AppMaker
A spec + governance layer on top of Claude Code's runtime.
AppMaker doesn't replace Claude Code — it adds process discipline (PRD → AC → test traceability), deterministic gates (checklist, review compliance), and lifecycle artifacts (feature folders, archive, retro) ON TOP of what Claude Code already does well: tool calls, agent invocation, session management, context handling.
When Claude Code ships a better primitive — Agent View, /goal, /ultra-review, improved compaction — AppMaker delegates to it instead of re-implementing. The durable AppMaker value is what Claude Code doesn't do: spec discipline, AC-test traceability, constitution-enforced quality bars, glossary-canonical vocabulary, audit-trail-preserving archive flow.
Positioning (v0.2.12+):
- Below AppMaker (Claude Code runtime): Skills, hooks, Agent View,
/goal, /review + /ultra-review, compaction, plugin marketplace
- AppMaker layer adds: PRD/decompose/checklist/archive lifecycle,
traces_to AC linkage, constitution + glossary governance, retro → memory wiki, context packets, deterministic gates
- Above AppMaker (your project): Concrete features built with the discipline
Optionally pairs with Graphify for read-only codebase intelligence and Forest's andrej-karpathy-skills for universal agent baseline.
Form: Claude Code plugin at plugin/appmaker/. Skills loaded via --plugin-dir flag or marketplace install.
Convention: /appmaker:<name> (colon namespace per Claude Code plugin spec — like OpenSpec /opsx:propose).
Philosophy: minimal, single-purpose, opt-in everywhere. Delegate to Claude Code built-ins where they exist.
Status: v0.2.15. 19 skills (15 core + afk + status + token-audit + next). Per-slice review gate now part of /appmaker:next chain — no more silent slice-to-slice propagation. Test harness covers hook + glossary-extract + version SoT. See DESIGN.md.
Install
Plugin is self-contained. No manual copy of templates or supporting files — /appmaker:init materializes everything from packaged resources.
# 1. Open project + load plugin for the session:
cd /path/to/your-project
claude --plugin-dir /Users/pawel/Projects/AppMaker/plugin/appmaker
# 2. In Claude Code session:
/help # Verify /appmaker:* commands appear in menu
/appmaker:init # Materialize appmaker/ from plugin resources
# (creates constitution, glossary, config.yaml, .appmaker-version,
# templates/, skills/tdd/, memory/wiki/, context/, checklists/,
# diagnostics/, afk/, backlog/, features/)
Re-running /appmaker:init on existing project = UPGRADE mode. Refreshes plugin-owned resources (templates, supporting files) while preserving user-owned state (constitution, glossary, memory, backlog, features, config). Detected via appmaker/.appmaker-version marker.
For permanent activation per project: add to .claude/settings.json (TBD — manual --plugin-dir per session for now).
Future: publish to plugin marketplace for /plugin install appmaker style.
What it does
Core (15 skills)
/appmaker:init → bootstrap appmaker/ in fresh project
/appmaker:start "<intent>" → smart routing: feature, bug, refactor, research, review, prototype
/appmaker:grill "<topic>" → general-purpose relentless questioning (Matt's grill-me)
/appmaker:grill-brownfield → brownfield variant (reads code/docs/glossary/memory/context first)
/appmaker:interview → feature-specific entry, structured output to features/<NNN-slug>/
/appmaker:prd → synthesize PRD with Understanding section + Clarifications
/appmaker:decompose → vertical slices with execution_class, items go to backlog/
/appmaker:tdd <backlog-id> → test-first implementation per slice
/appmaker:diagnose → bug/perf diagnosis loop with repro + hypotheses + regression
/appmaker:review <scope> → invokes critic subagent (code-reviewer)
/appmaker:checklist → deterministic PASS/FAIL/WARN gate across artifacts
/appmaker:archive → close out feature, move to features/archive/
/appmaker:context "<topic>" → Graphify-aware context packet, fallback to file reads
/appmaker:feedback "<desc>" → quick capture from QA → backlog item
/appmaker:glossary → ubiquitous language (deterministic stub extraction + best-effort semantic review)
15 written.
Opt-in deepening (4 skills, all TODO)
