FFFlow Plugin for Claude Code
Plan, work, audit — at the level of rigor your project actually needs.
FFFlow is a complete development lifecycle in a single Claude Code plugin. It scales from informal prose specs (L0) to full spec-driven development with mutation testing and RID traceability (L3). Same workflow at every level; what changes is the formality of the artifacts and strictness of the gates.
The plugin's invocation prefix is /fff: — short, distinctive, won't collide.
Install
/plugin marketplace add /path/to/ffflow-plugin
/plugin install fff@ffflow
After install, every command is namespaced under /fff: (e.g., /fff:plan-chat, /fff:work-issue).
The shape
Three artifacts. Three roles. Three locations.
- Spec (present tense, evergreen) — your codebase's behavioral contract. Lives in
docs/specs/, specs/, or per-module CLAUDE.md.
- Plan (future tense, transient) — the path from current spec to next spec. Lives in
/tmp/ffflow-plans/<project-hash>/<slug>/, never in the project tree.
- Issues (imperative, transactional) — the chess moves. Lives in your issue tracker.
Workflows
Bootstrap a new project (from project.md, README, or just an idea):
/fff:adopt-ffflow Detects greenfield vs. brownfield. Runs init + stack setup,
then hands off to /fff:plan-roadmap.
/fff:plan-roadmap Reads your vision; produces ordered phases with dependencies.
Per phase: design-slice (→ plan-chat), characterize, cleanup,
or recursive sub-roadmap.
Steady-state feature work (after bootstrap):
/fff:plan-chat Design one slice. Open decisions resolved inline before sealing.
/fff:plan-breakdown Cut the plan into 3–8 independently shippable chess moves.
/fff:plan-capture Write the chess moves to your issue tracker.
/fff:work-issue Execute one chess move end-to-end: red → green → spec → PR.
/fff:work-fanout Or run several in parallel across worktrees (one PR per issue).
/fff:work-epic Or run an epic's issues sequentially into one PR.
/fff:audit Periodically: check that specs, CLAUDE.md, tests still match reality.
Maintenance loop:
/fff:audit Find drift. Find gaps.
/fff:audit --plan Convert findings into a plan. Then breakdown → capture → work.
Two-tier planning
- Tier 1 —
/fff:plan-roadmap (phase-level). Used for new projects, big features, or new directions.
- Tier 2 — three entries, each handling one phase:
/fff:plan-chat — design a slice./fff:characterize — extract specs from existing code./fff:audit --plan — convert drift into a plan.
All four converge on plan-breakdown → plan-capture → work-*.
Single-slice changes skip tier 1; bug fixes go through plan-chat directly.
The L0–L3 dial
Pick the level your project needs. You can change levels later.
| Level | Spec format | Tests | Gates |
|---|
| L0 | Informal prose | Standard unit/integration | Lint + tests pass |
| L1 | Structured prose, hexagonal layering | + defect-driven spec entries | + CLAUDE.md audit |
| L2 | Gherkin 6 scenarios | + spec-first TDD | + spec audit, contract enforcement |
| L3 | Gherkin + RIDs + property-based | + mutation testing | + four quality gates, RID audit |
No config = L0. Declare your level in .ffflow/config.yaml to enable more.
Cartridge architecture
Several skills carry their family of variants as on-demand cartridges, keeping the LLM's skill index uncluttered:
/fff:plan-capture — cartridges for github-issues (default), linear, jira, markdown./fff:stack — cartridges for python, typescript, java, rust, polyglot./fff:justfile — Tier 1–4 pattern cartridges (quality, security, advanced, polyglot)./fff:audit — cartridges for claude-md, spec, char-tests, architecture, refactor, tech-debt, rid.
Configure once in .ffflow/config.yaml; the right cartridge loads when needed.
What FFFlow doesn't do
- It doesn't lock you to one stack. Pluggable via cartridges; override any tool via
.ffflow/stack.yaml.
- It doesn't lock you to GitHub. Capture backends are pluggable (Linear, Jira, markdown).
- It doesn't replace your tests. Spec tests are additive — both unit and spec tests have independent coverage thresholds.
- It doesn't force L3 on you. L0 is a valid forever-state for projects that want lightweight discipline.
Documentation
Status
Active development. See plugin/CLAUDE.md for the build phase status.
License
Apache License 2.0 — see LICENSE. Copyright 2026 Bryon Jacob.
