Your agents forget. Exarchos doesn't. Durable SDLC workflows for Claude Code — checkpoint any task, rehydrate in seconds, ship verified code.

Install · What You Get · Workflows · Docs

You probably already do this

You have a plan.md. Maybe a spec file per feature. You iterate with Claude, tell it to execute, commit the artifacts alongside the code. It works.

Until context compaction wipes the session halfway through. Or the agent drifts from the spec and you don't catch it until review. Or you come back tomorrow and spend 30 minutes re-explaining what the agent already knew.

Developers keep reinventing this on their own: iterate on a plan file, execute it, commit the artifacts. Skill-based workflow tools try to systematize it with markdown files loaded into context. But they're stateless. Nothing persists across context compaction, suggestions get ignored as conversations grow, and there's no verification that the agent followed through.

The plan-file workflow is the right instinct. Markdown files just can't persist state across sessions, enforce phase gates, or prove that the agent actually did what you asked.

Your plan.md workflow, with teeth

Exarchos replaces markdown files with an event-sourced MCP server. An HSM state machine enforces phase transitions — design, plan, implement, review, ship — with quality gates between each step. Parallel agents execute in isolated git worktrees while the verification flywheel continuously validates output.

When context compaction hits (or you close your laptop and come back Monday), run /rehydrate. Design docs, plans, and PR links persist as references, never inlined into context. Your workflow picks up where it left off.

Install

# From the Claude Code marketplace
/plugin marketplace add lvlup-sw/exarchos
/plugin install exarchos@lvlup-sw

That's it. Installs the MCP server, all workflow commands, lifecycle hooks, and validation scripts.

Dev companion (optional — adds GitHub, Serena, Context7, Microsoft Learn MCP servers):

npx @lvlup-sw/exarchos-dev

git clone https://github.com/lvlup-sw/exarchos.git && cd exarchos
npm install && npm run build
claude --plugin-dir .

Requires Node.js >= 20. Migrating from the legacy installer? See the migration guide.

What you get

Structured SDLC workflows. Design, plan, implement, review, ship. Three workflow types (feature, debug, refactor) with enforced phase transitions. You approve twice: the design and the merge. Everything between auto-continues.

Checkpoint + rehydrate. Save mid-task, resume days later. /rehydrate restores full awareness in ~2-3k tokens instead of re-explaining your project from scratch.

Native Task delegation. Delegate to parallel Claude Code instances (subagents or agent teams), each in its own git worktree.

Two-stage review. Spec compliance first (does it match the design?), then code quality (is it well-written?). Deterministic verification scripts, not vibes.

Audit trail. Every transition, gate result, and agent decision goes into an append-only event log. When something breaks, you can trace what happened.

Token-efficient. State queries use field projection (90% fewer tokens). Code review sends diffs, not full files (97% savings on large repos).

Your Claude Code session is the orchestrator. Exarchos manages state; you make decisions at each checkpoint. Teammates execute in isolated git worktrees.

Integrations

| Component | Source | Purpose | |-----------|--------|---------| | Exarchos | Core plugin | Workflow orchestration, event log, team coordination, quality gates | | GitHub | Dev companion | PRs, issues, code search, stacked PR management | | Serena | Dev companion | Semantic code analysis | | Context7 | Dev companion | Up-to-date library documentation | | Microsoft Learn | Dev companion | Official Azure/.NET documentation |

Workflows

Commands shown in short form (/ideate). As a plugin, they're namespaced: /exarchos:ideate, /exarchos:plan, etc.

| Start here | Command | What it does | |:-----------|:--------|:-------------| | New feature | /ideate | Design exploration → TDD plan → parallel implementation | | Bug fix | /debug | Triage → investigate → fix → validate (hotfix or thorough) | | Code improvement | /refactor | Scope → brief → implement (polish or full overhaul) | | Resume anything | /rehydrate | Restore workflow state after compaction or session break | | Save progress | /checkpoint | Persist current state for later resumption |

Build & test

npm run build          # tsc + bun → dist/
npm run test:run       # vitest single run
npm run typecheck      # tsc --noEmit
npm run validate       # Validate plugin structure

License

Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE.