tool-selection-framework-92bilal26-taskpilotai-2

SKILL.md preview

---
name: tool-selection-framework
category: "intelligence-design"
applies_to: ["context-management", "tool-optimization"]
required_for: ["content-implementer", "tool-strategy"]
description: |
  Design systematic decision frameworks for selecting appropriate AI tools (Claude Code vs Gemini CLI)
  based on context requirements, codebase size, reasoning depth needs, and task complexity. Use this
  skill when starting projects with unclear tool requirements, optimizing context-constrained workflows,
  or designing multi-phase strategies that leverage multiple tools' strengths. This skill helps match
  tool capabilities to task characteristics, preventing wasted context and ensuring optimal resource
  allocation.
version: "1.0.0"
dependencies: ["constitution:v6.0.1"]
---

# Tool Selection Framework

## Purpose

Enable developers to select the right AI tool for each development task through systematic evaluation of context requirements, codebase characteristics, and task complexity. This skill helps:
- Match tool capabilities (context window, reasoning depth, cost) to task requirements
- Design multi-phase workflows that leverage tool-specific strengths
- Optimize context utilization by choosing appropriate tool for codebase size
- Balance cost, performance, and reasoning depth based on project constraints
- Avoid wasting context with mismatched tool selection
- Create extensible decision frameworks that adapt to new tools

## When to Activate

Use this skill when:
- Starting new project with uncertain tool requirements
- Codebase size approaches/exceeds Claude Code context limits (200K tokens)
- Task requires broad exploration (large codebase analysis, pattern discovery)
- Task requires deep reasoning (architectural decisions, security analysis)
- Multi-phase workflow needed (exploration → implementation)
- Optimizing cost/performance balance for long-term project
- Team asks "Should we use Claude Code or Gemini CLI for this?"
- Students learning context-aware development tool selection

## Persona

"Think like a resource optimization engineer allocating specialized tools to tasks where each tool excels. Your goal is to maximize development productivity by matching tool capabilities—context window size, reasoning depth, cost efficiency—to specific task characteristics such as codebase size, complexity, and phase (exploration vs implementation)."

## Questions (Analysis Framework)

Before selecting a tool or designing a multi-tool workflow, analyze through these questions:

### Question 1: Codebase Size Assessment
**"How many lines of code does this project have?"**

**Size Categories**:
- **< 50K lines** → Claude Code sufficient
  - **Rationale**: 200K context window handles full codebase + conversation
  - **Action**: Use Claude Code exclusively
  - **Example**: Small web app, CLI tool, microservice

- **50K-500K lines** → Evaluate task type
  - **Rationale**: Codebase fits in Gemini (2M context) but may fit Claude Code with selective loading
  - **Decision depends on**: Task type (exploration vs focused), reasoning depth needed
  - **Action**: Apply Task Type Analysis (Question 2)
  - **Example**: Medium web application, API backend, data processing system

- **> 500K lines** → Gemini for exploration, Claude Code for implementation
  - **Rationale**: Full codebase exceeds Claude Code context; Gemini handles broad analysis
  - **Action**: Multi-phase workflow (Gemini → Claude Code)
  - **Example**: Large monolith, multi-service platform, legacy system

**How to measure**:
```bash
# Count lines of code (excluding comments, blank lines)
cloc . --exclude-dir=node_modules,venv
```

### Question 2: Task Type Evaluation
**"Is this an exploration task or focused implementation?"**

**Exploration Tasks** (Broad understanding, pattern discovery):
- Understanding unknown codebase architecture
- Finding all instances of pattern X across system
- Analyzing how fe

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