r-package-development SKILL.md skillA
r-package-development from posit-dev/skills is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add posit-dev/skills/r-package-development@v1.2Pins v1.2 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- posit-dev/skills
- Path
r-lib/r-package-development/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 4
- Latest version
- v1.2, committed May 20, 2026
- First version recorded
- Mar 5, 2026
- Size
- 2,866 bytes
- Repository stars
- 556
- License
- MIT
R package development with devtools, testthat, and roxygen2. Use when the user is working on an R package, running tests, writing documentation, or building package infrastructure.
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# R package development
## Key commands
```
# Run code in the package
Rscript -e "devtools::load_all(); code"
# Run all tests
Rscript -e "devtools::test()"
# Run all tests for files starting with {name}
Rscript -e "devtools::test(filter = '^{name}')"
# Run all tests for R/{name}.R
Rscript -e "devtools::test_active_file('R/{name}.R')"
# Run a single test "blah" for R/{name}.R
Rscript -e "devtools::test_active_file('R/{name}.R', desc = 'blah')"
# Redocument the package
Rscript -e "devtools::document()"
# Check pkgdown documentation
Rscript -e "pkgdown::check_pkgdown()"
# Check the package with R CMD check
Rscript -e "devtools::check()"
# Format code
air format .
```
## Coding
* Always run `air format .` after generating code.
* Use the base pipe operator (`|>`) not the magrittr pipe (`%>%`).
* Use `\() ...` for single-line anonymous functions. For all other cases, use `function() {...}`.
## Testing
- Tests for `R/{name}.R` go in `tests/testthat/test-{name}.R`.
- All new code should have an accompanying test.
- If there are existing tests, place new tests next to similar existing tests.
- Strive to keep tests minimal with few comments.
…Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add posit-dev/skills/r-package-development@sha256:b63848348d85c58cThe line at the top of this page pins the label v1.2, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_utsfspzezbcvgosp)
4 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 4 versions of this file, between Mar 5, 2026 and May 20, 2026, about one every 25 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v1.2 latest | 2026-05-20 | 1973c05 | 2,866 B | A | view · diff |
| v1.2 | 2026-05-08 | 87093f6 | 2,865 B | A | view · diff |
| v1.1 | 2026-04-20 | 98af5ce | 2,880 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260305.a6334d4 | 2026-03-05 | a6334d4 | 2,822 B | A | view |
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (2866 bytes)
- pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
- pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- pass: No credential-shaped string
- pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- pass: No text hidden with inline styles
- pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
- pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
- pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
- pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
- pass: No link to a raw IP address
- pass: No script tag
Source
posit-dev/skills · 556 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-02 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_utsfspzezbcvgosp GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=posit-dev/skills/r-package-development GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/b63848348d85c58c0f0704ef5e442fb7967df56a0bd09b4afb7d6fdb4edf7b05
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.