atdd 3.39.0

ATDD Platform - Acceptance Test Driven Development toolkit

ATDD

Acceptance Test Driven Development toolkit — turns a job-to-be-done into deterministic requirements, validates them with tests, and drives implementation through a structured agent lifecycle.

flowchart LR
    A[Job to be Done] --> B[Wagon + Acceptance]
    B --> C[RED Tests]
    C --> D[GREEN Code]
    D --> F[SMOKE Tests]
    F --> E[REFACTOR]
    E --> COMPLETE[COMPLETE → MERGED]
    E -.->|feedback| B
    classDef phase fill:#1f2937,color:#fff,stroke:#3b82f6,stroke-width:2px
    class B,C,D,F,E,COMPLETE phase

Jump to: Quick Start · Lifecycle · Multi-agent orchestration · Commands · Validators · Installation

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Why ATDD

You want to…	ATDD gives you…
stop agents skipping instructions	atdd gate — coercive mandatory tool-output bootstrap
keep planning, testing, and code in lock-step	a deterministic state machine: INIT → PLANNED → RED → GREEN → SMOKE → REFACTOR → COMPLETE → MERGED
run 5+ agents in parallel without merge chaos	atdd coach + worktrees + per-issue cmux/tmux/zellij panes
catch regressions before review	4 validator phases + per-rule disposition gates + rule-ID binding
sync rules across Claude, Codex, Gemini, GLM	atdd sync — managed blocks that preserve user content
treat issues, PRs, and releases as one artifact	GitHub Issues + Project v2 fields + auto-tag publish.yml

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Quick Start

pip install atdd                          # Install
atdd init                                 # Bootstrap .atdd/ + GitHub infrastructure
atdd gate                                 # ← START EVERY SESSION WITH THIS
atdd issue my-new-feature                 # Create parent issue + WMBT sub-issues
atdd branch <N>                           # Create worktree + draft PR
atdd coach <N>                            # Drive INIT → MERGED via state machine
atdd validate                             # Run all validators

Mandatory: all issue & PR creation goes through atdd. gh issue create / gh pr create are blocked by convention. Reason: bypass loses manifest registration, WMBT sub-issues, Project v2 fields, and the --base default-branch orphan-merge guard.

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The ATDD Lifecycle

stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> INIT
    INIT --> PLANNED: planner persona
    PLANNED --> RED: tester persona
    RED --> GREEN: coder persona
    GREEN --> SMOKE: tester persona
    SMOKE --> REFACTOR: coder persona
    REFACTOR --> COMPLETE: reviewer persona
    COMPLETE --> MERGED: two-phase commit
    PLANNED --> BLOCKED
    RED --> BLOCKED
    GREEN --> BLOCKED
    SMOKE --> BLOCKED
    REFACTOR --> BLOCKED
    BLOCKED --> [*]: OBSOLETE
    MERGED --> [*]

State	Persona	Deliverable	Validator phase
INIT	planner	wagon + acceptance + WMBT	atdd validate planner
PLANNED	tester	RED tests from acceptance	atdd validate tester
RED	coder	GREEN implementation	atdd validate coder (green)
GREEN	tester	SMOKE tests vs real infra	atdd validate tester (smoke)
SMOKE	coder	REFACTOR to 4-layer arch	atdd validate coder (architecture)
REFACTOR	reviewer	review-report.json pass	atdd validate coach
COMPLETE	—	PR open + CI clean	gate validators
MERGED	—	release tag + cleanup	publish.yml

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Multi-agent orchestration

flowchart TB
    coach["atdd coach <N>"] --> SM{state machine}
    SM --> SP[spawn handler]
    SM --> DEC[decisions.jsonl]
    SM --> WATCH[runtime watcher]
    SM --> VAL[validator dispatch]
    SP --> AGENT[per-phase agent<br/>planner/tester/coder]
    AGENT --> OBS[observer co-spawn]
    AGENT --> REV[reviewer agent]
    REV --> JUDGE{verdict}
    JUDGE -->|pass| SM
    JUDGE -->|concern| ATDDJUDGE[atdd judge]
    JUDGE -->|fail| SP
    SM --> TPC[two-phase commit<br/>PR → merge → tag → cleanup]
    classDef shipped fill:#10b981,color:#fff,stroke:#065f46
    classDef wip fill:#f59e0b,color:#fff,stroke:#92400e
    class AGENT,OBS,REV,JUDGE,ATDDJUDGE,TPC,DEC,WATCH,VAL,SP shipped
    class SM,coach wip

