scaffold

Scaffold

A guided AI pipeline that takes you from "I have an idea" to working software. Scaffold walks you through 29 structured prompts — run them in order, and Claude Code handles the research, planning, and implementation for you.

By the end, you'll have a fully planned, standards-documented, implementation-ready project with working code.

What is Scaffold?

Scaffold is a pipeline of AI-powered prompts designed for Claude Code, Anthropic's command-line coding tool. If you have an idea for a software project but don't know where to start — or you want to make sure your project is set up with solid architecture, standards, and tests from day one — Scaffold guides you through every step.

Here's how it works: you install Scaffold, then run slash commands like /scaffold:create-prd in Claude Code. Each command is a carefully structured prompt that tells Claude exactly what to research, what decisions to make, and what files to create. You don't need to write the prompts yourself — just run the commands and answer Claude's questions along the way.

Each step in the pipeline produces a specific artifact — a planning document, a configuration file, a standards guide, or actual code — and then tells you exactly which command to run next. You follow the chain from defining your product all the way through to a working implementation.

Prerequisites

Before using Scaffold, you'll need the following tools installed:

Required

Node.js (v18 or later) Needed for Beads and most modern JavaScript/TypeScript projects.

• Install: https://nodejs.org or brew install node
• Verify: node --version

Git Needed for version control and Beads task tracking.

• Install: https://git-scm.com or brew install git
• Verify: git --version

Claude Code The AI coding assistant that runs the Scaffold prompts. Claude Code is a command-line tool from Anthropic — it's not the same as the Claude web chat.

• Install: npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
• Verify: claude --version
• Docs: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code

Beads A git-backed task tracker designed for AI agents. Scaffold uses Beads (bd) to create and manage the task graph that drives implementation. Think of it as a to-do list that both you and Claude can read and update.

• Install: npm install -g @beads/bd
• Verify: bd --version
• Repo: https://github.com/steveyegge/beads

Optional

Playwright MCP (web apps only) Lets Claude control a real browser for visual testing and screenshots. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a way for Claude to use external tools — in this case, a headless browser.

• Install: claude mcp add playwright npx @playwright/mcp@latest
• Only needed if your project has a web frontend

ChatGPT subscription (for multi-model review) One optional step (multi-model-review) sets up automated code review using both Claude and OpenAI's Codex. This requires a ChatGPT subscription (Plus, Pro, or Team) — reviews use credits (~25 per review) with weekly limits that vary by plan. You can skip this step entirely if you don't have one.

Codex CLI and/or Gemini CLI (for user stories multi-model review) One optional step (user-stories-multi-model-review) runs independent AI reviewers against your user stories to catch gaps a single model might miss. You need at least one of: Codex CLI (requires ChatGPT subscription) or Gemini CLI (free tier available). See Multi-Model Stories Review Setup for detailed instructions.

Installation

There are two ways to install Scaffold. Both give you the same commands — the only difference is the prefix you type.

Option 1: Claude Code Plugin (recommended)

Open Claude Code and run:

/plugin marketplace add zigrivers/scaffold

Then install the plugin:

/plugin install scaffold@zigrivers-scaffold

After installing, commands are available as /scaffold:command-name (for example, /scaffold:create-prd).

What's a plugin? Claude Code plugins are add-on command packages. When you install one, its commands become available as slash commands you can run in any Claude Code session. The plugin prefix (/scaffold:) keeps them organized and separate from other commands.

Option 2: User Commands (shorter prefix)

If you prefer a shorter prefix, clone the repo and run the install script:

git clone https://github.com/zigrivers/scaffold
cd scaffold && ./scripts/install.sh

Commands are available as /user:command-name (for example, /user:create-prd).

To uninstall later: ./scripts/uninstall.sh

Verify Installation

After installing, open Claude Code and run:

/scaffold:prompt-pipeline

(or /user:prompt-pipeline if you used Option 2)

This prints the full pipeline reference. If you see a table of phases and commands, you're all set.

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