Issue-Driven Development

Overview

The master coding process. Every step references specific skills. Follow in order.

Core principle: No work without an issue. No shortcuts. No exceptions.

Announce at start: "I'm using issue-driven-development to implement this work."

Before Starting

Create TodoWrite items for each step you'll execute. This is not optional.

The 13-Step Process

Step 1: Issue Check

Question: Am I working on a clearly defined GitHub issue that is tracked in the project board?

Actions:

• If no issue exists → Create one using issue-prerequisite skill
• If issue is vague → Ask questions, UPDATE the issue, then proceed
• VERIFY issue is in GitHub Project with correct fields (not assumed - verified)

Verification (MANDATORY) - uses cached data:

# Verify issue is in project board (0 API calls - uses cache)
ITEM_ID=$(echo "$GH_CACHE_ITEMS" | jq -r ".items[] | select(.content.number == [ISSUE_NUMBER]) | .id")

if [ -z "$ITEM_ID" ] || [ "$ITEM_ID" = "null" ]; then
  echo "BLOCKED: Issue not in project board. Add it before proceeding."
  # Add to project (1 API call) and refresh cache (1 API call)
  gh project item-add "$GITHUB_PROJECT_NUM" --owner "$GH_PROJECT_OWNER" \
    --url "$(gh issue view [ISSUE_NUMBER] --json url -q .url)"
  export GH_CACHE_ITEMS=$(gh project item-list "$GITHUB_PROJECT_NUM" --owner "$GH_PROJECT_OWNER" --format json)
  ITEM_ID=$(echo "$GH_CACHE_ITEMS" | jq -r ".items[] | select(.content.number == [ISSUE_NUMBER]) | .id")
fi

# Verify Status field is set (0 API calls - uses cache)
STATUS=$(echo "$GH_CACHE_ITEMS" | jq -r ".items[] | select(.id == \"$ITEM_ID\") | .status.name")

if [ -z "$STATUS" ] || [ "$STATUS" = "null" ]; then
  echo "BLOCKED: Issue has no Status in project. Set Status before proceeding."
fi

Skill: issue-prerequisite, project-board-enforcement

Gate: Do not proceed unless:

1. GitHub issue URL exists
2. Issue is verified in GitHub Project (ITEM_ID obtained)
3. Status field is set (Ready, Backlog, or In Progress)

---

Step 2: Read Comments

Question: Are there comments on the issue I need to read?

Actions:

• Read all comments on the issue
• Note any decisions, clarifications, or context
• Check for linked issues or PRs

Skill: issue-lifecycle

---

Step 3: Size Check

Question: Is this issue too large for a single task?

Indicators of too-large:

• More than 5 acceptance criteria
• Touches more than 3 unrelated areas
• Estimated > 1 context window of work
• Multiple independent deliverables

If too large:

1. Break into sub-issues using issue-decomposition
2. Link sub-issues to parent
3. Update parent issue as parent label
4. Loop back to Step 1 with first sub-issue

Skill: issue-decomposition

---

Step 4: Memory Search

Question: Is there previous work on this issue or related issues?

Actions:

• Search episodic-memory for issue number, feature name, related terms
• Search mcp__memory knowledge graph for related entities
• Note any relevant context, decisions, or gotchas

Skill: memory-integration

---

Step 5: Research

Question: Do I need to perform research to complete this task?

Research types:

1. Repository documentation - README, CONTRIBUTING, docs/
2. Existing codebase - Similar patterns, related code
3. Online resources - API docs, library references, Stack Overflow

Actions:

• Conduct necessary research
• Document findings in issue comment if significant
• Note any blockers or concerns

Skill: pre-work-research

---

Step 6: Branch Check & Status Update

Question: Am I on the correct branch AND has the project status been updated?

