# Prodigy Vision & Design Principles
## Mission Statement
Prodigy transforms ad-hoc AI coding sessions into reliable, reproducible, and scalable development workflows that enhance human productivity without replacing human judgment.
## Core Vision
### What Prodigy IS
- **A workflow orchestration tool** that makes AI-assisted development reproducible and reliable
- **A force multiplier** for developers, amplifying their capabilities without replacing their expertise
- **A pipeline builder** that turns exploratory Claude sessions into production-ready workflows
- **A safety net** with automatic error recovery, state management, and rollback capabilities
- **A parallel executor** that leverages multiple AI agents for massive productivity gains
### What Prodigy IS NOT
- Not an autonomous agent that makes decisions without human oversight
- Not a replacement for developer expertise or judgment
- Not a complex distributed system (until truly needed)
- Not a general-purpose AI framework
- Not a code generator without human review
## Design Principles
### 1. Simplicity First
- **Single-machine excellence** before distributed complexity
- **File-based storage** before databases
- **Clear over clever** - boring solutions that work
- **Convention over configuration** - sensible defaults
### 2. Reliability Above All
- **Zero data loss** - all state is recoverable
- **Graceful degradation** - failures don't crash the system
- **Deterministic execution** - same input produces same output
- **Atomic operations** - all or nothing, no partial states
### 3. Developer Experience
- **5-minute onboarding** - from install to first success
- **Self-documenting** - clear error messages and help
- **Progressive disclosure** - simple tasks stay simple
- **Fast feedback loops** - immediate, actionable results
### 4. Functional Programming
- **Immutability by default** - transform, don't mutate
- **Pure functions** for business logic, I/O at boundaries
- **Composition over inheritance** - small, focused functions
- **Explicit over implicit** - clear data flow
### 5. Pragmatic Automation
- **Human in the loop** - critical decisions require approval
- **Transparent operation** - always show what's happening
- **Incremental progress** - small, verified changes
- **Reversible actions** - undo capability for safety
## Success Metrics
### User Success
- New user to productive in < 5 minutes
- Zero data loss incidents
- 99% workflow completion rate
- < 1 second response time for all commands
### Code Quality
- Zero panics in production code
- 100% error handling coverage
- < 20 lines per function
- < 5 cyclomatic complexity
### System Efficiency
- < 2 minute build time
- < 20 MB binary size
- < 100 MB memory usage
- < 100ms command startup
## Feature Priorities
### Must Have (Core)
1. **Reliable workflow execution** - Never lose work
2. **State management** - Resume from any point
3. **Error recovery** - Handle failures gracefully
4. **Git integration** - Safe, isolated changes
5. **Clear documentation** - Self-service success
### Should Have (Enhanced)
1. **Parallel execution** - MapReduce for scale
2. **Goal seeking** - Iterative refinement
3. **Cost tracking** - Budget awareness
4. **Performance metrics** - Optimization insights
5. **Workflow composition** - Reusable components
### Nice to Have (Future)
1. **Web UI** - Visual workflow builder
2. **Team collaboration** - Shared workflows
3. **Cloud execution** - When truly needed
4. **Plugin system** - Community extensions
5. **ML insights** - Pattern recognition
## Non-Goals (Explicitly Not Doing)
### Avoid Premature Optimization
- ❌ Distributed execution before single-machine is perfect
- ❌ Database storage before file storage is inadequate
- ❌ Kubernetes before local execution is flawless
- ❌ Microservices before monolith is complete
- ❌ Complex abstractions before simple solutions fail
### Avoid Feature Creep
- ❌ General AI framework capabilities
- ❌ Programming language implementation
- ❌ IDE or editor functionality
- ❌ Version control system features
- ❌ CI/CD platform responsibilities
## Technical Excellence Standards
### Code Standards
- **Idiomatic Rust** - leverage the type system
- **Functional patterns** - prefer immutability
- **Comprehensive tests** - behavior, not implementation
- **Clear documentation** - why, not just what
- **Consistent style** - automated formatting
### Performance Standards
- **Instant feel** - < 100ms for user actions
- **Efficient resource use** - minimal CPU/memory
- **Scalable algorithms** - O(n log n) or better
- **Lazy evaluation** - compute only when needed
- **Zero-copy where possible** - avoid allocations
### Security Standards
- **No credentials in code** - use environment variables
- **Secure by default** - restrictive permissions
- **Input validation** - never trust user input
- **Dependency scanning** - regular audits
- **Clear audit trail** - log security events
## Evolution Path
### Phase 1: Foundation (Current)
- Perfect single-machine execution
- Rock-solid error handling
- Comprehensive documentation
- Intuitive CLI experience
### Phase 2: Scale (Next)
- Advanced parallel patterns
- Workflow marketplace
- Team collaboration features
- Performance optimization
### Phase 3: Platform (Future)
- Cloud execution options
- Enterprise features
- API and SDK
- Integration ecosystem
## Decision Framework
When making design decisions, prioritize in this order:
1. **Reliability** - Will this make the system more robust?
2. **Simplicity** - Does this reduce complexity?
3. **Performance** - Will users notice the improvement?
4. **Features** - Does this enable new use cases?
5. **Scale** - Do we actually need this now?
## Summary
Prodigy succeeds when it makes developers more productive without adding complexity. Every feature should pass the test: "Does this help developers ship better code faster with more confidence?"
The north star is a tool that developers reach for naturally because it amplifies their capabilities while staying out of their way. Simple things should be simple, complex things should be possible, and everything should be reliable.