AI Developer Guide

Instructions for AI coding assistants working on this project.

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Why This System

AI coding assistants are powerful but need structure to be effective. This system has three layers:

1. The Cage — The AI runs inside a devcontainer. It can only see the project directory. Your machine, SSH keys, and other projects are protected.
2. The Plan — The AI creates a plan before writing code. You review it. This prevents hallucinations, scope drift, and wasted work.
3. The Tests — Validation catches mistakes. The AI runs checks after each phase and self-corrects before you review.

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Documents

Document	Purpose	When to Read
WORKFLOW.md	End-to-end flow from idea to implementation	When starting new work
PLANS.md	Plan structure, investigation guidance, templates	When creating or implementing a plan
DEVCONTAINER.md	How to work inside the devcontainer	When running commands or installing tools
GIT.md	Git safety rules and platform operations	When doing git operations
TALK.md	AI-to-AI testing protocol	When working with a tester

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Start Here

When starting a new session, read files in this order:

1. Read all project-*.md files — project-specific setup, tools, commands, conventions
2. Read all template-*.md files (if any) — tech stack from installed templates
3. Read WORKFLOW.md when starting new work
4. Read PLANS.md when creating or implementing a plan
5. Reference DEVCONTAINER.md, GIT.md, TALK.md as needed

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File Naming Convention

Prefix	Meaning	Portable?	Created by
(none)	Universal workflow docs	Yes — copy to any project	Copied from template
project-*	Project-specific setup and conventions	No	Project maintainer
template-*	Tech stack from installed template	No	dev-template command
plans/	Implementation plans	No	AI + maintainer

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Plans Folder

Implementation plans are stored in plans/:

plans/
├── backlog/      # Approved plans waiting for implementation
├── active/       # Currently being worked on (max 1-2 at a time)
└── completed/    # Done - kept for reference

File Types

Type	When to use
PLAN-*.md	Solution is clear, ready to implement
INVESTIGATE-*.md	Needs research first, approach unclear

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Quick Reference

When user says "I want to add X" or "Fix Y":

1. Create INVESTIGATE-*.md or PLAN-*.md in plans/backlog/
2. Ask user to review the plan
3. Wait for approval before implementing

When user approves a plan:

1. Ask: "Do you want to work on a feature branch? (recommended)"
2. Create branch if yes
3. Move plan to plans/active/
4. Implement phase by phase
5. Ask user to confirm after each phase

When implementation is complete:

1. Move plan to plans/completed/
2. Create Pull Request if on feature branch

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Project-Specific Instructions

See CLAUDE.md in the repo root for always-loaded rules (workflow enforcement, container rule).

See project-*.md files in this directory for project-specific setup, tools, and conventions.