Rules:

• NEVER work on main
• Create feature branch if needed
• Branch from correct base (usually main, sometimes existing feature branch)

Naming: feature/issue-123-short-description or fix/issue-456-bug-name

Project Status Update (MANDATORY) - uses cached IDs:

When starting work, update project board Status to "In Progress":

# Use cached IDs (0 API calls for lookups)
# GH_PROJECT_ID, GH_STATUS_FIELD_ID, GH_STATUS_IN_PROGRESS_ID set by session-start

# Update status to In Progress (1 API call)
gh project item-edit --project-id "$GH_PROJECT_ID" --id "$ITEM_ID" \
  --field-id "$GH_STATUS_FIELD_ID" --single-select-option-id "$GH_STATUS_IN_PROGRESS_ID"

# Refresh cache and verify (1 API call)
export GH_CACHE_ITEMS=$(gh project item-list "$GITHUB_PROJECT_NUM" --owner "$GH_PROJECT_OWNER" --format json)
NEW_STATUS=$(echo "$GH_CACHE_ITEMS" | jq -r ".items[] | select(.id == \"$ITEM_ID\") | .status.name")

if [ "$NEW_STATUS" != "In Progress" ]; then
  echo "ERROR: Failed to update project status. Cannot proceed."
  exit 1
fi

Skill: branch-discipline, project-board-enforcement

Gate: Do not proceed if:

1. On main branch
2. Project Status not updated to "In Progress"

---

Step 7: TDD Development

Process: RED → GREEN → REFACTOR

Standards to apply simultaneously:

• tdd-full-coverage - Write test first, watch fail, minimal code to pass
• strict-typing - No any types, full typing
• inline-documentation - JSDoc/docstrings for all public APIs
• inclusive-language - Respectful terminology
• no-deferred-work - No TODOs, do it now

Actions:

• Write failing test for first acceptance criterion
• Implement minimal code to pass
• Refactor if needed
• Repeat for each criterion

Skills: tdd-full-coverage, strict-typing, inline-documentation, inclusive-language, no-deferred-work

---

Step 8: Verification Loop

Question: Did I succeed in delivering what is documented in the issue?

Actions:

• Run all tests
• Check each acceptance criterion
• If any failure → Return to Step 7
• If 2 consecutive failures → Trigger research-after-failure

Skill: acceptance-criteria-verification, research-after-failure

---

Step 9: Code Review (MANDATORY GATE)

Question: Minor change or major change?

Minor change (Step 9.1):

• Review only new tests and generated code
• Use comprehensive-review checklist

Major change (Step 9.2):

• Identify all impacted code
• Review new AND impacted tests and code
• Use comprehensive-review checklist

7 Review Criteria:

1. Blindspots - What am I missing?
2. Clarity/Consistency - Is code readable and consistent?
3. Maintainability - Can this be maintained?
4. Security - Any vulnerabilities?
5. Performance - Any bottlenecks?
6. Documentation - Adequate docs?
7. Style - Follows style guide?

Security-Sensitive Check:

# Check if any changed files are security-sensitive
git diff --name-only HEAD~1 | grep -E '(auth|security|middleware|api|password|token|secret|session|routes|\.sql)'

If matches found:

1. Invoke security-reviewer subagent OR perform security-review skill
2. Mark "Security-Sensitive: YES" in review artifact
3. Include security findings in artifact

HARD REQUIREMENT: Post review artifact to issue comment:

<!-- REVIEW:START -->
## Code Review Complete

| Property | Value |
|----------|-------|
| Issue | #[ISSUE] |
| Scope | [MINOR|MAJOR] |
| Security-Sensitive | [YES|NO] |
| Reviewed | [ISO_TIMESTAMP] |

[... full artifact per comprehensive-review skill ...]

**Review Status:** ✅ COMPLETE
<!-- REVIEW:END -->

Gate: PR creation will be BLOCKED by hooks if artifact not found.

Skills: review-scope, comprehensive-review, security-review, review-gate

---

Step 10: Implement Findings (ABSOLUTE REQUIREMENT)

Rule: Implement ALL recommendations from code review, regardless how minor.

ABSOLUTE: Every finding must result in ONE of:

1. Fixed in this PR - Code changed, tests pass, verified
2. Tracking issue created - Using deferred-finding skill

There is NO third option. "Won't fix without tracking" is NOT permitted.

Actions:

• Address each finding from review
• For findings that cannot be fixed now:
  1. Use deferred-finding skill to create tracking issue
  2. Add review-finding and spawned-from:#ISSUE labels
  3. Link tracking issue in review artifact
• Re-run affected tests
• Update review artifact to show:
  • All FIXED findings marked ✅
  • All DEFERRED findings with tracking issue #
  • "Unaddressed: 0"

Gate: Review artifact must show "Unaddressed: 0" before proceeding.

