Instruction file imported from danielroth1/TowerDefense (.github/instructions/project-content.instructions.md). Copyright stays with the author.

Project Content And Skill Metadata

Use these rules when updating portfolio project summaries, project metadata, or the shared skill taxonomy.

Project README structure

• Keep project READMEs concise and portfolio-oriented, not full product manuals.
• Start with primary calls to action such as <github>, <website>, or download buttons when they exist.
• Follow with one <highlight> box that gives short personal or project context. Inside it, mention the most important skills with inline <skill> tags so a reader immediately knows the core technologies at a glance. Prefer a structure like:

  <highlight title="Personal note" shadow>
  A brief sentence or two about personal motivation or project context.
  It's written in <skill>Language</skill> and uses <skill>Framework</skill> for the …
  </highlight>
  

• After the highlight, summarize the project in plain language and then move quickly to the concrete technical stack.
• Prefer a recognizable structure taken from the stronger project pages in this repo: short intro, tech-stack section, key technical highlights, then screenshots or videos.
• For technically rich projects, prefer grouped stack sections over long prose paragraphs.

README content focus

• Focus on what was actually built and which technologies matter architecturally.
• Mention the relevant skills inline with <skill>...</skill> tags when they are central to the project.
• Do not turn the README into exhaustive internal documentation; deep architecture and operations detail belongs in dedicated docs like the ERP docs section.
• Keep feature descriptions concrete. Prefer statements like "uses Kafka for domain events" over generic claims like "scalable messaging".

Screenshots and media

• If screenshots or videos already exist in the project folder, prefer integrating them instead of describing the UI abstractly.
• Place media near the paragraph that explains its technical relevance.
• For images stored next to the README, use relative paths such as ./screenshot.jpg.
• Use clear alt text and explicit widths so the project page remains tidy.
• Use videos for motion-heavy interactions and screenshots for architecture, dashboards, forms, and admin views.

projects.json rules

• Keep description short and card-friendly. It should explain the real project, not copy placeholder text from another entry.
• The skills list in src/data/projects.json should be balanced and public-facing. Do not dump every library or transitive dependency into project badges.
• Choose enough skills to represent the major layers of the system: language, backend or frontend framework, persistence, messaging, platform, and observability when relevant.
• For larger systems, around 12 to 18 skills is a good upper bound unless there is a strong reason to exceed it.

skills.json rules

• Every skill used in a project entry should exist verbatim in src/data/skills.json.
• Prefer existing canonical labels when possible. Do not create near-duplicates such as Entity Framework Core if the shared taxonomy already uses EF Core.
• Add language or framework skills to the closest matching language or frontend group.
• Add cloud, container, messaging, observability, and deployment skills to the DevOps group unless the repo already has a better established grouping.
• Keep ordering intentional because the project filter UI and badge color mapping depend on group order.

Synchronization rules

• If you introduce a new skill in a README and expect it to appear as a project badge or filter, add it to src/data/skills.json first.
• If you revise a project significantly, review all three surfaces together: the project README, the projects.json entry, and skills.json.
• Validate exact string matches after edits. Badge styling and skill ordering depend on exact label equality.

ERP Demo example

• ERP Demo is a good reference for a technically dense project summary.
• Keep the README focused on the stack and the role of each layer.
• Use the screenshots to connect visible product surfaces with the backend, messaging, database, and observability tooling behind them.
• Keep the project card skill list balanced even though the underlying implementation uses more technologies than the card can reasonably display.