Creature

Mode-based workflow orchestration CLI for Claude Code.

Creature provides structured development workflows — planning, implementation, debugging, and more — with phased execution, agent delegation, dependency tracking, stop conditions, and verification gates.

Installation

npm install creature-wm

Or link locally for development:

git clone <repo-url>
cd creature
npm install && npm run build
npm link

Quick Start

# Install into your project
creature setup --yes

# List available modes
creature modes

# Start a task
creature enter task

# Check status
creature status

# Exit when done
creature exit

Modes

| Mode | Alias | Purpose | |------|-------|---------| | planning | pl | Research, interview, write spec, review | | implementation | impl | Execute an approved spec | | task | tk | Small/bounded work items | | research | rs | Explore and synthesize findings | | verify | vf | Test features against specs | | debug | db | Systematic debugging | | housekeeping | hk | Documentation and cleanup | | freeform | ff | Quick questions, no phases | | onboard | ob | Configure Creature for a project |

Commands

creature enter <mode> [--issue=N]   Enter a workflow mode
creature exit                       Exit the current mode
creature status [--json]            Show current mode and phase
creature can-exit [--json]          Check if stop conditions are met
creature modes                      List available modes
creature hook <event>               Process a Claude Code hook event
creature prime                      Output context for current mode
creature suggest <text>             Suggest a mode from input text
creature setup [--yes]              Install Creature into a project

How It Works

1. Modes define structured workflows with phases and stop conditions
2. Phases have steps with instructions, and dependencies on prior phases
3. Agents (impl-agent, review-agent, etc.) handle specialized work
4. Hooks integrate with Claude Code for automatic context injection and gating
5. Stop conditions prevent exiting before work is complete (tests pass, changes committed, etc.)

Project Structure

After creature setup, your project gets:

.creature/
  creature.yaml           # Mode definitions and project config
  subphase-patterns.yaml   # Container phase expansion patterns
  interviews.yaml          # Planning interview templates
  sessions/                # Session state (gitignored)

.claude/
  settings.json            # Claude Code hooks (creature commands registered)

Configuration

Edit .creature/creature.yaml to customize modes, stop conditions, and project settings:

project:
  name: my-project
  test_command: "npm test"
  build_command: "npm run build"

modes:
  implementation:
    stop_conditions: [tasks_complete, committed, pushed, tests_pass]

Two-Tier Resolution

Creature uses a two-tier config system:

• Project (.creature/) — your project-specific overrides
• Package (defaults/, templates/) — bundled defaults

Project configs take priority over package defaults.

License

MIT