living-architecture

A Claude Code plugin (la) plus its command-line tools for spec-driven development with an enforced living architecture:

• PR flow — /la:pr runs a change through four resumable stages (plan → failing tests → implementation → review loop), keyed on the Linear issue whose branch name matches the current branch, with OpenSpec as the behaviour corpus.
• Living architecture — one LikeC4 model, arc42 principles per node, and la-arch-check, which enforces the model as the repo's single import law and cross-checks code, model, docs, and specs.
• Review processing — /la:process-reviews waits for CI and review bots, then triages CI failures, Codex, and (when enabled) CodeRabbit and SonarQube findings into one fix plan.
• Deterministic refactoring — rope-driven renames and moves whose completeness is proven by the type checker, not trusted.

Install

# the plugin
/plugin marketplace add MotleyAI/living-architecture
/plugin install la@living-architecture

# the commands (la-*, dr-*), pinned to the same version as the plugin
uv tool install living-architecture==0.2.1

Skills run la-doctor --expect <version> first and stop if the installed commands don't match the plugin.

The commands have two native implementations (twins) with one contract: the PyPI package serves Python repos, and the npm package living-architecture (Node ≥ 22, same command names; published from a later release) serves TypeScript/JavaScript repos. Either twin checks a Python, TypeScript or mixed repo with identical output: it hands the other language's work to the other twin at the same version, found on PATH (or <repo>/node_modules/.bin) or run through uvx/npx, and exits 2 with an install hint when that twin is unreachable.

Prerequisites: git, bash, gh (authenticated), jq; npx for the OpenSpec and LikeC4 CLIs; the Linear MCP server for the spec flow; the Codex MCP server (mcp__codex__codex) for plan, test, and diff reviews; the SonarQube MCP server if Sonar is enabled; and a type checker in the target repo (the refactoring and architecture gates compare against its recorded baseline).

Skills

Skill	Purpose
la:pr	Entry point: rehydrate the Linear issue, detect the stage, dispatch
la:pr-plan, la:pr-tests, la:pr-implement, la:pr-review	The four stages
la:openspec-init	Initialize or repair OpenSpec in a repo
la:living-architecture	Set up or maintain the architecture layer
la:arch-slice	Retire a batch of #legacy import arrows with verified moves
la:process-reviews	Triage CI, Codex, CodeRabbit, and Sonar feedback into a plan
la:fetch-coderabbit-threads, la:fetch-failed-pr-checks, la:reply-to-pr-thread	Single-source review helpers
la:codex-review	Codex review of the current diff
la:concise-comments	Comment/docstring rules and a trimming pass
la:deterministic-refactor, la:make-diff-compliant, la:make-refactor-target-compliant	Verified refactoring

Commands

Command	Purpose
la-doctor	Check tool/plugin versions, the repo config, and git/gh
la-config get <key> / la-config show	Print resolved repo config
la-arch-check	Architecture cross-check (exit 0 OK, 1 findings, 2 broken setup)
la-arch-diagrams	Regenerate the mermaid view diagrams embedded in arc42 docs
la-check-conventions <PR> / --base BRANCH	Imports-at-top and text-ratio gate on changed .py files
la-count-comments	Count comment/docstring lines, or the net change vs a git ref
la-wait-for-reviews <PR>	Wait for CI and the CodeRabbit review to settle
la-fetch-failed-pr-checks <PR>	Failed checks plus their failed-step logs
la-fetch-coderabbit-threads <PR>	Unresolved CodeRabbit threads, nitpicks, outside-diff comments
la-reply-to-pr-thread, la-reply-invalid-coderabbit	Reply to a review thread (body on stdin)
dr-refactor, dr-compliance, dr-mock-lint	See Deterministic refactoring

Repo config

Optional living-architecture.yaml at the repo root; without it every value takes its default.

reviewers:
  coderabbit: false                 # /la:pr flow's CodeRabbit steps run only when true (la-* CR commands always work)
  sonar:
    enabled: false                  # SonarQube steps run only when true
    project_key: my-org_my-repo     # required when enabled
issue_key_pattern: "[A-Z][A-Z0-9]+-\\d+"   # ids allowed in arc42 [target: …] tags
commands:
  test: pytest -m "not integration" # the full suite the flow runs; unset = the repo's documented one
  lint: ruff check .
conventions:
  text_ratio_max: 0.15              # max share of comment/docstring-only lines
  exempt: []                        # repo-relative globs skipped by la-check-conventions

Types are strict: coderabbit: 'true' or text_ratio_max: '0.2' is an error naming the key, not a coerced value. issue_key_pattern must use the portable regex subset in shared/regex-subset.md.

