# Doctrine
Doctrine is an opinionated but hackable set of tools and conventions for
software engineering with LLM agents.
> Heresy burns; Doctrine remains.
## Design Goals:
1. Correctness
2. Laziness
3. Hackability
4. Efficiency
- DX for solo developers, teams
- time and token efficiency
- suitability for systems of any size & complexity profile
- useful support for "pre-rational" stages of specification (e.g. product design, backlog)
- quality engineering: robust auditability; formal verification gates
- separation of structured, relational data from prose
- separation of mutable, disposable state from useful artifacts
- thoughfully designed memory retrieval, relevance & decay
- composability; provide "orchestration primitives"
- avoidance of vendor lockin
- single binary distribution
- more with less: focused ambition, not minimalism.
## Non-Goals
- SaaS integration (in core)
- Windows support (for now)
- Integrated TUI (for now)
## Installation
``` zsh
cargo install doctrine
cd my_project || mkdir my_project
doctrine slice new "add killer feature"
```
or install from source (customise templates / skills):
``` zsh
gh repo clone davidlee/doctrine && cd doctrine
# optional:
# customise install/templates and/or plugins/skills
# they'll get bundled into the binary for installation
cargo install --path .
```
to install skills for other agents:
```zsh
npx skills add davidlee/doctrine # or your fork
```
## Setup
```zsh
mkdir my-project && cd my-project
git init
mkdir .claude
doctrine install -y
doctrine skills install # .claude
doctrine skills install --agent universal --yes
doctrine memory sync
doctrine boot install # .claude/settings.local.json
doctrine boot install --agent codex # works for most
cat .gitignore # check & adjust to taste
git add -A && git commit -m "chore: doctrine install"
```
## Memory-only use
Use Doctrine's memory system with your preferred tooling for the rest:
```zsh
cd my-project
doctrine skills install --memory-only -y
# doctrine memory help
# doctrine memory record --type pattern "red/green/refactor TDD" --glob "src/lib/**/*" --summary "..."
# doctrine memory list
```
## Usage
``` zsh
doctrine slice new "add killer feature"
```
Doctrine ships with self-documenting agent memories.
The agent should be able to steer while you get used to
the default workflow.
## Hack
templates:
``` zsh
$EDITOR .doctrine/templates
```
skills:
``` zsh
rm .claude/skills/code-review # remove symlink
cp -r .doctrine/skills/code-review/ .claude/skills/
$EDITOR .claude/skills/code-review/SKILL.md
git add -f .claude/skills/code-review/SKILL.md
doctrine install # skips existing non-symlinks
```
or:
``` zsh
gh repo fork davidlee/doctrine --clone
cd doctrine
$EDITOR doctrine/plugins/review
git commit -m "feat: review like a pirate" && git push
cargo install --path . # build with your edits
# in your projects
doctrine skills install # from binary, or
npx skills add my-github/doctrine
```
## License
This repository is multi-licensed:
- Rust source code, application code, and compiled binaries are licensed under GPL-3.0-only.
- Files under `plugins/` are licensed under MIT.
- Files under `install/` are licensed under MIT, including templates and `config.toml`.
Where a file contains an SPDX license identifier or a directory contains its own LICENSE file, that more specific notice controls.
## Acknowledgements
The `/worktree` skill's directory-selection and safety-verification patterns are
adapted from [`superpowers:using-git-worktrees`](https://github.com/obra/superpowers)
by Jesse Vincent (MIT).
## Specifications
Product and technical specifications — the durable, agent-readable intent behind
Doctrine's capabilities. Regenerate this list with `just readme-index`.
### Product Specifications
- [PRD-001 — Slices](.doctrine/spec/product/001/spec-001.md) — `active`
- [PRD-002 — Specifications](.doctrine/spec/product/002/spec-002.md) — `active`
- [PRD-003 — Skills](.doctrine/spec/product/003/spec-003.md) — `active`
- [PRD-004 — Memory](.doctrine/spec/product/004/spec-004.md) — `active`
- [PRD-005 — Reservation & Leasing](.doctrine/spec/product/005/spec-005.md) — `active`
- [PRD-006 — Install](.doctrine/spec/product/006/spec-006.md) — `active`
- [PRD-007 — Boot & Governance](.doctrine/spec/product/007/spec-007.md) — `active`
- [PRD-008 — ADRs](.doctrine/spec/product/008/spec-008.md) — `active`
- [PRD-009 — Backlog](.doctrine/spec/product/009/spec-009.md) — `active`
- [PRD-010 — Epistemic and Governance Records](.doctrine/spec/product/010/spec-010.md) — `active`
- [PRD-011 — Graph-Derived Backlog Priority](.doctrine/spec/product/011/spec-011.md) — `active`
- [PRD-012 — Technical Specifications](.doctrine/spec/product/012/spec-012.md) — `draft`
### Architecture Decision Records
- [ADR-001 — Module layering: leaf ← engine ← command, no cycles](.doctrine/adr/001/adr-001.md) — `accepted`
- [ADR-002 — Global orientation memory class: repo-empty, unanchored, evergreen](.doctrine/adr/002/adr-002.md) — `accepted`
- [ADR-003 — Canonical change loop: slice-first, observe, reconcile, close](.doctrine/adr/003/adr-003.md) — `accepted`
- [ADR-004 — Relations stored outbound-only; reciprocity is derived](.doctrine/adr/004/adr-004.md) — `accepted`
- [ADR-005 — Shipped knowledge is tiered by access pattern; skills route, reference docs explain](.doctrine/adr/005/adr-005.md) — `accepted`
- [ADR-006 — Worktree posture: policy-agnostic framework, orchestrator-sole-writer dispatch](.doctrine/adr/006/adr-006.md) — `proposed`
- [ADR-007 — Adversarial review as a first-class kind with turn-based ledger coordination](.doctrine/adr/007/adr-007.md) — `proposed`
- [ADR-008 — Project-local jail build isolation and worker confinement for parallel dispatch](.doctrine/adr/008/adr-008.md) — `proposed`