Components: all shipped via the coach-v9 train (42/42 issues closed, May 2026):

Component	CLI	Role
State machine	atdd coach <N>	drives INIT → MERGED per issue; supports --persona-llm, --review-phases, --resume, --dry-run
Spawn	atdd spawn --persona <p>	renders launch prompt + creates worktree + opens multiplexer pane with canonical naming
Observer	atdd observer run --agent-id <id>	watches agent screen, auto-approves safe prompts, escalates unknowns (absorbed legacy babysit)
Reviewer	atdd agent review --target-commit <sha> --report-file <p>	emits review-report.json with hard rules (no-pass-with-not-covered, severity-matches-registry)
Judge	atdd judge --prompt-template <p> --schema <s>	LLM tiebreaker for ambiguous routing (6 call sites, spec §6.9)
Issue review	atdd issue review <N> --passes 2	multi-pass cross-LLM critique of an issue body across 5 dimensions
Status	atdd observer status	dashboard of running agents per workspace

Legacy atdd orchestrate and atdd babysit were decommissioned (May 2026, PRs #577 / #579). Their machinery lives under commands/_archived/ for the parity test suites; the public CLI prints a migration message and exits non-zero.

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Commands

Initialization

atdd init                          # Bootstrap .atdd/ + GitHub labels + Project v2 fields
atdd init --force                  # Reinitialize (overwrites managed blocks)
atdd init --worktree-layout        # Migrate repo to flat-sibling worktree layout
atdd init --export-schemas         # Also export convention schemas to consumer repo

After atdd init, your project structure looks like:

your-project/
├── your-project.code-workspace   # VS Code multi-root (open this, not main/)
├── main/                         # Primary checkout
├── feat-some-feature/            # git worktree per branch
├── CLAUDE.md                     # Managed by atdd sync
├── AGENTS.md                     # Managed by atdd sync (optional)
└── .atdd/
    ├── manifest.yaml             # Issue tracking
    ├── config.yaml               # Sync agents, release, code roots
    └── hooks/                    # Pre-commit / pre-push hooks

Issue & PR

atdd issue <slug>                       # Create parent issue + WMBT sub-issues
atdd issue <slug> --archetypes be,fe    # Archetypes: db, be, fe, contracts, wmbt, wagon, train, telemetry, coach
atdd issue <N>                          # Enter issue (state-driven context)
atdd issue <N> --status <STATUS>        # Transition state; auto-swaps labels
atdd issue <N> --check                  # Template compliance feedback
atdd issue <N> --sync-wmbts             # Backfill missing WMBT sub-issues
atdd issue review <N> --passes 2        # Multi-pass cross-LLM review (5 dimensions)

atdd branch <N>                         # Create worktree + draft PR
atdd pr <N>                             # Open / promote PR (closing keywords + base-branch guard)
atdd pr <N> --auto --merge-strategy squash  # Auto-merge after CI

Coach (single-command lifecycle)

atdd coach <N>                                 # Drive issue from INIT to MERGED
atdd coach <N1> <N2> ...                       # Wave-ordered parallel run
atdd coach <N> --persona-llm tester=glm-5.1,coder=claude-sonnet-4-6
atdd coach <N> --review-phases planned,red,green,smoke
atdd coach <N> --skip-review                   # Bypass reviewer agent spawns
atdd coach <N> --auto-merge                    # Merge on CI clean
atdd coach <N> --resume <run-id>               # Resume from decisions.jsonl
atdd coach <N> --multiplexer-mode pane         # Tabs in current workspace
atdd coach <N> --dry-run                       # Print planned state path, no side-effects

