claude-code-prompter 0.6.0

Orchestrate AI-powered code maintenance workflows with sequential or conditional task execution

Prompter

Orchestrate AI-powered code maintenance at scale

A Python tool for orchestrating AI-powered code maintenance workflows using Claude Code SDK.

📚 Resources: GitHub Repository | Examples | System Prompt

Requirements

• Python 3.11 or higher
• Claude Code SDK

Installation

Install from PyPI:

pip install claude-code-prompter

Or install from source:

# Install the package
pip install -e .

# Install with development dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

How It Works

Prompter supports two execution modes:

1. Sequential Execution (Default)

Tasks execute one after another in the order they're defined. Use on_success = "next" and on_failure = "retry" for traditional sequential workflows.

[[tasks]]
name = "lint"
on_success = "next"  # Continue to the next task in order

[[tasks]]
name = "test"
on_success = "next"  # Continue to the next task

[[tasks]]
name = "build"
on_success = "stop"  # End execution

2. Conditional Workflows (Task Jumping)

Tasks can jump to specific named tasks, enabling complex branching logic. Perfect for error handling, conditional deployments, and dynamic workflows.

[[tasks]]
name = "build"
on_success = "test"      # Jump to 'test' task
on_failure = "fix_build" # Jump to 'fix_build' on failure

[[tasks]]
name = "fix_build"
on_success = "build"     # Retry build after fixing

⚠️ Warning: Infinite Loop Protection
When using task jumping, be careful not to create infinite loops. Prompter automatically detects and prevents infinite loops by tracking executed tasks. If a task tries to execute twice in the same run, it will be skipped with a warning. Always ensure your task flows have a clear termination condition.

Quick Start

1. Generate a sample configuration to get started quickly:

   prompter --init
   

2. Customize the configuration file (prompter.toml) for your project:

   • Replace make commands with your project's build/test commands
   • Adjust prompts to match your coding standards
   • Modify task flow and retry settings

3. Test your configuration with a dry run:

   prompter prompter.toml --dry-run
   

4. Run the tasks when ready:

   prompter prompter.toml
   

Usage

Basic Commands

# Generate a sample configuration file to get started
prompter --init                     # Creates prompter.toml
prompter --init my-config.toml      # Creates custom-named config

# Run all tasks from a configuration file
prompter config.toml

# Dry run to see what would be executed without making changes
prompter config.toml --dry-run

# Run a specific task by name
prompter config.toml --task fix_warnings

# Check current status and progress
prompter --status

# Clear saved state for a fresh start
prompter --clear-state

# Enable verbose output for debugging
prompter config.toml --verbose

# Enable extensive diagnostic logging (new in v0.3.0)
prompter config.toml --debug

# Save logs to a file
prompter config.toml --log-file debug.log

# Combine debug mode with log file for comprehensive diagnostics
prompter config.toml --debug --log-file debug.log

Common Use Cases

1. Code Modernization

# Create a config file for updating deprecated APIs
cat > modernize.toml << EOF
[settings]
working_directory = "/path/to/your/project"

[[tasks]]
name = "update_apis"
prompt = "Update all deprecated API calls to their modern equivalents"
verify_command = "python -m py_compile *.py"
on_success = "next"
on_failure = "retry"
max_attempts = 2

[[tasks]]
name = "add_type_hints"
prompt = "Add missing type hints to all functions and methods"
verify_command = "mypy --strict ."
on_success = "stop"
EOF

# Run the modernization
prompter modernize.toml

2. Documentation Updates

# Keep docs in sync with code changes
cat > docs.toml << EOF
[[tasks]]
name = "update_docstrings"
prompt = "Update all docstrings to match current function signatures and behavior"
verify_command = "python -m doctest -v *.py"

[[tasks]]
name = "update_readme"
prompt = "Update README.md to reflect recent API changes and new features"
verify_command = "markdownlint README.md"
EOF

prompter docs.toml --dry-run  # Preview changes first
prompter docs.toml            # Apply changes

3. Code Quality Improvements

# Fix linting issues and improve code quality
cat > quality.toml << EOF
[[tasks]]
name = "fix_linting"
prompt = "Fix all linting errors and warnings reported by flake8 and pylint"
verify_command = "flake8 . && pylint *.py"
on_failure = "retry"
max_attempts = 3

[[tasks]]
name = "improve_formatting"
prompt = "Improve code formatting and add missing blank lines for better readability"
verify_command = "black --check ."
EOF

prompter quality.toml

State Management

Prompter automatically tracks your progress:

