CrewLoop

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CrewLoop is a documentation-first framework of role-based AI skills. Each skill is a self-contained SKILL.md instruction set that agents load and follow, enforcing a structured workflow across discovery, planning, design, implementation, review, and shipping.

Highlights

  • Process-driven workflow: CrewLoop Plan, CrewLoop Design, CrewLoop Code, CrewLoop Review, CrewLoop Ship, and crewloop:docs each own one phase and never invade another's territory.
  • Mandatory specs: Every change, from a one-line fix to a full feature, gets a single-file feature spec in specs/features/<domain>/ before implementation starts.
  • Design before code: When there is UI, CrewLoop Design defines the aesthetic direction before CrewLoop Code writes markup or styles.
  • Docs by crewloop:docs: READMEs, module docs, and changelogs are owned by the crewloop:docs skill so crewloop:code can focus on code and tests.
  • Quality gate: The Reviewer inspects every diff for spec compliance, security, performance, and AI artifacts before anything reaches the repository.
  • Conventional Commits: The Shipper generates commit messages, branches, archives specs, and opens PRs following the Conventional Commits standard.

Quick Start

Install the CLI globally and load the full crew:

npm install -g @archznn/crewloop-cli
crewloop install

Install only the skills you need:

crewloop install --skill crewloop:plan --skill crewloop:code

Install to a custom directory or for another supported agent:

crewloop install --target /path/to/your/skills/dir
crewloop install --agent claude

Validate that all skills are well-formed:

python scripts/validate-skills.py

Each skill is automatically detected and activated according to the conversation context.

CLI Reference & Options

The crewloop CLI provides commands to manage skills and integrate them with your AI coding agents.

Commands

Command Description
crewloop install Installs the CrewLoop skills to your local environment.
crewloop list Lists all installed skills and active hooks.
crewloop dashboard Launches the real-time WebSocket dashboard.

Global Flags for crewloop install

Flag Description
--symlink Symbolically link skills instead of copying them (ideal for development).
--force Overwrite existing skill configurations or hooks without asking.
--dry-run Output the installation steps without modifying any files.
--agent <name> Configure hooks for a specific agent (e.g., kimi, claude, codex, agy).
--target <path> Specify a custom destination path for the skills.
--skill <name> Install only a specific skill (can be specified multiple times). Use the crewloop:<slug> name.

Real-time Activity Dashboard

The dashboard provides a real-time WebSocket visualization of active skills, tool-use events, and execution logs.

Dashboard overview

By default, the dashboard binds to http://127.0.0.1:7890. You can change this port by setting the CREWLOOP_DASHBOARD_PORT environment variable.

Running the Dashboard

You can start the dashboard using the CLI:

crewloop dashboard

Alternatively, you can run it from the source:

cd servers/dashboard
npm install
npm run dev

Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Cmd/Ctrl + K: Opens the command palette to search events, switch sessions, or manage active skills.

Supported Agents & Hooks

CrewLoop supports native shimming/hooking for the following AI agents:

  • Kimi Code (kimi)
  • Claude (claude)
  • Codex (codex)
  • AGY (agy)
  • OpenCode (opencode)

During crewloop install, the installer modifies the configuration or custom scripts of the selected agent. This shims their execution, allowing tool execution events (such as read/write file, run command, etc.) to be forwarded to the local dashboard WebSocket.

Meet the Crew

CrewLoop ships 7 specialist skills. The core crew owns the main delivery loop; crewloop:docs and crewloop:code-review jump in when the context demands it.

