vvvv-skills

Skills for AI coding agents to master the vvvv gamma ecosystem.

What This Is

This repository contains agent skills — structured knowledge packages that AI coding agents load automatically when assisting with vvvv gamma development. Each skill covers a specific topic (Spreads, custom nodes, shaders, etc.) and follows the open Agent Skills standard.

Skills work with any compatible coding AI agent, including Claude Code, OpenAI Codex CLI, Cursor, Windsurf, GitHub Copilot, and many others.

vvvv gamma is a live programming environment for .NET — programs run continuously while you build them. C# source files are compiled by vvvv itself via Roslyn and take effect without restart. The ecosystem spans 3D/2D rendering, hardware control (DMX, lasers, depth cameras, robotics), networking (OSC, MQTT, WebSocket), computer vision, audio, and the full .NET NuGet package catalog.

Installation

Via skills.sh (recommended)

npx skills add tebjan/vvvv-skills

Manual Installation

Clone the repo and copy the skills/ contents into your agent's skills directory:

# Claude Code (Windows)
git clone https://github.com/tebjan/vvvv-skills %TEMP%\vvvv-skills
xcopy /E /I %TEMP%\vvvv-skills\skills\* %USERPROFILE%\.claude\skills\

# Claude Code (Mac/Linux)
git clone https://github.com/tebjan/vvvv-skills /tmp/vvvv-skills
cp -r /tmp/vvvv-skills/skills/* ~/.claude/skills/

Each skill folder (e.g. vvvv-fundamentals/, vvvv-shaders/) must be placed directly inside ~/.claude/skills/ so that each SKILL.md is one level deep. You can also copy skills into a project-local .claude/skills/ directory for per-project scope.

Available Skills

Skill	Description
vvvv-fundamentals	Core concepts — data types, execution model, pads, links, node browser
vvvv-spreads	Spread<T> and SpreadBuilder<T> — iteration, mapping, filtering, zipping, Span conversion
vvvv-custom-nodes	Writing C# node classes — ProcessNode, Update(), pins, change detection, NodeContext services
vvvv-patching	Visual programming — dataflow patterns, regions, patch organization
vvvv-dotnet	.NET integration — NuGet packages, .csproj config, vector type interop, async patterns
vvvv-shaders	SDSL shaders — TextureFX, shader mixins, compute shaders, ShaderFX composition
vvvv-node-libraries	Library project setup — AssemblyInitializer, service registration, ImportAsIs config, node factories
vvvv-channels	Public channels — IChannelHub, [CanBePublished], hierarchical propagation, subscriptions, bang channels
vvvv-editor-extensions	Editor plugins — .HDE.vl naming, Command nodes, SkiaWindow types, docking, Session API
vvvv-troubleshooting	Error diagnosis — C# node issues, shader compilation failures, runtime problems

How It Works

Once installed, skills activate automatically when the AI agent detects relevant context in your vvvv gamma project. The agent uses each skill's description field to decide when to load it — no manual invocation needed.

In Claude Code, each installed skill also becomes available as a slash command (e.g. /vvvv-shaders, /vvvv-custom-nodes) for explicit activation.

Example tasks the agent can help with:

• "How do I process a Spread with LINQ?"
• "Create a stateful counter node"
• "Write an SDSL shader that blends two textures"
• "Set up a new node library project"

AI Agent Workflow

When the project uses source project references (.csproj), vvvv's live compilation enables a tight feedback loop with AI agents:

1. Agent writes .cs files — ProcessNode classes, static methods, shader files
2. vvvv auto-recompiles — on file save, Roslyn compiles source into in-memory assemblies
3. Nodes hot-swap — updated nodes replace old ones in the running program
4. User sees results live — visual output, 3D scenes, hardware signals update in real-time

No build step is needed for source project references — vvvv handles compilation internally. For projects using pre-compiled DLLs, the agent runs dotnet build and the user restarts vvvv. Either way, small modular nodes (each a single C# class) compose into complex systems through visual patching, making it practical to build and iterate on individual pieces with an AI agent.

Contributing

Adding a New Skill

1. Create a directory under skills/ with a descriptive name (lowercase, hyphens)

2. Add a SKILL.md with YAML frontmatter:

   ---
   name: vvvv-your-topic
   description: What this skill does and when to use it. Be specific — agents use this to decide when to activate.
   license: CC-BY-SA-4.0
   compatibility: Designed for coding AI agents assisting with vvvv gamma development
   metadata:
     author: Your Name
     version: "1.0"
   ---
   
   Your instructions here (under 500 lines).

3. Add supporting files (examples.md, reference.md, templates/) as needed

4. Reference supporting files from SKILL.md so the agent knows when to load them

Guidelines

• One topic per skill — focused skills compose better than large ones
• Keep SKILL.md under 500 lines — move details to supporting files
• Progressive disclosure — metadata (name + description) is always loaded; SKILL.md body loads on activation; supporting files load on demand. Put "when to use" info in description, not the body.
• Don't explain general programming — AI agents already know C#, .NET, LINQ. Only add vvvv-specific knowledge.
• Write descriptions in third person — "Helps write..." not "I help you..."
• Test with real tasks — ask an AI agent to do vvvv work and verify the skill activates correctly

See Agent Skills Specification for the full format reference.

Skill Structure Reference

skills/your-skill/
├── SKILL.md           # Required — frontmatter + instructions
├── examples.md        # Optional — code examples (loaded on demand)
├── reference.md       # Optional — detailed reference (loaded on demand)
└── templates/         # Optional — files the agent can copy/adapt
    └── template.cs

Resources

Skill Development

• Agent Skills Specification — SKILL.md format, frontmatter fields, progressive disclosure, directory structure
• Agent Skills Documentation Index — complete docs sitemap (fetch this for full reference)
• skills.sh — Open Agent Skills Ecosystem — browse, install, and publish skills
• skills-ref Validation Library — validate SKILL.md frontmatter and structure (skills-ref validate ./my-skill)

If you use Claude Code, the built-in /skill-creator command can scaffold and validate new skills interactively.

vvvv gamma

• vvvv gamma Documentation
• Writing Nodes (ProcessNode Guide)
• Node Factories
• vvvv Package Catalog

License

CC BY-SA 4.0 — see LICENSE for details.