ironclaude

IronClaude

Workflow discipline and multi-agent orchestration for Claude Code.

IronClaude adds workflow discipline and multi-session orchestration to Claude Code. Without structure, sessions tend to jump to implementation without planning, produce tests that pass but miss regressions, and can't coordinate work across multiple sessions. IronClaude addresses this with two components that work together:

• Worker -- A Claude Code plugin that enforces disciplined development workflows (brainstorm, plan, execute) with review gates between every task
• Commander -- A Python daemon that orchestrates multiple Worker sessions via Slack, with an autonomous Brain that decomposes objectives and assigns work

The key insight: discipline and orchestration reinforce each other. The Worker's professional mode hooks guarantee that every autonomous session follows the full workflow -- so the Commander can trust the quality of work happening without your direct supervision. And because the Commander runs through Slack, you can supervise and direct multi-session autonomous work from your phone, from anywhere, without being at your terminal. The Brain acts as your proxy at the keyboard.

You can use the Worker alone for single-session discipline, or add the Commander for multi-session orchestration.

---

Two Ways to Use IronClaude

Start with direct mode. Graduate to commander mode.

Direct Mode — Recommended Starting Point

Install the Worker plugin into your own Claude Code session and use it yourself. You run the brainstorming, you approve the plans, you trigger execution, you read the code reviews. The state machine enforces the workflow on your session — you experience every phase transition, every review gate, every file access restriction firsthand.

This is where to start. The discipline isn't just for autonomous workers; it's for you. Working through the brainstorm → write-plans → execute-plans cycle yourself builds the intuition you need to be a good orchestrator later.

Commander Mode — Advanced

Once you understand the workflow from the inside, use the Commander to spawn Workers that act as your avatar. Each Worker follows the exact same professional mode rules you learned in direct mode — the same three-phase workflow, the same code review gates, the same TDD discipline — but executes autonomously on your behalf while you supervise from Slack.

The Worker is your avatar at the keyboard. It does what you do in direct mode, just without you there. When you've internalized the rules yourself, you know what the Worker is doing and why, which makes you a more effective orchestrator: decomposing objectives, approving plans, reviewing outcomes, rather than writing every implementation yourself.

Recommended progression:

1. Install the Worker plugin into Claude Code (/plugin marketplace add robertphyatt/ironclaude — see Quick Start for details)
2. Activate professional mode: /ironclaude:activate-professional-mode
3. Work through several features using the full workflow — brainstorm, plan, execute, review
4. When the workflow feels natural, set up the Commander and begin delegating to Workers

Both modes work together: The recommended progression isn't "leave direct mode behind." Once you've set up the Commander, you'll use both simultaneously — personally running direct-mode sessions for exploratory or sensitive work while Workers handle parallelized or routine tasks. The real workflow isn't direct or Commander; it's direct and Commander, task by task.

---

How IronClaude Compares

IronClaude was inspired by several projects in this space. Here's how it differs:

vs. Superpowers

Superpowers by Jesse Vincent / Prime Radiant is the pioneering composable skills framework for Claude Code, with a 7-step workflow (brainstorm → git worktrees → write plans → execute → TDD → code review → finish branch) available in the Claude plugin marketplace. It has set the standard for disciplined Claude Code usage. IronClaude was directly inspired by Superpowers and uses its episodic memory MCP server (with attribution -- see Episodic Memory Attribution).

Difference: Superpowers guides the model through prompt-based discipline — a SessionStart hook injects the workflow skills into session context, and system prompts encourage compliance. IronClaude adds enforcement via PreToolUse/PostToolUse hooks: professional-mode-guard.sh blocks unauthorized tool usage at the hook level, and skill-state-bridge.sh enforces stage transitions. The workflow isn't just suggested, it's enforced. IronClaude also adds the Commander — multi-session orchestration via Slack with an autonomous Brain that acts as your proxy, decomposes objectives into parallel workstreams, and manages workers autonomously while you supervise from anywhere.

vs. gStack