pulse-dev

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What is Pulse?

Pulse wraps AI agents in a gated delivery chain. Every decision is locked before planning starts. Every plan is approved before code is written. Every bead of work is verified before it's closed. Every feature is reviewed before it merges.

Without this structure, agents skip steps. With it, they can't.

Pulse ships as 20 skills — each a SKILL.md file loaded into context at invocation. No compiled code. No runtime to install beyond the tools you already use.

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What A Pulse Run Looks Like

Ask for a feature like:

"Add inbound email support for the agent inbox."

Pulse moves that request through a repeatable chain:

1. pulse:exploring locks the missing decisions into CONTEXT.md.
2. pulse:planning turns those decisions into a phase plan, a current-phase contract, a story map, and beads.
3. pulse:validating checks that the current phase is sound before any implementation starts.
4. pulse:swarming and pulse:executing implement the current phase with reservations and live graph coordination.
5. pulse:reviewing verifies the work and records P1/P2/P3 findings.
6. pulse:compounding captures durable learnings for future work.

The point is not ceremony for its own sake. The point is to make expensive misunderstandings and avoidable rework much less likely.

When To Use Pulse

Use Pulse when:

• the request is ambiguous or under-specified
• the work spans multiple files, systems, or agents
• the cost of getting the plan wrong is meaningful
• you want a reviewed and auditable path from request to shipped work

Do not reach for the full chain when:

• the task is a one-line fix with no ambiguity
• the work is obviously local and low-risk
• you do not need beads, coordination, or formal review gates

Working Modes

Pulse keeps one core workflow but presents it in three user-facing modes:

• small_change — lightweight planning and validating for bounded low-risk work
• standard_feature — the default full Pulse workflow
• high_risk_feature — the full workflow plus deeper planning scrutiny and stronger spike discipline

The core contract does not change across modes:

• CONTEXT.md is still the source of truth
• validating still gates execution
• beads + bv + Agent Mail still drive coordination

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Lineage

Pulse is downstream of everal strong agentic-development systems and distills the parts that fit this repo owner's actual workflow:

• Khuym, which provides most of the validate-first chain and Flywheel-style bead workflow
• Superpowers, which contributes the strongest behavioral discipline around brainstorming, verification, debugging, and skill design
• Flywheel contributes the operational backbone: beads, bv, Agent Mail, swarm execution, and the habit of turning plans into live work graphs instead of loose TODO lists.
• Compound Engineering contributes parallel review, severity-based findings, and the compound-learning loop that feeds future work.
• GSD contributes the philosophy: discuss first, research second, plan third, and do not execute until the plan has been verified.

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The Delivery Chain

flowchart TD
    PF["`**pulse:preflight**
    validate tooling`"]
    UP["`**pulse:using-pulse**
    route the session`"]
    BR["`**pulse:brainstorming**
    design spec *(optional)*`"]
    EX["`**pulse:exploring**
    lock decisions → CONTEXT.md`"]
    PL["`**pulse:planning**
    research + phase plan + beads`"]
    VA["`**pulse:validating**
    8-dim check + spikes`"]
    SW["`**pulse:swarming**
    launch N workers`"]
    WK["`**pulse:executing**
    implement bead-by-bead`"]
    RV["`**pulse:reviewing**
    4 specialists + UAT`"]
    CP["`**pulse:compounding**
    capture learnings`"]

    PF --> UP
    UP -->|idea unclear| BR
    UP -->|intent clear| EX
    BR --> EX

    EX -->|"🔒 GATE 1 — approve CONTEXT.md"| PL
    PL -->|"🔒 GATE 2 — approve phase plan"| VA
    VA -->|"🔒 GATE 3 — approve execution (swarm)"| SW
    VA -->|"🔒 GATE 3 — approve execution (single)"| WK
    SW -->|spawns| WK
    WK -->|more phases| PL
    WK -->|final phase| RV
    SW -->|final phase| RV
    RV -->|"🔒 GATE 4 — approve merge"| CP