Upgrading to language roots

index.yaml holds one section per language and the model one root element per language; la-arch-check exits 2 on a top-level root_package. Once per repo:

1. Move root_package/source_root into a python: (or typescript:) section; repo-owned keys must start with x-.
2. Wrap every top-level model element and relation, unchanged, in python = system '<title>' { … }; relation names stay relative to the root.
3. Add of python to every view (view system of python { … }) and qualify cross_cutting_specs touches (core → python.core).
4. Run la-arch-check until green. Diagrams need no regeneration; findings now name elements fully qualified (python.core).

python:
  root_package: mypkg
  source_root: src
typescript:                 # a second language: its own root element `typescript`
  root_package: src
  source_root: web

Upgrading from index.yaml nodes:

Node mapping now lives in the LikeC4 model; index.yaml keeps only repo-wide settings, and la-arch-check exits 2 while it still has nodes:. Once per repo: move each nodes.<id> entry into a metadata { } block on model element <id> (package, claims, packages, arc42, specs), drop children: and virtual: (the model's nesting and #virtual kinds already say both), delete nodes:, and run la-arch-check until green:

python = system 'My package' {
  api = node 'API' {
    metadata {
      package 'mypkg.api'
      specs ['api']
    }
    handlers = node 'Handlers'   // maps to mypkg.api.handlers
  }
}

Architecture checks in CI

Pin the checker to a release; it needs no per-repo code beyond architecture/. --no-build installs only prebuilt wheels:

- uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@c18668ad3cf93ea998bef934396af7bb5c839dc7 # v10.2.0
- run: uvx --no-build --from living-architecture==0.2.1 la-arch-check

Working from a local checkout

To use and edit the plugin at the same time, run everything from a clone instead of a marketplace install:

git clone https://github.com/MotleyAI/living-architecture ~/src/living-architecture
uv tool install -e ~/src/living-architecture/python
ln -s ~/src/living-architecture/plugin ~/.claude/skills/la

Claude Code loads a plugin directory under ~/.claude/skills/ in place (it shows as la@skills-dir in claude plugin list), so this works in every launcher, including IDE and git-client integrations. The alternative is alias claude='claude --plugin-dir ~/src/living-architecture/plugin', but launchers that don't read your shell aliases need that flag added to their own command settings.

• Do not also install la from the marketplace — both copies would load and every skill would appear twice. If it is installed, /plugin uninstall la@living-architecture first.
• Python edits take effect on the next command run (editable install). Edits under shared/ (texts, schemas, the CLI manifest, the review scripts) take effect after scripts/sync-shared, which refreshes the vendored copy the commands load. Adding or renaming a command (in shared/cli.yaml and python/pyproject.toml) needs uv tool install -e again.
• SKILL.md edits take effect from the next Claude Code session.
• To try an unreleased checker in a repo that pins a release, pip install -e <checkout>/python into that repo's environment; its next dependency sync restores the pin.

Repository layout

Path	Holds
plugin/	the Claude Code plugin: skills
python/	the PyPI twin (living-architecture): every la-*/dr-* command
node/	the npm twin (living-architecture): the language-neutral commands and the TypeScript arch-check; forwards the Python-only commands
shared/	the contract the commands obey: config and index schemas, finding texts, the CLI manifest, conventions and language registries, review scripts, test vectors
conformance/	the byte-exact corpus pinning every command's observable output
architecture/	this repo's own LikeC4 model and arc42 principles
scripts/sync-shared	vendors shared/, README.md and LICENSE into both twins
scripts/conformance-cross	runs every conformance case through both twins' entry points
scripts/release-check	checks a release tag against both twins' versions and contract hashes

See AGENTS.md for how to change any of them.

