living-architecture

A Claude Code plugin (la) plus its command-line tools that keep agent-written code from drifting into spaghetti, and keep each change on a reviewed plan.

• An architecture that is enforced, not just drawn. A LikeC4 model maps nodes to code modules, and its arrows decide which module may import which. la-arch-check measures the real imports against the model. Grandfathered arrows are marked #legacy and only ever shrink. Each node carries arc42 principles with status tags, and agents treat the model and the principles like tests: changes need your approval.
• A four-stage PR flow. /la:pr interviews you into a Codex-reviewed OpenSpec plan, writes the failing tests, implements until they pass, and then loops CI, Codex, CodeRabbit and Sonar reviews until every gate is clean. Each stage resumes from the branch name alone, and the plan is archived with the code.
• Refactoring without import churn. Python moves and renames rewrite every import automatically, and the type checker proves nothing was left dangling.

The longer version is in Living architecture, explained.

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==0.2.3

The commands ship as a PyPI package and as an npm package of the same name; each serves its own ecosystem and calls the other for mixed repos (details). Skills check that the installed commands match the plugin before they run.

Quick start

In the repo you want to onboard, run:

/la:init

It detects your tracker, test, lint and type-check commands, Codex, Sonar and any existing OpenSpec or architecture setup, then proposes a living-architecture.yaml and asks only about what it cannot detect. It then offers to set up OpenSpec, record the type-check baseline and build the architecture model with /la:arch-init. After that, start each change with /la:pr on a branch named after its issue.

Skills

These skills call helper skills that you can also run on their own; see Skills.

Prerequisites

Always: git, bash, gh (authenticated) and jq.

Per gate, as living-architecture.yaml enables it:

Documentation

• Living architecture, explained
• Skills: main and helper skills
• Configuration: living-architecture.yaml
• Commands: the la-* and dr-* commands, and CI
• Deterministic refactoring
• Development: working from a checkout, layout, releasing