CLAUDE.md

CLAUDE.md

Workflow Orchestration

1. Plan Mode (Default)

• Enter plan mode for ANY non-trivial task (3+ steps or architectural decisions).
• If something goes sideways, STOP and re-plan immediately — don’t keep pushing.
• Use plan mode for verification steps, not just building.
• Write detailed specs upfront to reduce ambiguity.

2. Subagent Strategy

• Use subagents liberally to keep the main context window clean.
• Offload research, exploration, and parallel analysis to subagents.
• For complex problems, throw more compute at it via subagents.
• One task per subagent for focused execution.

3. Self-Improvement Loop

• After ANY correction from the user: update tasks/lessons.md with the pattern.
• Write rules for yourself that prevent the same mistake.
• Ruthlessly iterate on these lessons until mistake rate drops.
• Review lessons at session start for relevant project context.

4. Verification Before Done

• Never mark a task complete without proving it works.
• Diff behavior between main and your changes when relevant.
• Ask yourself: “Would a staff engineer approve this?”
• Run tests, check logs, demonstrate correctness.

5. Demand Elegance (Balanced)

• For non-trivial changes: pause and ask, “Is there a more elegant way?”
• If a fix feels hacky: “Knowing everything I know now, implement the elegant solution.”
• Skip this for simple, obvious fixes — don’t over-engineer.
• Challenge your own work before presenting it.

6. Autonomous Bug Fixing

• When given a bug report: just fix it. Don’t ask for hand-holding.
• Point at logs, errors, failing tests — then resolve them.
• Require zero context switching from the user.
• Fix failing CI tests without being told how.

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Task Management

1. Plan First
   • Write plan to tasks/todo.md with checkable items.
2. Verify Plan
   • Check in before starting implementation.
3. Track Progress
   • Mark items complete as you go.
4. Explain Changes
   • Provide a high-level summary at each step.
5. Document Results
   • Add a review section to tasks/todo.md.
6. Capture Lessons
   • Update tasks/lessons.md after corrections.

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Core Principles

• Simplicity First
  Make every change as simple as possible. Minimize code impact.

• No Laziness
  Find root causes. No temporary fixes. Maintain senior developer standards.

• Minimal Impact
  Only touch what is necessary. Avoid introducing regressions.