um-ref

um-ref is a Claude Code skill that teaches Claude about the Ultra Messaging product.

It is primarily focused on customer-facing knowledge, not internals, but there are some internals information that can be helpful to users and is therefore being made open.

Prerequisites

• Claude Code installed (~/.claude exists).
• git on your PATH.
• A Unix-like environment (Linux, macOS, WSL).

Install

Clone this repo somewhere convenient:

git clone https://github.com/UltraMessaging/um-ref

Then, in that directory, launch Claude Code and ask:

Please install the um-ref skill from this repo.

Claude will copy the um-ref/ subdirectory into ~/.claude/skills/um-ref/, including the VERSION file that future updates and merges rely on.

The um-ref-merge companion skill

Updating your installed skill safely, and contributing changes back, both go through a 3-way merge. That logic lives in a separate skill, um-ref-merge. Install it once:

cd $HOME/.claude/skills
git clone https://github.com/UltraMessaging/um-ref-merge

If you never plan to update or contribute, you can skip this. Most users should install it.

Environment variables

Customers

Download the document zip file for your UM version from https://ultramessaging.github.io/um_doc.html and expand it locally.

Set:

• LBM_INC — the include/lbm directory of your UM installation. Example: $HOME/UMP_6.17.1.1/Linux-glibc-2.17-x86_64/include/lbm
• LBM_DOC — the doc directory of the document tree you downloaded above.

Add these to your .bashrc (or equivalent). Verify with:

Do you have access to the /um-ref skill and the associated include and doc files?

Internal Informatica

Set LBM_REPO to point at the lbm directory of a UM source tree. Example:

export LBM_REPO=$HOME/Perforce/sfordsf_REL_6_17_1/29West/lbm

Add to .bashrc. Verify with:

Do you have access to the /um-ref skill and the associated source files?

Update

To pick up newer skill content while preserving any local edits, git pull this repo and ask Claude:

Please update my um-ref skill from this repo.

Claude uses the um-ref-merge skill to perform a 3-way merge, protecting customizations you (or Claude on your behalf) made to your active skill.

Customize

You are encouraged to have Claude enhance your local skill as you use it:

Do you have knowledge that should be added to the /um-ref skill? Any new deep dive files?

Claude edits ~/.claude/skills/um-ref/ in place. Those edits are yours until you either overwrite them (via an update) or contribute them back.

Contribute

Pull requests are welcome. When you have local edits you'd like to contribute:

Please merge my um-ref skill changes back to this repo.

Claude uses the um-ref-merge skill to produce a 3-way merge on a branch in your clone, ready for you to open a pull request via the GitHub web UI or gh pr create.

Normal Usage

I often start a session with:

Using the /um-ref skill, please blah blah blah...

Claude should also invoke the skill automatically when it detects UM-related keywords in your prompt (e.g. lbm, transport_lbtrm_*, umestored, DRO).

Structure

The total amount of UM knowledge is large enough that it is a waste of context (and tokens) for Claude to read all of it every time. The SKILL.md file has a high-level tutorial on UM; additional files are deeper dives into specific areas that SKILL.md directs Claude to consult as needed.

For some lookups, Claude goes straight into your source tree or headers directory (referenced by LBM_REPO or LBM_INC). For example, that's where it accesses lbm.h for the C API. This ensures Claude sees the right version.

A handful of files are generated from UM source by Python tools (gen_java_api.py, gen_dotnet_api.py) and refreshed periodically via build.sh. Those files — java_api.md, dotnet_api.md, plus the bundled config-data.xml, index-ume.m4, and index-dro.m4 — must not be hand-edited; the merge tooling always takes the upstream copy.

Versioning

The um-ref/VERSION file records which skill release the installed content corresponds to. This is the anchor um-ref-merge uses to identify BASE for 3-way merges. Do not edit it by hand.

This skill was developed with UM version 6.17.1. It should be useful for older versions but might sometimes think a feature is available that isn't present in your version. In my experience this rarely causes a problem. If you see it happening frequently, you can ask Claude to examine the release notes doc for your version and update the skill accordingly.