Validation

atdd validate                  # All validators, two-stage (fast → platform)
atdd validate planner          # Wagons, trains, URNs, WMBTs
atdd validate tester           # Test naming, contracts, telemetry, SMOKE coverage
atdd validate coder            # Architecture, boundaries, dead code, complexity (see below)
atdd validate coach            # Issues, registries, release gate, label compliance
atdd validate --quick          # Fast smoke pass
atdd validate --coverage       # With coverage report
atdd validate --verify-baseline  # Pass-record check, skip full re-run

Agent config sync

atdd sync                  # Sync all enabled agents from config
atdd sync --agent claude   # Sync specific
atdd sync --verify         # CI check
atdd sync --status         # Status across agents

Agent	Managed file
claude	CLAUDE.md
codex	AGENTS.md
gemini	GEMINI.md
glm	GLM.md
qwen	QWEN.md

Discovery & visualization

atdd rules show <rule_id>      # Show a rule definition (bind_rule contract)
atdd rules where <rule_id>     # Where is rule fired/bound
atdd rules grep <pattern>      # Search rule registry
atdd inventory                 # Artifact inventory
atdd inventory --trace         # Unified URN traceability matrix
atdd repo viz                  # Interactive URN graph (pip install atdd[viz])
atdd repo viz --mode journey   # Train-step edges from sequence[]

Maintenance

atdd upgrade                   # pip-upgrade → sync → init --force
atdd merge-cascade <pr1> ...   # Wave-ordered merge with CI gating
atdd status                    # Platform status
atdd registry update           # Update all registries (rules, conventions)

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Validators

Four phase validators map to the lifecycle. Each rule declares a rule-ID (canonical <archetype>.<convention_short_name>.<rule_name>) bound via bind_rule() at module-import time. Per-rule dispositions drive CI behavior:

Disposition	CI behavior
strict	any violation fails CI
suppress-and-clean	pre-existing sites carry # atdd:suppress(<id>) UNTIL=<YYYY-MM-DD>; new violations fail
advisory	warnings only, never fails CI

Coder validator coverage (the strictest CI job)

Domain	Checks
Architecture	4-layer (domain/application/integration/presentation), wagon boundaries, qualified imports
Design system	Hierarchy, token, adoption (frontend)
Quality	Cognitive complexity, dead code (Python + TypeScript), code duplication
Logging	Structured logging, no silent exception swallowing
Security	Pattern-based checks, error response compliance
Cross-stack	Contract-driven HTTP (no raw fetch()), train-driven frontend composition

CI two-stage execution: fast file-parsing tests run in parallel, then API-bound platform tests run sequentially with shared fixtures. Override with --no-split.

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Conventions registry

YAML conventions per phase, each declaring rules with rule_id + disposition:

Phase	Conventions
planner	wagon, acceptance, wmbt, feature, artifact
tester	red, filename, contract, artifact, smoke
coder	green, refactor, boundaries, backend, frontend, design
coach	issue, orchestration, persona-prompts, judge call-sites

Browse: src/atdd/<phase>/conventions/*.convention.yaml.

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Release & publishing

flowchart LR
    A[feat/fix branch] -->|version bump| B[PR]
    B -->|CI clean| C[merge to main]
    C -->|workflow_run| D[publish.yml]
    D -->|read version| E[git tag vX.Y.Z]
    E -->|softprops/action-gh-release| F[release notes]
    F -->|PyPI Trusted Publishing| G[pypi.org/atdd]

atdd init ships 3 workflows:

Workflow	Trigger	Purpose
atdd-validate.yml	push, PR, issues	Run validators
publish.yml	workflow_run after validate success on main	Tag + publish (rate-limit retries, body-shape preserved)
post-merge-lifecycle.yml	PR merged	Auto-close WMBT sub-issues, transition parent to COMPLETE

Configure release in .atdd/config.yaml:

release:
  version_file: "pyproject.toml"
  tag_prefix: "v"

atdd validate coach enforces: version file exists, git tag on HEAD matches {tag_prefix}{version}.

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Installation

Standard

pip install atdd                # PyPI
pip install --upgrade atdd      # Upgrade
pip install atdd[viz]           # With URN graph UI (Streamlit)

Development

git clone https://github.com/afokapu/atdd.git
cd atdd && pip install -e ".[dev]"
atdd --help

Uninstall (consumer repo)

python -m pip uninstall atdd
# Then manually delete: .atdd/, managed blocks in CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md / etc.

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Project structure

src/atdd/
├── cli.py                    # Entry point
├── coach/
│   ├── commands/             # coach, spawn, observer, judge, agent (review), sync, gate, init…
│   │   └── _archived/        # decommissioned: orchestrate.py, babysit.py
│   ├── handlers/             # state_machine + 7 per-concern handlers (spawn, decisions, watcher, …)
│   ├── conventions/          # issue, orchestration, persona prompts
│   ├── prompts/              # per-persona × per-phase reviewer prompts
│   ├── runtime/              # risk_score, integration_logger, suppression_filter
│   ├── observer_rules/       # absorbed-from-babysit rules
│   ├── schemas/              # review-report, runtime-event, coach-decision, judge schemas
│   ├── plugins/              # pytest violation_collector
│   └── validators/           # coach validators
├── planner/
│   ├── conventions/  schemas/  validators/
├── tester/
│   ├── conventions/  schemas/  validators/
└── coder/
    ├── conventions/  schemas/  validators/

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Worker model selection

Worker agents can run on any wrapper. See docs/MODELS.md for the full table and when to prefer each. Tldr:

Class	Wrapper	When to use
compliant (small, instruction-following)	claude --model claude-sonnet-4-6, claude-haiku	ATDD lifecycle work — structured prompts, fixed states
frontier (large, reasoning)	claude (Opus 4.7), claude-glm, claude-gpt	Novel design, ambiguous spec, hard refactors

Configure default in .atdd/config.yaml::coach.default_worker_class. Override per invocation with atdd coach <N> --persona-llm tester=...,coder=....

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Requirements

Python	3.10+
Runtime deps	pyyaml, jsonschema
GitHub CLI	gh authenticated with project scope
Multiplexer	one of cmux, zellij, tmux (only needed for atdd coach parallel runs)
Dev deps	pytest, pytest-xdist, pytest-html

Optional env vars:

Var	Default	Effect
ATDD_MAX_UNCOMMITTED	10	Pre-push micro-commit warning threshold
ATDD_MAX_STAGED	20	Pre-commit micro-commit warning threshold
ATDD_SKIP_PREPUSH_VALIDATE	unset	Bypass pre-push validator hook (when shipped)

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Development

# Run all validators from source
PYTHONPATH=src python3 -m pytest src/atdd/ -v

# Run a specific phase
PYTHONPATH=src python3 -m pytest src/atdd/coder/validators/ -v

# With coverage + HTML
PYTHONPATH=src python3 -m pytest --cov=atdd --cov-report=html

Adding a validator

1. Create src/atdd/<phase>/validators/test_<name>.py
2. Call bind_rule("<canonical_id>") at module-import; declare the rule in the matching *.convention.yaml
3. pytest markers @pytest.mark.<phase> keep two-stage CI fast

Adding a convention

1. Create src/atdd/<phase>/conventions/<name>.convention.yaml
2. Declare each rule with: id, severity, disposition, description, optional fix_hint
3. Reference from validators via Path(__file__).parent.parent / "conventions" / "..."

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Documentation

Doc	Purpose
atdd-coach-spec-v9.md	Single-command lifecycle spec (states, persona prompts, judge call sites, §11.6 integration-hardening)
atdd-repo-substrate-spec-v12.md	Repo archetype + risk score + uniform-strict repo rules
docs/coach-worked-example.md	E2E worked example with artifact inventory
docs/MODELS.md	Worker-model selection (planned — see issue tracker)
Convention files	src/atdd/<phase>/conventions/*.convention.yaml — machine-readable rule definitions

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License

MIT