# Check what's been completed
prompter --status

# Example output:
# Session ID: 1703123456
# Total tasks: 3
# Completed: 2
# Failed: 0
# Running: 0
# Pending: 1

# Resume from where you left off
prompter config.toml  # Automatically skips completed tasks

# Start fresh if needed
prompter --clear-state
prompter config.toml

Advanced Configuration

Task Dependencies and Flow Control

[settings]
working_directory = "/path/to/project"
check_interval = 30
max_retries = 3

# Task that stops on failure
[[tasks]]
name = "critical_fixes"
prompt = "Fix any critical security vulnerabilities"
verify_command = "safety check"
on_failure = "stop"  # Don't continue if this fails
max_attempts = 1

# Task that continues despite failures
[[tasks]]
name = "optional_cleanup"
prompt = "Remove unused imports and variables"
verify_command = "autoflake --check ."
on_failure = "next"  # Continue to next task even if this fails

# Task with custom timeout
[[tasks]]
name = "slow_operation"
prompt = "Refactor large legacy module"
verify_command = "python -m unittest discover"
timeout = 600  # 10 minutes - task will be terminated if it exceeds this

# Task without timeout (runs until completion)
[[tasks]]
name = "thorough_analysis"
prompt = "Perform comprehensive security audit"
verify_command = "security-scan --full"
# No timeout specified - Claude Code runs without time limit

Task Jumping and Conditional Workflows

# Jump to specific tasks based on success/failure
[[tasks]]
name = "build"
prompt = "Build the project"
verify_command = "test -f dist/app.js"
on_success = "test"      # Jump to 'test' task on success
on_failure = "fix_build" # Jump to 'fix_build' task on failure

[[tasks]]
name = "fix_build"
prompt = "Fix build errors and warnings"
verify_command = "test -f dist/app.js"
on_success = "test"  # Jump back to 'test' after fixing
on_failure = "stop"  # Stop if we can't fix the build
max_attempts = 2

[[tasks]]
name = "test"
prompt = "Run the test suite"
verify_command = "npm test"
on_success = "deploy"    # Continue to deploy
on_failure = "fix_tests" # Jump to fix_tests on failure

[[tasks]]
name = "fix_tests"
prompt = "Fix failing tests"
verify_command = "npm test"
on_success = "deploy"    # Continue to deploy after fixing
on_failure = "stop"      # Stop if tests can't be fixed
max_attempts = 1

[[tasks]]
name = "deploy"
prompt = "Deploy to staging environment"
verify_command = "curl -f http://staging.example.com/health"
on_success = "stop"      # All done!
on_failure = "rollback"  # Jump to rollback on failure

[[tasks]]
name = "rollback"
prompt = "Rollback the deployment"
verify_command = "curl -f http://staging.example.com/health"
on_success = "stop"
on_failure = "stop"

This creates a workflow where:

• Build failures jump to a fix task, then retry testing
• Test failures jump to a fix task, then continue to deployment
• Deployment failures trigger a rollback
• Tasks are skipped if not referenced in the flow

⚠️ Avoiding Infinite Loops

When designing conditional workflows, be mindful of potential infinite loops:

Bad Example (Infinite Loop):

[[tasks]]
name = "task_a"
on_success = "task_b"

[[tasks]]
name = "task_b"
on_success = "task_a"  # Creates infinite loop!

Good Example (With Exit Condition):

[[tasks]]
name = "retry_task"
prompt = "Try to fix the issue"
verify_command = "test -f success_marker"
on_success = "next"       # Exit the loop on success
on_failure = "retry_task" # Retry on failure
max_attempts = 1          # Important: limits retries per execution

Loop Protection: By default, Prompter prevents infinite loops by tracking which tasks have been executed. If a task attempts to run twice in the same session, it will be skipped with a warning log.

Allowing Infinite Loops: For use cases like continuous monitoring or polling, you can enable infinite loops:

[settings]
allow_infinite_loops = true

[[tasks]]
name = "monitor"
prompt = "Check system status"
verify_command = "systemctl is-active myservice"
on_success = "wait"
on_failure = "alert"

[[tasks]]
name = "wait"
prompt = "Wait before next check"
verify_command = "sleep 60"
on_success = "monitor"  # Loop back to monitoring

When allow_infinite_loops = true, tasks can execute multiple times. A safety limit of 1000 iterations prevents runaway loops.

