Minimum Viable Agentic Layer Skill Skill

Minimum Viable Agentic Layer Skill

Guide teams through creating the essential agentic layer components to start agentic coding.

When to Use

Starting agentic coding in a new project
Adding agentic layer to existing codebase
Understanding bare minimum requirements
Quick-starting agentic automation

Core Concept

"For your minimum viable agentic layer, you really only need these pieces: AI developer workflow directory, prompts, and plans."

Minimum Viable Structure

project/
├── specs/                    # Plans for agents
│   └── (generated plans go here)
├── .claude/
│   └── commands/            # Agentic prompts
│       ├── chore.md         # Chore planning
│       └── implement.md     # Implementation HOP
└── adws/                    # AI Developer Workflows
    ├── adw_modules/
    │   └── agent.py         # Core execution
    └── adw_chore_implement.py  # Gateway script

Total: 4-5 files to bootstrap.

Implementation Workflow

Step 1: Create Directory Structure

mkdir -p specs
mkdir -p .claude/commands
mkdir -p adws/adw_modules

Step 2: Create Chore Template

.claude/commands/chore.md:

# Chore Planning

Create a detailed plan for this chore task.

## Task
$ARGUMENTS

## Output
Create a spec file at: specs/chore-{adw_id}-{name}.md

Include:
- Task description
- Files to modify
- Step-by-step implementation
- Validation criteria

Step 3: Create Implement HOP

.claude/commands/implement.md:

# Implementation

Implement the plan provided.

## Plan File
$ARGUMENTS

Read the plan file and implement each step.
Report changes with git diff --stat when complete.

Step 4: Create Agent Module

adws/adw_modules/agent.py:

Claude Code subprocess execution
Request/response data models
Output file handling
Error handling

Step 5: Create Gateway Script

adws/adw_chore_implement.py:

Accept chore description
Execute /chore to generate plan
Execute /implement with plan
Report results

Validation Checklist

After setup, verify:

[ ] specs/ directory exists
[ ] .claude/commands/chore.md exists
[ ] .claude/commands/implement.md exists
[ ] adws/adw_modules/agent.py exists
[ ] Gateway script runs successfully

Time Investment

| Phase | Time | Activities | | --- | --- | --- | | Setup | 2 hours | Directory structure, basic templates | | Agent module | 2-4 hours | Core execution code | | Gateway script | 1-2 hours | First composed workflow | | Total | 5-8 hours | MVP complete |

Scaling Path

After MVP, add progressively:

Week 2: Add /bug and /feature templates
Week 3: Add hooks for automation
Week 4: Add triggers for scheduling
Week 5: Add worktree isolation
Week 6+: Add full SDLC workflows

Key Memory References

@agentic-layer-structure.md - Full structure reference
@gateway-script-patterns.md - Script patterns
@template-engineering.md - Template design

Output Format

## Minimum Viable Agentic Layer Setup

**Project:** {name}
**Status:** Ready for Implementation

### Files to Create

1. **specs/** (directory)
   - Will contain generated plans

2. **.claude/commands/chore.md**
   - Chore planning template
   - Generates specs from descriptions

3. **.claude/commands/implement.md**
   - Implementation HOP
   - Executes generated plans

4. **adws/adw_modules/agent.py**
   - Core agent execution
   - Subprocess handling
   - Output management

5. **adws/adw_chore_implement.py**
   - Gateway script
   - Composes chore + implement

### Implementation Order
1. Create directories
2. Add chore.md template
3. Add implement.md template
4. Create agent.py module
5. Create gateway script
6. Test end-to-end

### Estimated Time
5-8 hours to production-ready MVP

Common Mistakes

Over-engineering MVP (too many templates too soon)
Skipping agent.py (trying to call claude directly)
No error handling in gateway scripts
Not organizing output files consistently

Version History

v1.0.0 (2025-12-26): Initial release

Last Updated

Date: 2025-12-26 Model: claude-opus-4-5-20251101

Agent Skills: Minimum Viable Agentic Layer Skill

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