hotl

HOTL Plugin for Codex, Claude Code, and Cline

HOTL (Human-on-the-Loop) is an AI coding workflow plugin and skill pack for Codex, Claude Code, and Cline. It keeps implementation work grounded in a design, an executable workflow, review checkpoints, and verification evidence.

Use HOTL for feature work, refactors, and risky changes where "just start coding" is too loose. It stays out of the way for code questions, debugging, and obvious one-line fixes.

Adapter templates are also available for Cursor and GitHub Copilot.

Table of Contents

• Why HOTL
• Quick Start
• First HOTL Run
• The HOTL Workflow
• When To Use It
• Commands & Usage
• Skills Overview
• Updating
• Supported Tools
• Repository Structure
• Contributing

Why HOTL

Most AI coding sessions fail in predictable ways: code starts before requirements are clear, plans skip verification, risky changes execute without review, and the agent claims success without evidence.

HOTL prevents all four by enforcing structured workflows for implementation tasks while staying out of the way for code questions, quick fixes, and debugging.

If someone searches for a "HOTL plugin" or a "Human-on-the-Loop AI coding workflow", this repo is the main project: it contains the canonical HOTL skills, workflow templates, and installation docs for Codex, Claude Code, and Cline.

Quick Start

Pick the install path for the tool you use. Codex users should prefer plugin install; native skills are only for older Codex builds or local HOTL development.

Claude Code

/plugin marketplace add yimwoo/hotl-plugin
/plugin install hotl@hotl-plugin

Codex

Recommended plugin install for both Codex CLI and Codex app users:

git clone https://github.com/yimwoo/hotl-plugin /tmp/hotl-plugin
bash /tmp/hotl-plugin/install.sh --codex-plugin

Restart Codex, then install or enable HOTL from the plugin directory.

Codex CLI:

codex
/plugins

In the plugin browser, switch to Local Plugins, open HOTL, and select Install plugin. If HOTL is installed but disabled, press Space to enable it.

Codex app: open Plugins, switch to Local Plugins, and install HOTL. The CLI and app share the same Codex plugin configuration when they use the same Codex profile.

Plugin install does not automatically remove an older native-skills install. If both are present, Codex may discover duplicate HOTL sources. See docs/README.codex.md for the recommended migration path.

Native skills fallback for older Codex builds or local HOTL development: clone to ~/.codex/hotl and symlink ~/.agents/skills/hotl to its skills/ directory. In that mode, ~/.codex/hotl is the stable channel and should track origin/main. Full guide: docs/README.codex.md.

Cline

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yimwoo/hotl-plugin/main/install-cline.sh | bash

Full guide: docs/README.cline.md

First HOTL Run

After install, start with a design request. HOTL will choose the right workflow stage and save durable artifacts in the project.

Tool	Try this
Codex	@hotl brainstorm this feature before coding: <your feature>
Claude Code	/hotl:brainstorm <your feature>
Cline	brainstorm this feature before coding: <your feature>

Typical outputs:

• Design doc: docs/designs/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>-design.md
• Executable workflow: docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>-workflow.md
• Execution state and reports: .hotl/state/ and .hotl/reports/

The HOTL Workflow

Implementation tasks follow eight phases: