New Feature - Orchestrator

Complete Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) workflow using Test-Driven Development (TDD) methodology for adding features.

Usage

# Start new feature
/new-feature Add user authentication with JWT

# Resume existing feature
/new-feature

# Check progress
/new-feature:status

Feature: $ARGUMENTS

Workflow Overview

Setup:  0. Discovery → 1. Requirements → 2. Design 
TDD:    3. Tests (RED) → 4. Implement (GREEN) → 5. Refactor
Finish: 6. Verify → 7. Document → 8. Cleanup

Visual Grouping:

┌─────────────────────────┐
│ SETUP                   │
│ 0→1→2                   │
└─────────────────────────┘
           ↓
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ TDD CYCLE               │
│ 3(RED)→4(GREEN)→5(REF)  │
└─────────────────────────┘
           ↓
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ FINALIZE                │
│ 6→7→8                   │
└─────────────────────────┘

TDD Cycle: RED (write tests) → GREEN (make pass) → REFACTOR (improve quality)

Commands Available

Individual phase commands:

/new-feature:0-discover - Phase 0: Discovery
/new-feature:1-requirements - Phase 1: Requirements
/new-feature:2-design - Phase 2: Design
/new-feature:3-tests - Phase 3: Test Planning (TDD RED)
/new-feature:4-implement - Phase 4: Implementation (TDD GREEN)
/new-feature:5-refactor - Phase 5: Refactoring (TDD REFACTOR)
/new-feature:6-verify - Phase 6: Verification
/new-feature:7-document - Phase 7: Documentation
/new-feature:8-cleanup - Phase 8: Cleanup (archive working docs)
/new-feature:status - Check progress

Process

Step 1: Set Project Directory

All operations must run in the actual project directory, not the Claude worktree.

The commands will use PROJECT_DIR environment variable if set, otherwise fall back to the current directory ($PWD).

At the start of this command, set PROJECT_DIR:

# Use PROJECT_DIR if set, otherwise use current directory
PROJECT_DIR="${PROJECT_DIR:-$PWD}"
echo "Working in: $PROJECT_DIR"

Step 2: Check for Existing Work

Always check for existing features first (regardless of $ARGUMENTS):

# Find existing feature directories
EXISTING=$(find ai_working -maxdepth 1 -type d -name "*-20*" 2>/dev/null | sort -r)

For each existing feature, read progress.md to extract:

Feature name
Started date
Completion percentage
Current phase

Step 3: Clarify User Intent (Remove Ambiguity)

Use AskUserQuestion to determine what user wants to work on.

Scenario A: Existing features found AND $ARGUMENTS provided

Check if $ARGUMENTS matches any existing feature (fuzzy match).

question: "I found existing features. You also specified: '$ARGUMENTS'. Which would you like to work on?"
header: "Feature"
multiSelect: false
options:
  - label: "[Feature 1 Name] (XX% complete, YYYY-MM-DD)"
    description: "Resume this feature. Current phase: [Phase Name]"
  - label: "[Feature 2 Name] (XX% complete, YYYY-MM-DD)" [SIMILAR if matches $ARGUMENTS]
    description: "Resume this feature. Current phase: [Phase Name]"
  - label: "NEW: $ARGUMENTS"
    description: "Start a new feature with the description you provided"

Scenario B: Existing features found, NO $ARGUMENTS

Even if only ONE feature exists, always ask for confirmation:

question: "Which feature would you like to work on?"
header: "Feature"
multiSelect: false
options:
  - label: "[Feature 1 Name] (XX% complete, YYYY-MM-DD)"
    description: "Resume this feature. Current phase: [Phase Name]"
  - label: "[Feature 2 Name] (XX% complete, YYYY-MM-DD)" (if multiple features)
    description: "Resume this feature. Current phase: [Phase Name]"
  - (Other is automatically provided for new feature)

Do NOT assume user wants to resume just because only one feature exists. Always present choice, even for single feature.

Scenario C: NO existing features, $ARGUMENTS provided

Confirm with user:

question: "Start new feature: '$ARGUMENTS'?"
header: "Confirm"
multiSelect: false
options:
  - label: "Yes, start this feature"
    description: "Begin Phase 0 (Discovery) for this feature"
  - (Other automatically provided for different description)

Scenario D: NO existing features, NO $ARGUMENTS

Ask for feature description (no AskUserQuestion needed, just prompt user).

Step 4: Execute Based on Selection

If user selected existing feature:

Load ai_working/<feature>-<date>/progress.md
Show current status summary
Identify next phase from progress
Execute next phase command

If user starts new feature:

Use provided/collected description
Create ai_working/<feature-name>-<YYYY-MM-DD>/
Execute Phase 0 (Discovery)
Continue through phases with approval gates at Phases 1, 2, 6

Approval Gates

Phase 1 (Requirements):

Must review and approve requirements
Must verify assumptions
Cannot proceed to design without approval

Phase 2 (Design):

Must review and approve architecture
Must verify design assumptions
Cannot proceed to test planning without approval

Phase 6 (Verification):

User must perform manual testing
User must approve feature works correctly
Cannot proceed to documentation without approval

Philosophy

This workflow enforces:

Test-Driven Development

Tests written BEFORE implementation
Implementation driven by failing tests
Refactoring protected by passing tests

Ruthless Simplicity

Start minimal
Avoid future-proofing
Clear over clever

Modular Design

Self-contained modules (bricks)
Clear interfaces (studs)
Regeneratable from specs

Working Directory Structure

ai_working/<feature-name>-YYYY-MM-DD/
├── progress.md              # Progress tracker
├── 00-discovery.md          # Phase 0
├── 01-requirements.md       # Phase 1
├── 02-design.md             # Phase 2
├── 03-test-plan.md          # Phase 3
├── 04-implementation.md     # Phase 4
├── 05-review.md             # Phase 5
├── 06-manual-test-plan.md   # Phase 6
├── 07-docs-checklist.md     # Phase 7
└── 08-cleanup-candidates.md # Phase 8 (optional)

Temporary: All files in ai_working/ are temporary brainstorming/tracking documents

Permanent: Final documentation created in Phase 7 following repository's structure

Content from 01, 02, 03 documented per repository patterns
May be combined in one doc or separate docs (adapts to repository)

Tips

For Users:

Review and approve at gates (Requirements, Design, Verification)
Perform manual testing thoroughly in Phase 6
Can commit at any phase using /git:commit

For Claude Code:

Use TodoWrite to track each phase
Update progress.md throughout
Get approval before proceeding past gates
Don't commit unless explicitly requested

Troubleshooting

"Which phase am I on?"

Run /new-feature:status

"I want to skip a phase"

Not recommended, but can run specific phase command directly
Phases have dependencies - may fail if prerequisites missing

"I want to restart"

Delete or rename ai_working/<feature>-<date>/
Run /new-feature again

Ready to build features following professional TDD SDLC practices!

/new-feature