ADD — AI-Driven Development

One skill. Eight steps. Five disciplines. Every feature ships through the loop.

A minimal, state-tracked Claude Code skill for building software when the AI writes the code and you own the two things it cannot do alone: decide what to build, and verify it is correct.

ADD is the orchestration engine of the AIDD method. It sits on top of a context foundation (DDD → SDD → UDD) and runs as a red/green TDD ↔ AI-build loop. The full reasoning — why every rule exists — is the AIDD book bundled in docs/. Read it once; keep it open beside you.

  Foundation (context):  DDD  ·  SDD  ·  UDD
  Engine (this skill):   TDD  ⇄  ADD
  Flow per feature:  Specify → Scenarios → Contract → Tests → Build → Verify → Observe ↻

Why ADD (and why it is minimal)

Heavy doc-first methods burn your time writing documents and lose the thread across sessions (context rot). ADD fixes both:

• One file per feature. Spec, scenarios, contract, test-plan, and gate record all live inline in a single TASK.md. No sprawling doc tree.
• State on disk, not in chat. A Python tool tracks where you are in .add/state.json, so a fresh session resumes with one command instead of re-reading the repo.
• Progressive disclosure. The skill loads only the guide for the phase you are in — the context window stays lean.

Install

Pick your ecosystem — all three install the same skill, tooling, and book:

# Node / npm
npx @pilotspace/add init

# Python / pip
pip install pilotspace-add
pilotspace-add init

# Claude Code plugin — no npm or pip needed
/plugin marketplace add pilotspace/ADD
/plugin install add@add-method

The plugin carries the engine and the book. On first /add, the skill materializes them into the project (node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/bin/cli.js" init --no-skill) and scaffolds .add/ — a self-contained, portable result identical to the npm/pip flow. The skill stays in the plugin, so nothing is duplicated.

No flags needed — the project name is inferred from your folder and the stage defaults to prototype (pass --name "My App" --stage mvp to choose up front).

Already installed? Refresh to the latest without a re-install — npx @pilotspace/add@latest update (or pipx run pilotspace-add update) re-materializes the skill, tooling, and book while leaving your project work (.add/state.json, PROJECT.md, milestones, tasks) untouched; add --check to see whether a project is behind the installed package.

New here? Follow the 10-minute Quickstart — it walks your first feature end to end.

This installs:

| Path | What | |------|------| | .claude/skills/add/ | the add skill Claude loads (thin router + per-phase guides) | | .add/tooling/add.py | scaffolder + state tracker (Python, stdlib only) | | .add/docs/ | the AIDD book — the method rationale | | .add/DESIGN.md | (UI projects) the prose front-door to the render-ready UDD foundation — delete it if your project has no UI |

On a UI project, UDD gives the AI a frozen design ground to draft from: DESIGN.md plus a lintable JSON foundation under .add/design/ (design tokens · component catalog · prototype trees). add.py check lints that foundation, going red with a named code on any layer, catalog, tree, or cross-file violation — and staying silent when a project has no design set.

Project state (.add/state.json) and the living-documentation files (CONVENTIONS.md, GLOSSARY.md, MODEL_REGISTRY.md, dependencies.allowlist, SOUL.md — the AI's human-owned voice) are not created here — the installer drops files only; initialisation is the agent's first move when you run /add.

What this plugin does, writes, and runs (boundaries)

ADD is a development methodology, so by design it works inside your project — here is exactly what that means, so there are no surprises:

• Runs only when you ask. Nothing executes on install. The skill acts when you run /add (or another agent follows the guideline block). It is user-initiated, every time.
• What it runs: the bundled engine and bootstrapper only — node bin/cli.js and python3 .add/tooling/add.py. No downloaded or remote code is executed; everything it runs ships in the package.
• What it writes: files under your project's .add/ (state, milestones, tasks, the book) and the managed guideline block in CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md. On a plugin install it also materializes the engine + book into .add/ on first run. It writes nowhere outside the project working directory; it never touches files above the project root.
• Network: one optional, advisory update check. On status / guide the engine may make a single HTTPS GET to https://registry.npmjs.org/@pilotspace/add/latest to see if a newer version exists — at most once per 24h (cached in .update-cache.json), 1.5s timeout, fail-open (offline ⇒ silent no-op). It only writes a one-line note to stderr and never changes a command's output or exit code. Disable it entirely with ADD_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1. No other network access, no telemetry, no analytics.
• No secrets, no credentials, no privileged access. Pure local file orchestration.

Use it

ADD is AI-first: you talk to the agent; it drives the method. In Claude Code, run /add and say what you want to build:

/add — "I want to let users transfer money between their own accounts."

Works with your agent. The installer detects which coding agent you're in and drops the context file it reads — so ADD drives through the CLI under Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Cursor, Windsurf, Trae, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, Cline, and Aider (anything else falls back to a generic AGENTS.md). Only Claude Code runs the /add skill natively; every other agent follows the same loop through the phase guides via add.py status / guide.

The agent orients from state.json, sizes your request into a milestone (you confirm the shape), then drafts each feature's specification bundle — Spec + Scenarios + Contract + Tests as one bundle — and you give one approval at the frozen contract. A self-driving build→verify run takes it to green; security findings always stop back to you.

Under the hood the agent runs the CLI as its hands — and you can hand-drive it too:

python3 .add/tooling/add.py status      # where am I? (resume point)

The non-negotiables

1. Direction before speed — no Build until spec, scenarios, contract, and red tests exist.
2. Trust evidence, not inspection — a feature is trusted because its tests pass and the non-functional risks (concurrency, security, architecture) were checked.
3. Never weaken a test or edit a frozen contract to make the build pass.
4. No silent skips — every Verify records PASS, RISK-ACCEPTED, or HARD-STOP. Security findings are always HARD-STOP.
5. Ask, don't guess.

The artifacts survive; the code is disposable

The durable asset is the decisions — spec, scenarios, contract, tests. The code is one implementation that satisfies them and can be regenerated. If the thing you'd be upset to lose is "the code," you're still working the old way.

Read the method

Start at docs/README.md — Foundations → the six steps → operating it across a team → templates, prompts, and a full worked example.

What's next

Dynamic Agent Skills — the next scope: skills that adapt at runtime to the project's current state, stage, and active phase rather than loading a static guide. The agent picks the right depth and tooling automatically as the project evolves.

Develop

npm test     # runs the Python tests for the tooling (red/green)

License: MIT.