Compound Engineering Skill
b00t-native compound engineering workflow with 8 phases, a state machine with FOL-guarded transitions, GitHub Issues backlog integration, and an executable just recipe harness.
When to Use
When starting a new project, feature, or iteration. The workflow guides from strategy through execution to learning and pulse reporting.
Phases
| # | Phase | Produces | Command |
|---|-------|----------|---------|
| 1 | Strategy | STRATEGY.md, epic issue | just compound-engineering ce-phase-strategy |
| 2 | Ideate | _b00t_/ideation/ranked-ideas.md | just compound-engineering ce-phase-ideate |
| 3 | Brainstorm | _b00t_/requirements/<feature>.md | just compound-engineering ce-phase-brainstorm feature=<name> |
| 4 | Plan | plan doc + gh issues for tasks | just compound-engineering ce-phase-plan feature=<name> |
| 5 | Work | commits, PR | just compound-engineering ce-phase-work |
| 6 | Code Review | _b00t_/reviews/<feature>-review.md | just compound-engineering ce-phase-review |
| 7 | Compound | LFM lessons, grok digests | just compound-engineering ce-phase-compound |
| 8 | Product Pulse | _b00t_/pulse-reports/<date>.md | just compound-engineering ce-phase-pulse |
Quick Reference
just compound-engineering status # Show current phase + backlog
just compound-engineering ce-advance # Advance to next phase
just compound-engineering ce-phase-strategy # Execute strategy phase
just compound-engineering ce-phase-brainstorm feature=auth-refactor # Brainstorm with feature name
State Machine
State tracked in .b00t/compound-engineering-state.json. Each transition is FOL-guarded:
strategy → ideate guard: ∃ STRATEGY.md
ideate → brainstorm guard: ∃ ranked-ideas.md
brainstorm → plan guard: ∃ requirements
plan → work guard: ∃ plan ∧ ∃ tasks
work → review guard: ∃ open PR
review → compound guard: review approved
compound → pulse guard: learnings documented
pulse → strategy guard: pulse report exists
Backlog Integration
GitHub Issues with compound-engineering label serve as the global backlog. Use gh issue list --label compound-engineering to view.
Pitfalls
gh label must exist before issue creation
gh issue create --label compound-engineering fails silently if the label doesn't exist. Run gh label create compound-engineering --color 0366d6 first, or create issues without --label and add labels post-creation.
Phase advance is manual — FOL guards are declarative only
The state machine advances via just compound-engineering ce-advance. FOL guards (e.g., guard: ∃ STRATEGY.md) are documented but NOT programmatically enforced. The agent MUST verify artifacts exist before advancing.
Tests should gate work → review transition
Don't advance from work until cargo test passes on the feature branch. Future: add test-gate to the advance recipe.
State file requires absolute path in just recipes
Justfile recipes in modules run from unpredictable working directories. Always use B00T_ROOT="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)" — never relative paths.
Dogfood Example
See references/australian-tax-capability-dogfood.md for a complete 8-phase walkthrough: Australian tax legislation ingestion pipeline, 5 gh issues (#504-508), 4 passing tests, full cycle strategy→pulse→strategy.
Datum
Full configuration: _b00t_/compound-engineering.datum.toml
Harness recipes: _b00t_/compound-engineering.just