Releasing

In python/, bump the version with uv version <new>, then in node/package.json, plugin/.claude-plugin/plugin.json and every skill's la-doctor --expect pin (the tests fail until all agree), and update the pins in this README. Run scripts/sync-shared and commit the refreshed copies. Tag v<version> and publish a GitHub release for it; the Publish workflow first runs scripts/release-check (every version equals the tag, both contract hashes agree) and publishes neither twin otherwise. The npm job skips while node/package.json is "private": true.

Deterministic refactoring

Rename and move Python code with automatic import/reference rewriting — and, the actual point, a deterministic check that the refactor left nothing dangling.

The rename tool (rope) is best-effort: no refactoring tool reliably rewrites every type-annotated obj.attr, super() call, and subclass override. So it is never trusted — it is verified. A strict type-check proves no dangling static reference remains; @typing.override turns a missed override into an error; a mock-spec lint turns a missed dynamic (mock) reference into a failure. Green ⇒ provably no dangling reference.

Tools:

• dr-refactor — rope mutator: rename / move-symbol / move-module
• dr-mock-lint — fail on mocks not bound to a spec
• dr-compliance — report the constructs that make a refactor un-verifiable

What a fully compliant repo must fulfill

A repo is refactor-verifiable when a missed rename is guaranteed to surface as a failing check. That holds only when:

1. Target code is typed. Functions annotated (params + return), class attributes annotated, and every variable/parameter that holds an instance of a class annotated. An unannotated x.attr is unresolvable, so a miss there is invisible — determinism is bought with type coverage. (dr-compliance + Ruff ANN* enforce this.)
2. A type checker runs against the project's own environment. mypy or basedpyright resolving imports via the project venv — the same interpreter the tests use — passing, or at a recorded baseline.
3. Overrides are marked. @typing.override on every override, with reportImplicitOverride (basedpyright) or mypy strict enabled, so a base rename that orphans an override is an error, not a silent break.
4. Mocks are spec-bound. No bare Mock()/MagicMock()/patch(); every double bound via spec_set= / autospec=True / a Protocol fake. A stale mock member then fails (AttributeError, or a type error for typed fakes). (dr-mock-lint enforces this.)
5. The gate is wired into CI/pre-commit. type-check (no new errors vs baseline) + dr-mock-lint + the test suite, on every change.

dr-compliance mechanically checks 1, 3-adjacent (via the type checker), and 4, and reports each violation as file:line: <kind>: <message>.

Using it on an existing repo

1. One-time setup

• Install the tools (see Install above).

• Add a type checker to the project's dev dependencies, pointed at its venv — it must resolve imports the way the tests do:

  # pyproject.toml
  [tool.basedpyright]
  venvPath = "."
  venv = ".venv"
  pythonVersion = "3.11"
  typeCheckingMode = "standard"      # already errors on attribute access
  reportImplicitOverride = "error"
  

  (Equivalently mypy --strict --python-executable .venv/bin/python.)

• Add dr-mock-lint <tests> and the type checker to .pre-commit-config.yaml and CI. Record the current type-error set as the baseline — you do not need a clean whole repo, only "no new errors" per change.

The mutator (rope) does not belong in the project's dependencies — it reads source and needs nothing installed. Only the verifier needs the env.

2. Keep every PR compliant — skill make-diff-compliant

Bring exactly the files a PR touches up to the five conditions before it merges, so compliance grows monotonically with the diff instead of requiring a big-bang migration. The skill runs dr-compliance on the changed files, adds the missing annotations / @override / mock specs, and loops until the type checker and dr-mock-lint are clean on the diff. See plugin/skills/make-diff-compliant/.

3. Do a refactor — skill deterministic-refactor

Locate the symbol with the editor/LSP → dr-refactor dry-run → apply → run the gate (type checker shows no new errors, dr-mock-lint passes, tests pass, grep the string-only references no static tool sees) → review the diff. See plugin/skills/deterministic-refactor/.

4. Make a refactor's blast radius compliant first — skill make-refactor-target-compliant

Before renaming X or X.attr, close the blind spots the gate would otherwise miss: code that might reference the target but is currently invisible to the checker — untyped parameters/variables that could hold an X, classes whose attribute names match the target ("right-looking" names), subclasses missing @override. The skill drives dr-compliance --attr <name> to enumerate those sites, annotates them, and re-checks until the blast radius is fully typed — so the post-rename gate is sound. See plugin/skills/make-refactor-target-compliant/.