Core Crew

Skill Phase Responsibility
CrewLoop Plan Discovery & Specs Context gathering, spec creation, architecture, and routing
CrewLoop Design Design UI/UX aesthetic direction and design specs
CrewLoop Code Build Implementation, tests, and verification
CrewLoop Review Review Code review, quality gate, and security scan
CrewLoop Ship Ship Git commit, branch creation, push, and PR

Supporting Crew

Skill Phase Responsibility
crewloop-docs Docs Documentation, READMEs, and changelogs
crewloop-code-review Audit Whole-codebase audit and code-debt analysis

Skills in Action

Skill active in agent

Workflow (Auto-Routing)

Skills hand off automatically to the next skill per the transition contract. The user can interrupt the flow with explicit commands; crewloop:plan is the entry point for new tasks and the AFK fallback router.

flowchart TD
    P["CrewLoop Plan\nDiscovery, Specs & Architecture"] --> D["CrewLoop Design\nUI/UX Direction"]
    P --> C["CrewLoop Code\nImplementation"]
    D --> C
    C --> R["CrewLoop Review\nQuality Gate"]
    R -->|PASS| S["CrewLoop Ship\nGit & PR"]
    R -->|FAIL| C
    S --> done

    DO["CrewLoop Docs\nDocumentation"] --> P

Flow rules:

[!IMPORTANT] Core Routing Rule: Skills route automatically to the next skill per the transition contract in references/conventions.md. crewloop:plan is the entry point for new tasks and the AFK fallback router.

  1. crewloop:plan is the entry point — every session starts here; it gathers context and creates a spec before any implementation.
  2. crewloop:plan is mandatory before implementation — it never routes directly to crewloop:design or crewloop:code without first creating a spec.
  3. crewloop:plan is the design gatekeeper — once the spec is created, it routes to crewloop:design (for UI) or crewloop:code (for code).
  4. crewloop:design acts before crewloop:code — when there is UI, the design skill creates the visual specification before the code skill implements.
  5. crewloop:code never does git, review, or docs — it implements code and tests, then routes to crewloop:review automatically.
  6. crewloop:review is the quality gate — no code reaches the repository without review. PASS routes to crewloop:ship; FAIL routes to crewloop:code.
  7. crewloop:ship is the only skill that touches git — commit, branch, push, and PR. After shipping it routes to done.
  8. Sub-skills assist core skillscrewloop:docs returns to crewloop:plan when done.
  9. Feature specs are the source of truth — completed feature specs stay in specs/features/; crewloop:ship marks them completed, appends a chat-log, and updates specs/memory/project-state.md. Only dead or rejected proposals go to specs/archive/.
  10. AFK mode is Plan-driven — every skill returns control to crewloop:plan, which loads the next skill without menus.

[!NOTE] Standard Developer Cycle Example: CrewLoop Plan (Discovery & Specs) -> CrewLoop Code (Build & Tests) -> CrewLoop Review (Quality gate check) -> CrewLoop Ship (Git commit & PR) -> done. crewloop:plan and crewloop:design hand off automatically; interactive transitions only occur when the user interrupts the flow.

Repository Layout

crewloop/
├── skills/                # Role-based SKILL.md instructions
├── packages/cli/          # npm-published CLI installer
├── servers/dashboard/     # Real-time WebSocket dashboard
├── docs/                  # Documentation site (Vite + React + Tailwind)
├── references/            # Shared conventions and workflow reference
├── scripts/               # Validation and packaging helpers
└── specs/                 # Features (one spec = one task), RFCs, memory, shared refs, archive

Adding a New Skill

  1. Copy assets/templates/skill-template.md to skills/crewloop-<slug>/SKILL.md.
  2. Fill in the YAML frontmatter with name: crewloop:<slug> and role instructions.
  3. Add the skill to the README tables if it is user-facing.
  4. Run python scripts/validate-skills.py.
  5. Open a PR; the CrewLoop Review validates structure and the CrewLoop Ship archives the spec.

Releasing

Versions are published automatically from main:

  1. The Shipper bumps the version in package.json (and workspace manifests) following semver.
  2. Merging to main triggers .github/workflows/release-tag.yml, which creates a vX.Y.Z tag.
  3. .github/workflows/publish-npm.yml publishes @archznn/crewloop-skills to npm.

Manual releases are not required.

Contributing

Edit the files in skills/ and references/. Keep each SKILL.md concise and use reference files for shared detail. Run python scripts/validate-skills.py before opening a PR. For the full workflow, see references/workflow.md.

License

MIT