Principles

Trust Through Transparency

Each skill does one thing and explains what it's doing. When Claude creates an annotation with /go-try, it shows you every ontology term it chose and why. When /go-validate finds an issue, it explains what's wrong in plain language. You're never left wondering what happened behind the scenes.

CLI Resiliency

Terminal skills are robust. They don't break when a browser updates, they don't depend on a web server being up, and they work anywhere Python runs. A curator who learns to use /go-try today will be able to use it the same way next year.

Composability

Skills are independent but work together naturally:

/go-try  →  /go-validate  →  /go-check  →  /go-pr

Use all four in sequence, or just the ones you need. Skip validation if you're exploring. Skip QC if you're prototyping. Each skill stands on its own.

Feedback-Driven Development

Every skill is a conversation starter. When a curator uses /go-try and the output isn't quite right, that's direct, actionable feedback. Small skills are easy to iterate on — fix one skill without touching the others. This tight feedback loop means Goldsmith gets better fast.

Beginner-Friendly, Expert-Capable

Setup should take minutes, not hours. The first annotation should happen in the first session. But the tools don't hold you back — experienced curators can chain skills, customize output, and build complex models just as easily.

The BERIL Pattern

Goldsmith follows the BERIL (Beginner-friendly Environment for Research and Interactive Learning) pattern:

1. One setup script that handles everything
2. Environment file that persists configuration
3. Immediate productivity — launch Claude and start working
4. Progressive disclosure — start simple, discover more as you need it

What We Don't Do

• No web interface — the terminal is the interface
• No database — files in output/ are the source of truth
• No accounts — your GitHub identity is enough
• No training required — describe what you want in plain English