Conductor Development Skill

This skill enables Claude to work effectively on projects managed by the Conductor framework - a spec-driven, structured development methodology.

When This Skill Activates

Claude should automatically apply this skill when:

• A conductor/ directory exists in the project root
• The user mentions "tracks", "conductor", "spec", or "plan" in the context of development
• Files like conductor/tracks.md, conductor/workflow.md, or conductor/product.md are present
• The user runs any /conductor:* command

Core Principles

1. The Plan is the Source of Truth: All work must be tracked in plan.md
2. Spec-Driven Development: Understand the spec before implementing
3. Test-Driven Development: Write tests before implementation (Red-Green-Refactor)
4. High Code Coverage: Target >80% code coverage for all modules
5. Track Progress: Update task status markers ([ ] → [~] → [x])

Project Structure Understanding

When working on a Conductor project, familiarize yourself with:

conductor/
├── product.md              # Product vision and goals
├── product-guidelines.md   # Brand voice and communication style
├── tech-stack.md          # Technology choices and constraints
├── workflow.md            # Development methodology and procedures
├── tracks.md              # Master list of all tracks
├── code_styleguides/      # Language-specific style guides
│   ├── general.md
│   ├── python.md
│   └── [others]
└── tracks/                # Individual track folders
    └── <track_id>/
        ├── spec.md        # Feature specification
        ├── plan.md        # Implementation plan with tasks
        └── metadata.json  # Track metadata

Task Execution Protocol

When implementing a task from a Conductor plan:

1. Select and Mark Task

• Find the next pending task (marked [ ]) in the track's plan.md
• Update its status to in-progress: [~]

2. Follow TDD Workflow

1. Red Phase: Write failing tests that define expected behavior
2. Green Phase: Write minimal code to make tests pass
3. Refactor: Improve code while keeping tests green

3. Complete the Task

1. Verify test coverage (>80%)
2. Follow code style guidelines from conductor/code_styleguides/
3. Commit with semantic message (e.g., feat(auth): Add login form)
4. Mark task complete: [x] and append commit SHA
5. Commit the plan update: conductor(plan): Mark task 'X' as complete

4. Phase Completion

When completing a phase:

1. Run full test suite
2. Provide manual verification steps to user
3. Create checkpoint commit with verification report
4. Update plan.md with checkpoint SHA

Status Markers

• [ ] - Pending (not started)
• [~] - In Progress (currently working)
• [x] - Completed (done with commit SHA)

Available Commands

Remind users of available Conductor commands:

• /conductor:setup - Initialize Conductor in a project
• /conductor:new-track - Create a new feature/bug track
• /conductor:implement - Execute tasks from the current track
• /conductor:status - Show project progress
• /conductor:revert - Git-aware revert of tracks/phases/tasks

Context Loading

Before starting any implementation work, always load:

1. conductor/workflow.md - For task lifecycle procedures
2. conductor/tech-stack.md - For technology constraints
3. The active track's spec.md - For requirements
4. The active track's plan.md - For current task status

Git Integration

Conductor tracks work through Git:

• Each task completion = one code commit + one plan commit
• Phase checkpoints create special commits with git notes
• SHAs are recorded in plan.md for traceability
• Use semantic commit messages following the project's conventions

Error Handling

If something goes wrong:

1. Do not proceed without user confirmation
2. Announce the failure clearly
3. Suggest recovery options (e.g., /conductor:revert)
4. Wait for user instructions

Quality Gates

Before marking any task complete, verify:

• All tests pass
• Code coverage meets requirements (>80%)
• Code follows project's style guidelines
• Public functions are documented
• No linting errors
• No security vulnerabilities introduced