Enforce performance budgets in CI

SkillDev tools

Performance-budget is a skill that guides an AI agent through setting and checking page weight limits during code review. It covers bundle size and load speed, and distinguishes bundle-size budgets from runtime budgets such as Lighthouse or Core Web Vitals so teams can enforce both.

Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.

Have an agent that can load skills.

Then ask your AI: use the Enforce performance budgets in CI skill

What your AI can do with it

  • Set bundle-size budgets for pages and assets
  • Set runtime budgets such as Lighthouse or Core Web Vitals
  • Distinguish bundle-size budgets from runtime budgets
  • Review CI configuration for budget enforcement
  • Review bundle analysis workflows
  • Check pull requests that add dependencies and assets

Getting started

  1. Have an agent that can load skills.
  2. Add the performance-budget skill to the agent's available skills.
  3. Use the agent when reviewing CI configuration, bundle analysis workflows, or pull requests that add dependencies and assets.

What this skill tells your AI

The instructions your AI receives, as published by thedaviddias/front-end-checklist in skills/performance-budget/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.

Without automated enforcement, performance degrades gradually — each PR adds a small library, each feature adds a few KB, and within months the app that loaded in 2 seconds now takes 5. Performance budgets make regressions visible at PR time rather than after user complaints. Catching 'this PR added 200KB to the bundle' in review is far cheaper than debugging a slow production site.

Quick Reference

  • Define specific thresholds: max bundle size, min Lighthouse score, max LCP time
  • Fail CI when budgets are exceeded to prevent performance regressions
  • Size budgets catch accidental heavy dependencies; Lighthouse budgets catch runtime regressions
  • Start with loose budgets and tighten them as you optimize
  • Monitor production RUM so regressions are caught after deploy, not only in CI

Check

Does this project have performance budgets defined? Check package.json and CI configuration for size or Lighthouse thresholds.

Fix

Set up bundle size limits with size-limit and Lighthouse CI assertions in the CI pipeline.

Explain

Explain performance budgets, how to choose appropriate thresholds, and how to enforce them with size-limit and Lighthouse CI.

Code Review

Inspect CI workflows, package.json, and Lighthouse or bundle-size config for explicit thresholds. Flag repos where budgets are missing, too loose to catch regressions, or unenforced on pull requests. Check whether production RUM and alerting are wired to detect regressions after release.


For full implementation details, code examples, and framework-specific guidance, see references/rule.md.

Rule page: https://frontendchecklist.io/en/rules/testing/performance-budget

Signals

GitHub stars
74k
Forks
7k
Last commit
Aug 2026

ahel review

  • K1binfo
    installs-packages (in references/rule.md)

Automated review, not a security audit. Ruleset v1+k2.

Questions

What is the difference between bundle-size budgets and runtime budgets?
Bundle-size budgets limit page weight, such as the size of JavaScript bundles and assets. Runtime budgets cover load speed metrics like Lighthouse scores or Core Web Vitals. The skill helps distinguish the two so teams can enforce both.
When should the skill be used?
Use it when reviewing CI configuration, bundle analysis workflows, or pull requests that add dependencies and assets.
Advanced
Item type
skill
Key
performance-budget
Source
github.com/thedaviddias/front-end-checklist