Multiple Project Workflow

# Process multiple projects in sequence
for project in project1 project2 project3; do
    cd "$project"
    prompter ../shared-config.toml --verbose
    cd ..
done

Configuration

Create a TOML configuration file with your tasks:

[settings]
check_interval = 30
max_retries = 3
working_directory = "/path/to/project"

[[tasks]]
name = "fix_warnings"
prompt = "Fix all compiler warnings in the codebase"
verify_command = "make test"
verify_success_code = 0
on_success = "next"
on_failure = "retry"
max_attempts = 3
timeout = 300

Configuration Reference

Settings (Optional)

• working_directory: Base directory for command execution (default: current directory)
• check_interval: Seconds to wait between task completion and verification (default: 3600)
• max_retries: Global retry limit for all tasks (default: 3)
• allow_infinite_loops: Allow tasks to execute multiple times in the same run (default: false)

Task Fields

• name (required): Unique identifier for the task. Cannot use reserved words: next, stop, retry, repeat
• prompt (required): Instructions for Claude Code to execute
• verify_command (required): Shell command to verify task success
• verify_success_code: Expected exit code for success (default: 0)
• on_success: Action when task succeeds - "next", "stop", "repeat", or any task name (default: "next")
• on_failure: Action when task fails - "retry", "stop", "next", or any task name (default: "retry")
• max_attempts: Maximum retry attempts for this task (default: 3)
• timeout: Task timeout in seconds (optional, no timeout if not specified)

Note on Task Jumping: When using task names in on_success or on_failure, ensure your workflow has exit conditions to prevent infinite loops. Prompter will skip tasks that have already executed to prevent infinite loops.

Examples and Templates

The project includes ready-to-use workflow templates in the examples/ directory:

• examples/bdd-workflow.toml: Automated BDD scenario implementation
• refactor-codebase.toml: Safe code refactoring with testing
• security-audit.toml: Security scanning and remediation

Find these examples in the GitHub repository.

AI-Assisted Configuration Generation

For complex workflows, you can use AI assistance to generate TOML configurations. We provide a comprehensive system prompt that helps AI assistants understand all the intricacies of the prompter tool.

Using the System Prompt

1. Get the system prompt from the GitHub repository

2. Ask your AI assistant (Claude, ChatGPT, etc.):

   [Paste the system prompt]
   
   Now create a prompter TOML configuration for: [describe your workflow]
   

3. The AI will generate a properly structured TOML that:

   • Breaks down complex tasks to avoid JSON parsing issues
   • Uses appropriate verification commands
   • Implements proper error handling
   • Follows best practices for the tool

4. Validate the generated TOML:

   # Test configuration without executing anything
   prompter generated-config.toml --dry-run
   
   # This will:
   # - Validate TOML syntax
   # - Check all required fields
   # - Display what would be executed
   # - Show any configuration errors
   

Important: Avoiding Claude SDK Limitations

The Claude SDK currently has a JSON parsing bug with large responses. To avoid this:

1. Keep prompts focused and concise - Each task should have a single, clear objective
2. Break complex workflows into smaller tasks - This is better for reliability anyway
3. Avoid asking Claude to echo large files - Use specific, targeted instructions
4. Use the --debug flag if you encounter issues to see detailed error messages

Example of breaking down a complex task:

❌ Bad (too complex, might fail):

[[tasks]]
name = "refactor_everything"
prompt = """
Analyze the entire codebase, identify all issues, fix all problems,
update all tests, improve documentation, and commit everything.
"""

✅ Good (focused tasks):

[[tasks]]
name = "analyze_code"
prompt = "Identify the top 3 refactoring opportunities in the codebase"
verify_command = "test -f refactoring_plan.md"

[[tasks]]
name = "refactor_duplicates"
prompt = "Extract the most common duplicate code into shared utilities"
verify_command = "python -m py_compile **/*.py"

[[tasks]]
name = "run_tests"
prompt = "Run all tests and report any failures"
verify_command = "pytest"

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. "JSONDecodeError: Unterminated string" - Your prompt is generating responses that are too large

   • Solution: Break down the task into smaller, focused prompts
   • Use --debug to see the full error details

2. Task keeps retrying - The verify_command might not be testing the right thing

   • Solution: Ensure verify_command actually validates what the task accomplished

3. "State file corrupted" - Rare issue with interrupted execution

   • Solution: Run prompter --clear-state to start fresh

4. "Unescaped '' in a string" - TOML parsing error with backslashes in strings

   • Solution: In TOML, backslashes must be escaped. Use one of these approaches:
     • Double backslashes: path = "C:\\Users\\name\\project"
     • Single quotes: path = 'C:\Users\name\project'
     • Triple quotes: path = '''C:\Users\name\project'''
   • The error message now shows the exact line and column with helpful context

Debug Mode

Run with extensive logging to diagnose issues:

prompter config.toml --debug --log-file debug.log

This provides:

• Detailed execution traces
• Claude SDK interaction logs
• State transition information
• Timing data for each operation

License

MIT

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│   >  ───  • • •  ───  ✓       │
│   prompt  tasks  verify       │
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