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llisa
LLM-powered epic workflows for OpenCode and Claude Code. Like the Ralph Wiggum pattern, but smarter.
Latest version: 1.0.0 - Fresh agent architecture with verification!
Why Lisa?
The Ralph Wiggum pattern is a simple bash loop that keeps feeding prompts to an AI agent until completion. It works, but:
- Ralph is dumb - he just loops forever with the same prompt
- No planning - dives straight into coding
- No context management - context window fills with garbage
- No task dependencies - can't parallelize or sequence work properly
Lisa plans before she acts:
- Structured phases - spec, research, plan, then execute
- Fresh context per phase - each phase runs in a sub-agent with clean context
- Verification + retry - deterministic checks ensure agents complete their work
- Dependency-aware tasks - knows what can run in parallel
- State persistence - survives session restarts, tracks progress
- Yolo mode - fully autonomous execution when you want it
Install
OpenCode
One command to install Lisa in your project:
npx llisa --opencode
Or with Bun:
bunx llisa --opencode
This creates an opencode.json file with Lisa configured. The plugin will be automatically downloaded by OpenCode when you start it.
Requires OpenCode 1.0+.
Global Installation (OpenCode)
To use Lisa in all your projects without installing per-project:
npx llisa --opencode --global
This installs to ~/.config/opencode/ and registers the plugin in your global OpenCode config.
Claude Code
Add this repo as a marketplace, then install the plugin:
/plugin marketplace add fractalswift/llisa
/plugin install lisa@llisa
Or for project-level install (committed to the repo, shared with teammates):
/plugin install lisa@llisa --scope project
Requires Claude Code 1.0.33+ and jq (brew install jq / apt install jq).
Usage
OpenCode commands
/lisa-create-epic <name> - Create new epic (interactive spec)
/lisa-list-epics - List all epics with status
/lisa-epic-status <name> - Show detailed epic status
/lisa-continue <name> - Resume with interactive checkpoints
/lisa-yolo <name> - Resume in full auto mode
/lisa-help - Show help menu
Claude Code commands
/lisa:create-epic <name> - Create new epic (interactive spec)
/lisa:list-epics - List all epics with status
/lisa:epic-status <name> - Show detailed epic status
/lisa:continue <name> - Resume with interactive checkpoints
/lisa:yolo <name> [max-iterations] - Resume in full auto mode
/lisa:help - Show help menu
Examples:
/lisa:create-epic initial-setup
/lisa:list-epics
/lisa:continue initial-setup
/lisa:yolo auth-system
/lisa:yolo auth-system 50 ← limit to 50 yolo iterations
Epics are portable between OpenCode and Claude Code — the .lisa/ file format is identical on both platforms.
Writing Good Specs
The spec is the single most important factor in epic quality. Lisa will do exactly what you specify — vague specs produce vague results.
Acceptance criteria should be verifiable:
✓ Users can log in with email and password, receiving a JWT on success
✗ Auth works well
Explicitly list out-of-scope items — prevents the agent from gold-plating or going too wide:
### Out of Scope
- OAuth / social login
- Password reset flow
- Email verification
Mention your test setup in Technical Constraints — if you have tests, the agent will run them and use failures as feedback:
## Technical Constraints
- Project uses Jest; all new code must have tests passing (`npm test`)
- Follow existing Express middleware pattern in src/middleware/
Keep epics focused — aim for work completable in 1-4 hours of agent time. Split larger features into multiple epics:
✓ /lisa-create-epic auth-login (login flow only)
✓ /lisa-create-epic auth-register (registration flow, separate epic)
✗ /lisa-create-epic auth (too broad)
Concrete constraints beat vague ones:
✓ Use the existing UserRepository in src/db/user.ts
✗ Follow existing patterns
How It Works
Lisa breaks large features into phases:
- Spec - Define what you're building (interactive)
- Research - Explore the codebase (fresh agent, verified completion)
- Plan - Break into discrete tasks with dependencies (fresh agent, verified)
- Execute - Run tasks via sub-agents with clean context (verified per task)
Each phase uses a fresh agent to prevent context pollution. On OpenCode, custom tools verify completion deterministically. On Claude Code, agents verify by reading files directly — same outcome, no custom tools needed.
