Dev Cycle

Run the full development cycle: implement, audit, ship, retrospective.

Chains four skills in sequence, handling transitions automatically. Each phase is self-contained, making it resilient to context window exhaustion.

Input

$ARGUMENTS is passed directly to code:sprint-impl. Can be:

• A GitHub Issue URL
• A plan file path
• Inline description
• Empty (auto-detect next phase from docs/plans/)

Execution Flow

Stage 0: State Initialization (auto-chain enforcement)

Create the state file to enable the Stop hook auto-chain mechanism:

mkdir -p .claude && echo '{"stage": "sprint"}' > .claude/dev-cycle.state.json

This file drives the Stop hook (dev-cycle-stop.sh) which blocks Claude from stopping until all 4 stages complete. If Claude tries to stop mid-cycle, the hook reads this file and instructs Claude to invoke the next skill.

Stage 0.5: Package Security Audit (conditional)

Only when adding new dependency packages. See ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/dev-cycle/references/package-security-audit.md.

Stage 1: Sprint Implementation

Invoke code:sprint-impl $ARGUMENTS via Skill tool.

Exit condition: Phase 9 summary report generated. If sprint fails: Report failure details and STOP (delete .claude/dev-cycle.state.json first).

On success — IMMEDIATELY (no intermediate text output):

echo '{"stage": "audit"}' > .claude/dev-cycle.state.json

Then invoke via Skill tool: code:audit-compliance — do NOT write a status summary first. (Stage summaries are included in the final combined report only.)

Stage 2: Compliance Audit

After sprint completes, invoke code:audit-compliance via Skill tool.

Exit conditions:

• All pass / partial: Proceed to Stage 3
• Any HIGH-impact fail: Attempt 1 recovery per audit recommendations. Re-audit if recovery succeeds. STOP if still failing (delete .claude/dev-cycle.state.json first).

On success — IMMEDIATELY (no intermediate text output):

echo '{"stage": "ship"}' > .claude/dev-cycle.state.json

Then invoke via Skill tool: code:shipping-pr — do NOT write a status summary first. (Stage summaries are included in the final combined report only.)

Stage 3: Ship PR

After audit passes, invoke code:shipping-pr via Skill tool.

Exit condition: PR URL returned in summary report. If shipping fails after max iterations: Delete .claude/dev-cycle.state.json and STOP.

On success — IMMEDIATELY (no intermediate text output):

echo '{"stage": "retrospective"}' > .claude/dev-cycle.state.json

Then invoke via Skill tool: code:retrospective — do NOT write a status summary first. (Stage summaries are included in the final combined report only.)

Stage 4: Retrospective

After shipping completes, invoke code:retrospective via Skill tool.

Exit condition: Retrospective report generated and artifacts committed. If issues found: Apply fixes, re-review, commit, push to existing PR branch. If retrospective fails after repeated attempts: Delete .claude/dev-cycle.state.json and STOP.

On success, clean up state file:

rm -f .claude/dev-cycle.state.json

Resumption Guide

If context is exhausted mid-cycle, resume using the appropriate individual skill:

Detection logic (run at start if resuming):

# Check PR existence: use GitHub MCP tool mcp__github__list_pull_requests (head="<current-branch>")
git diff --stat $(git merge-base HEAD main)...HEAD
git log --oneline -5

Summary Report

After all 4 stages complete, output a combined report:

## Dev Cycle Complete

### Sprint
- Files created/modified: N
- Tests: X passed, coverage: Y%

### Audit
- Score: X/5

### Ship
- Commit: <hash> <message>
- PR: <url>

### Retrospective
- Fixes applied: N
- Learnings updated: N new, N merged, N resolved

### Metrics
- Total: ~Xm

Cleanup: Ensure .claude/dev-cycle.state.json has been deleted. If it still exists, delete it now.

Absolute Prohibitions

For violations and their impact, read ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/dev-cycle/references/prohibitions.md.

Main Agent Guide

For responsibilities, agent prompt guidelines, and commit patterns, read ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/dev-cycle/references/main-agent-guide.md.

Output Rules

For shared output language rules, read ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/_shared/output-rules.md.

Serena Integration

For context load, mid-sprint save, and post-sprint memory save, read ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/_shared/serena-integration.md.

Error Handling

• Sprint failure: Report and STOP (most common: type errors, test failures)
• Audit HIGH fail: Attempt 1 recovery, then STOP if still failing
• Ship failure: Follows code:shipping-pr error handling (3 review iterations max)
• Context approaching limit: Save state to Serena memory, output resumption guide

Important Notes

• This skill runs autonomously — no user confirmation between stages
• Each sub-skill is invoked via the Skill tool (not inlined)
• Timing metrics recorded in docs/research/workflow-recording.md
• Use GitHub MCP for all GitHub operations (not gh CLI)
• All user-facing output MUST follow the user's configured language setting — SKILL.md being in English does not change this