# skills

A self-contained set of development-cycle skills and agents for
Claude Code. Originally distilled from the AILang project's
in-tree `skills/` directory and generalised so it can carry the
same discipline across any project.

The plugin is **mechanics**: pipeline shape, hard-gates, TDD,
RED-first bug fixing, agent-template, working-tree-as-quarantine,
status protocol. It does **not** know your project's paths,
build commands, vocabulary, or domain-specific contracts. Those
live in a small per-project profile file
(`.claude/dev-cycle-profile.yml`) plus the project's `CLAUDE.md`.

## What's in the box

Eight skills, each with the agents it primarily dispatches:

| Skill | Trigger | Output | Mandatory? |
|-------|---------|--------|------------|
| `brainstorm` | New cycle starting | spec under the configured spec dir | Hard-gate before plan |
| `planner` | New iteration within an open cycle | plan under the configured plan dir | Hard-gate before implement |
| `implement` | Plan exists | code + tests, uncommitted in working tree | Standard iteration path |
| `audit` | Cycle closing OR baseline drift suspected | drift report + regression report | Mandatory at cycle close |
| `debug` | Bug observed | RED test in working tree + cause analysis | Mandatory RED-first for any bug |
| `fieldtest` | Orchestrator-dispatched post-audit, surface-touching cycle | example fixtures + friction spec | Optional |
| `docwriter` | API surface stable across N cycles | rustdoc / docstring sweep | Optional |
| `boss` | User types `/boss` | autonomous-orchestrator session — dispatches the other skills until done-state or bounce-back | User-invoked, never auto-dispatched |

Vocabulary is configurable. AILang calls a cycle a *milestone*
and a sub-cycle an *iteration*; your project may call them
*release* and *sprint*, or *epic* and *story*, or whatever fits.

## The two-layer split

This repo (the **plugin**) carries everything that is universal:

- Pipeline form: `design → plan → execute → review → close`
- Hard-gates between phases
- TDD as an independent inner-loop discipline
- RED-first bug fixes
- Agent template (frontmatter / Iron Law / standing reading /
  process / status / output / rationalisations / red flags)
- Status protocol: `DONE / DONE_WITH_CONCERNS / PARTIAL / BLOCKED
  / NEEDS_CONTEXT`
- Working-tree-as-quarantine and only-orchestrator-commits
- main HEAD sacrosanct
- No nested subagent dispatch (Claude Code platform constraint)
- No orphan agents

Your project carries a small **profile** that fills the slots:

- Paths: spec dir, plan dir, design ledger, code roots, bench dir
- Commands: build, test, lint, regression scripts
- Vocabulary: cycle name, sub-cycle name, ledger-entry name
- Naming: counter prefix vs date prefix vs flat, slug shape
- Standing reading list: concrete files, per role
- Git: issue tracker kind, close marker, main-protection policy
- Pipeline customisations: which phases are mandatory, when
  optional ones fire

See `docs/profile-schema.md` for the full schema and
`templates/project-profile.yml` for a copy-and-fill starting point.

## Install

See `INSTALL.md`. In short: clone, run `install.sh`, then drop
a `dev-cycle-profile.yml` into each project that should use the
plugin.

## Status

Migration from AILang's in-tree `~/dev/ailang/skills/` is in
progress. The `boss` skill is the landed pilot; the remaining
seven skills follow. See `docs/migration.md` for the per-skill
and per-agent migration checklists and the expected final
layout.