Workflow Overview

kli structures work into four phases: research, plan, implement, and reflect. You move through these phases by typing slash commands in Claude Code. Each phase produces artifacts that feed the next.

Research

/kli:research

Claude explores the codebase, reads files, spawns sub-agents for deeper investigation, and writes a research.md document summarizing what it found. You guide the research by describing what you want to understand — Claude handles the file reading, code tracing, and documentation.

Research is iterative. Claude proposes findings, you correct or redirect, and Claude refines. The output is a markdown artifact that captures the current state of the codebase relevant to your task.

Use research when you're starting something unfamiliar, investigating a bug, or need to understand existing code before making changes.

Plan

/kli:plan

Claude reads the research artifact and designs a phased implementation plan. Each phase has:

• A description of what to build or change
• Success criteria (automated checks and manual verification)
• Dependencies on other phases

The plan is presented for your approval before any code is written. You can ask Claude to revise phases, reorder work, add or remove steps. Once approved, the plan becomes a DAG of phase tasks in the task graph.

If requirements change mid-implementation, use /kli:iterate_plan to revise the plan while preserving completed work.

Implement

/kli:implement

Claude works through the plan phase by phase. For each phase:

1. Claude reads the phase description and success criteria
2. Writes code following a test-first approach where applicable
3. Runs automated verification (builds, tests, linting)
4. Presents the results and asks for your manual approval before moving to the next phase

You stay in control throughout — Claude won't proceed to the next phase without your sign-off. If something needs adjustment, you direct Claude to fix it before approving.

Reflect

/kli:reflect

After completing work, Claude reviews the session's observations and extracts reusable patterns. These patterns enter the playbook — a knowledge base that improves future sessions. See Understanding Patterns for how this works.

Reflection is optional but valuable. The more you reflect, the better Claude becomes at tasks in your codebase.

Supporting Commands

These commands support the main workflow:

Command	When to Use
/kli:create-task	Start tracking a piece of work before researching it
/kli:resume-task	Pick up where you left off on an existing task
/kli:handoff	Save context when you need to continue in a new session
/kli:resume_handoff	Resume work from a saved handoff document
/kli:validate	Check implementation against plan criteria after implementing
/kli:commit	Create a git commit with context-aware message generation

Skipping Phases

The four phases are a guide, not a requirement. For small changes, you might skip research and go straight to planning. For exploratory work, you might research without ever planning. Use what fits the task.