Development Workflow

A structured approach to software development that emphasizes understanding, minimal implementation, testing, documentation, and clean commits.

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Overview

Step 1: Focus Problem    → Understand before coding
Step 2: Prevent Overdev  → Only build what's needed (YAGNI)
Step 3: Test First       → Red-Green-Refactor
Step 4: Document         → Keep it clear and current
Step 5: Smart Commit     → Conventional Commits

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Step 1: Focus Problem (/focus-problem)

Goal: Thoroughly understand the problem before writing code.

Checklist

• What is the user need? (Who / What / Why)
• What defines success? (How to verify completion?)
• What are the boundaries? (What NOT to do?)
• What files/modules are affected?
• Is there existing similar functionality?

Use Explore Agent

(Use the active provider's native dispatcher; Claude pseudo-code is shown below.)

Before dispatch, preserve the bounded exploration request and expected result. If Claude's Agent tool is unavailable or withheld, or Codex's spawn_agent interface is unavailable or withheld, the maximum depth is reached, or a concurrency limit rejects the call, do not retry or substitute assumptions. Return an incomplete dispatch_request and do not advance the workflow.

Choose exactly one provider-native form:

• Claude Code: Agent(subagent_type="Explore", model="haiku", prompt="<bounded prompt>")
• Codex CLI: spawn_agent(agent_type="explorer", task_name="workflow_explore", message="<bounded prompt>")

Agent(subagent_type="Explore", model="haiku", prompt="""
Explore the codebase for: [feature name] (thoroughness: medium)
Find related files, similar implementations, and test patterns.
""")

In Codex, send the same exploration request through spawn_agent(...); do not invoke the Claude example as a second dispatch.

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Step 2: Prevent Overdev

Goal: Ensure minimal viable implementation (YAGNI principle).

Red Flags

"We might need this later..." → Don't build it now
"Just in case..." → YAGNI
"Let's make it generic..." → Solve current problem only
"We should create a framework..." → Write concrete implementation

Checklist

• Is there immediate need for this?
• Is this over-abstracted?
• Can this be simpler?
• Are we adding unnecessary dependencies?

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Step 3: Test First (/test-first)

Goal: Strict TDD (Red-Green-Refactor).

Red Phase (Write Failing Test)

• Write a test for expected behavior
• Run test, confirm it fails
• Failure message clearly indicates the issue

Green Phase (Minimal Implementation)

• Write minimum code to pass test
• Don't optimize yet
• Run test, confirm it passes

Refactor Phase

• Clean up code (keep tests passing)
• Remove duplication
• Improve naming
• Simplify logic

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Step 4: Document

Goal: Ensure code is understandable.

Checklist

• README describes purpose and usage
• Public APIs have docstrings
• Complex logic has comments explaining "why"
• No obvious-comment clutter

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Step 5: Smart Commit (/smart-commit)

Goal: Clean version history with Conventional Commits.

Format

<type>(<scope>): <description>

Types

• feat - New feature
• fix - Bug fix
• docs - Documentation
• test - Tests
• refactor - Code restructure

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Quick Start

# Run full workflow
/workflow

# Or individual steps
/focus-problem "implement user login"
/test-first
/smart-commit

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Related Skills

Skill	Purpose
/focus-problem	Step 1: Problem analysis
/test-first	Step 3: TDD cycle
/smart-commit	Step 5: Create commit
/plan	Break down complex tasks