Skills: apply-all-findings, deferred-finding

---

Step 11: Run Full Tests

Actions:

• Run full relevant test suite (not just new tests)
• Verify no regressions
• Check test coverage if available

Skill: tdd-full-coverage

---

Step 12: Raise PR (GATED)

Prerequisites (verified by hooks):

• Review artifact posted to issue (Step 9)
• All findings addressed (Step 10) - "Unaddressed: 0"
• Review status is COMPLETE
• Full tests pass (Step 11)

Actions:

• Commit with descriptive message
• Push branch
• Create PR with complete documentation:
  • Summary of changes
  • Link to issue
  • Link to review artifact in issue
  • Verification report
  • Screenshots if UI changes

CRITICAL: The PreToolUse hook will BLOCK gh pr create if:

• No review artifact found in issue comments
• Review status is not COMPLETE
• Unaddressed findings > 0

If blocked, return to Step 9 or Step 10.

Skills: clean-commits, pr-creation, review-gate

---

Step 13: CI Monitoring → Merge → Continue

Actions:

• Wait for CI to run
• If failure → Fix and push
• Repeat until green or truly unresolvable
• If unresolvable → Document in issue, mark as blocked

When CI is green (MANDATORY):

1. Merge the PR immediately: gh pr merge [PR_NUMBER] --squash --delete-branch
2. Update project board Status to Done (verify it updated)
3. Continue to next issue (in autonomous mode, do NOT stop and report)

# When CI passes
gh pr merge [PR_NUMBER] --squash --delete-branch

# Update project status to Done
# ... project board update commands ...

# Continue to next issue (do not stop)

Do NOT:

• Report "CI is green, ready for review/merge" and wait
• Summarize completed work and ask what to do next
• Stop after a single issue when more work remains

Skills: ci-monitoring

---

Throughout the Process

Issue AND project board updates happen CONTINUOUSLY, not as a separate step.

Mandatory Project Board Updates

These updates are NOT optional. They are gates.

Moment	Project Status	Verification
Starting work (Step 6)	→ In Progress	Verify status changed
PR created (Step 12)	→ In Review	Verify status changed
Work complete	→ Done	Verify status changed
Blocked	→ Blocked	Verify status changed

Issue Comment Updates

At minimum, update the issue:

• When starting work (Status → In Progress)
• When hitting blockers
• When making significant decisions
• When completing verification
• When raising PR

Project Board Query (NOT Labels)

Use cached project data (GH_CACHE_ITEMS) for state queries. Never use labels for state. See project-board-enforcement skill.

Error Handling

On failure: Assess severity → Preserve evidence → Attempt recovery → If unrecoverable, set status to Blocked. See error-recovery skill.

Completion Criteria

Work is complete when:

• All acceptance criteria verified (PASS)
• All tests pass
• Build succeeds
• Code review completed (comprehensive-review)
• Security review completed (if security-sensitive files)
• Review artifact posted to issue
• All review findings addressed (Unaddressed: 0)
• Deferred findings have tracking issues
• PR created with complete documentation
• CI is green
• Issue status updated
• GitHub Project Status → Done (VERIFIED)
• Project board update confirmed (not assumed)

Quick Reference

Step	Skill(s)	Gate
1	issue-prerequisite, project-board-enforcement	Must have issue IN PROJECT BOARD
2	issue-lifecycle	-
3	issue-decomposition	-
4	memory-integration	-
5	pre-work-research	-
6	branch-discipline, project-board-enforcement	Must not be on main, Status → In Progress
7	tdd-full-coverage, strict-typing, inline-documentation, inclusive-language, no-deferred-work	-
8	acceptance-criteria-verification, research-after-failure	-
9	review-scope, comprehensive-review, security-review, review-gate	Review artifact required
10	apply-all-findings, deferred-finding	Unaddressed: 0 required
11	tdd-full-coverage	-
12	clean-commits, pr-creation, review-gate, project-board-enforcement	Hook blocks without artifact, Status → In Review
13	ci-monitoring, verification-before-merge	Must be green, Status → Done on merge

Enforcement

Hooks enforce:

• PR creation blocked without review artifact
• PR merge blocked without green CI
• Stop blocked if review incomplete
• Project board status must match work state

Gate failures require fixing before proceeding. See project-board-enforcement skill.