ce-conductor

ce-conductor

ce-conductor runs the Compound Engineering commands from the Compound Engineering (CE) Claude Code plugin (repo, site) as one workflow. It checks that each step worked before starting the next, and it remembers where it is.

What it does

CE gives you a set of commands for building software with AI. You normally run them one at a time, in order, and keep track of where you are yourself.

ce-conductor adds three things on top of CE:

• Runs the sequence for you. You give it one request, such as a feature or a bug, and it runs the right CE commands in order.
• Checks each step. Before it moves on, it confirms the step produced something real. If a step fails or produces nothing, it stops and tells you instead of pushing ahead with broken work.
• Keeps its place. It records progress in .flow/state.md, so it can resume a half-finished run and always show you the next step.

It stops to ask you at only the two points that need a decision:

• Approving the plan
• Approving the result

It works with any codebase that CE works with, and it handles the most common kinds of work: new features, bug fixes, and small changes.

This plugin is a thin add-on. It does not replace CE or change how CE works. It only runs CE's commands, in order, with the checks and the memory above. It is not affiliated with Every or its maintainer.

What Compound Engineering is

CE is a separate Claude Code plugin, made by Every, that breaks development into steps you run as commands:

• ce-brainstorm: turn a rough idea into a short requirements document
• ce-plan: turn that document into an implementation plan
• ce-work: carry out the plan and write tests
• ce-code-review: review the changes before they merge
• ce-compound: record what was learned so the next task is easier
• ce-debug: reproduce and fix a specific bug
• ce-ideate: weigh several bigger ideas before committing to one
• ce-strategy: keep a short STRATEGY.md that the planning steps read as background

ce-conductor needs CE installed because these are the commands it runs.

How it groups work

ce-conductor sorts each request into one of three sequences. The feature and bug sequences are CE's own documented examples. The small-change sequence is a trimmed feature path.

• Bug: ce-debug, then ce-code-review, then ce-compound. The fix is not treated as done until a regression test reproduces the original failure and passes after the fix.
• Feature: ce-brainstorm, then ce-plan, ce-work, ce-code-review, and ce-compound. For a large or unclear feature it can start with ce-ideate to weigh options first.
• Small change: ce-plan, then ce-work, ce-code-review, and ce-compound. For obvious, low-risk changes that need no brainstorming.

These cover the common kinds of work. Refactors, chores, and investigations run as a small change unless their scope calls for the feature sequence. If a STRATEGY.md file exists, CE reads it as background during brainstorm and plan, so you do not run a strategy step yourself.

Requirements

Compound Engineering is required. You do not install it separately. If missing, ce-conductor installs it the first time you run /ce-conductor and asks before doing so. If you already have CE, ce-conductor uses it.

Installation

Run both commands in Claude Code. The first registers where the plugin lives. The second installs it.

/plugin marketplace add robertcdawson/ce-conductor
/plugin install ce-conductor@ce-conductor

Restart Claude Code. You will have one command, /ce-conductor. Run /help to confirm the exact name if your version lists it with a prefix.

Usage

Give the conductor a feature or a bug:

/ce-conductor "add a --version flag to the CLI"
/ce-conductor "checkout webhook sometimes double-charges"

The first time you run it in a repository, it checks that CE is installed and looks at what test, lint, and build commands the project has, so its checks have something real to verify against. This asks nothing of you or the repo. If the project has no tests, it continues anyway and tells you that verification is limited. After the first run it skips this check.

It then runs the matching CE sequence, writes its progress to .flow/state.md, and pauses only to let you approve the plan and approve the result.

Command

/ce-conductor "<request>"