BOLT — Claude Code Project Management Framework

From idea to production with Claude Code. BOLT is a lightweight project management framework for Claude Code that keeps everything in-session (no subagents for building), uses 16 slash commands, and enforces mandatory plan-vs-actual reconciliation after every build.

Install

Option 1: npm (recommended)

npx claude-bolt

That's it. This clones the repo and installs 16 commands to ~/.claude/commands/bolt/.

Option 2: git clone

git clone https://github.com/Trade-With-Claude/bolt-framework.git
cd bolt-framework
./install.sh

This copies the 16 command files to ~/.claude/commands/bolt/.

Upgrade

cd bolt-framework
git pull
./install.sh

Then in your project, if the structure changed:

/bolt:upgrade

This updates the command files in ~/.claude/commands/bolt/ — your project files are never touched.

Quick Start

/bolt:init Dimension    # Create project folder + IDEA.md
# Fill in .bolt/v1/IDEA.md with your vision
/bolt:discover          # Deep Q&A about your project
/bolt:research          # Deep technical research
/bolt:roadmap           # Break into phases
/bolt:plan 1            # Plan first phase
/bolt:build 1           # Build it
/bolt:close             # UNIFY — close the loop (mandatory)

Workflow

init → discover → research → roadmap → plan → build → close
                                        ↑                  |
                                        └──────────────────┘
                                           (next phase)

All phases done? → /bolt:next → new version cycle

Commands

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | /bolt:init <name> | Create project folder with .bolt/ structure | | /bolt:discover | Deep Q&A for project understanding | | /bolt:research | Parallel agent-driven technical research | | /bolt:roadmap | Break project into phases | | /bolt:plan <N> | Plan phase N with tasks and criteria | | /bolt:build <N> | Execute phase plan with inline verification | | /bolt:close | UNIFY — reconcile plan vs actual | | /bolt:next | Tag version, start next iteration | | /bolt:push | Quick save — git add, commit, push | | /bolt:upgrade | Migrate older .bolt/ to latest schema | | /bolt:status | Show progress, suggest next action | | /bolt:resume | Reload context after returning | | /bolt:pause | Full handoff before leaving | | /bolt:clear | Quick context save when window is heavy | | /bolt:verify | Optional UAT walkthrough | | /bolt:help | Command reference |

Design Principles

• No subagents — everything runs in-session (~3k tokens saved per avoided subagent)
• 16 commands — lean but complete
• Mandatory UNIFY — /bolt:close after every /bolt:build
• 2-3 tasks per plan — fits in ~50% context window
• One next action — every command suggests exactly one next step
• Context brackets — adapts behavior as context fills up
• Versioned iterations — v1, v2, v3... with git tags for easy rollback

Project Structure

After /bolt:init, your project gets:

my-project/
├── .bolt/
│   ├── SCHEMA            # Schema version (for upgrades)
│   ├── PROJECT.md        # Living doc — persists across versions
│   ├── STATE.md          # Tracks current version
│   └── v1/
│       ├── IDEA.md       # Your vision for v1
│       ├── ROADMAP.md    # Phases with requirements
│       ├── STATE.md      # V1 progress
│       └── phases/
│           └── 01-name/
│               ├── 01-01-PLAN.md
│               └── 01-01-SUMMARY.md

Version Management

/bolt:next              # Tag v1, create v2 folder
git checkout v1         # Go back to v1 anytime
/bolt:upgrade           # Migrate old projects to new structure

Session Management

| Situation | Command | |-----------|---------| | Leaving for hours/days | /bolt:pause — full handoff | | Context getting heavy | /bolt:clear — quick save | | Coming back | /bolt:resume — reload context | | Lost or confused | /bolt:status — see where you are | | Save progress | /bolt:push — git commit + push |