create-app

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• SKILL.md

SKILL.md (first lines)

# create-app — From Description to Verified Application

## Identity

create-app is the full pipeline from "I want an app that does X" to a verified,
working application. It integrates the prd skill, architect skill, and archon skill
into a single flow with human checkpoints at the right moments.

This exists because no tool has built the complete pipeline. They either generate
fast with no verification (Bolt, v0) or run autonomously with no guardrails
(Devin, Replit Agent). This does both: fast generation with phase-by-phase
verification, self-correction, and circuit breakers.

## Tier Detection

Classify the user's input into one of five tiers:

### Tier 1: Blank Project
- Trigger: "create a blank project", "new project", "scaffold"
- Action: Run the scaffold skill with stack detection. No PRD, no architecture.
- Use when: The user knows what they're building and just wants the infrastructure.

### Tier 2: Guided
- Trigger: "I want to build...", "help me create...", description with questions
- Action: Run prd skill (asks clarifying questions) → user approves → architect skill → user approves → archon skill
- Use when: The user has an idea but needs help structuring it.
- Human checkpoints: after PRD, after architecture, before each major phase.

### Tier 3: Templated
- Trigger: Describes a well-known app type ("a todo app", "a blog", "a dashboard with auth")
- Action: Load template PRD if available → architect skill with template defaults → archon skill
- Use when: The app shape is known and common. Speeds up the planning phase.
- Template detection: check `.citadel/_templates/app-types/` for matching templates.
  If no template matches, fall through to Tier 2.

### Tier 4: Generated (Full Autonomy)
- Trigger: "build me [detailed description]", "create [app] and deploy it"
- Action: prd skill (minimal questions) → architect skill (auto-approve if confidence high) → archon skill with self-correction loop
- Use when: The user wants maximum autonomy. Trust the pipeline.
- Human checkpoints: after PRD only. Architecture and execution are autonomous.
- Safety: all Archon self-correction mechanisms active. Direction alignment every
  2 phases. Quality spot-checks every phase. Circuit breakers armed.

### Tier 5: Feature Addition (Existing Codebase)
- Trigger: user has an existing project + describes a feature, not a whole app
  ("add auth", "add a dashboard", "add payment processing", "add dark mode")
- Detection: project has source files (src/, app/, lib/, package.json with deps)
  AND the user's description is a feature, not a standalone app
- Action: prd skill in feature mode → architect skill in existing codebase mode → archon skill
- Key differences from greenfield tiers:
  - PRD reads existing codebase before asking questions
  - Architecture describes changes to existing files, not a standalone system
  - Phase 0 is always "Baseline" — record current typecheck/test state
  - Every phase end condition includes "no new typecheck errors" + "existing tests pass"
  - Risk register always includes "regression in existing functionality"
- Human checkpoints: after feature spec (PRD). Architecture can auto-approve if
  the feature is well-scoped and all conditions are machine-verifiable.

### Tier Classification

| Input Pattern | Tier |
|---|---|
| "blank project", "scaffold", "new empty" | 1 |
| "help me build", "I want to create", "guide me" | 2 |
| "todo app", "blog", "dashboard", well-known app type | 3 |
| "build me [detailed]", "create [app]", confident description | 4 |
| "add [feature]", "implement [feature]", existing project + feature description | 5 |
| Ambiguous | Default to Tier 2 (safest) |

## Protocol

### Step 1: CLASSIFY

Read the user's input. Determine the tier.

**Use plain language, not tier numbers.** Announce what you'll do, not what tier they're in:
- Tier 1: "I'll scaffold a blank project for you."
- Tier 2: "I'll help you plan this out step by step. First I'll draft what we're building, then we'll agree on the approach before I write any code."
- Tier 3: "This looks like a [type] app — I have a starting point for that. I'll show you the plan and you can adjust before I build."
- Tier 4: "I'll plan this, show you the plan for approval, then build and verify it end to end."
- Tier 5: "I'll read your existing codebase first, then plan how to add [feature] without breaking anything. You'll approve the plan before I touch any code."

If the classification is wrong, the user can override:
"Actually, just scaffold it" → Tier 1
"Walk me through it" → Tier 2
"Just build it" → Tier 4

### Step 2: EXECUTE TIER

**Tier 1:** Invoke the scaffold skill. Done.

**Tier 2:**
1. Invoke the prd skill with the user's description
2. Wait for user approval of the PRD
3. Invoke the architect skill with the approved PRD
4. Wait for user approval of the architecture
5. Create Archon campaign from the architecture
6. Execute campaign with standard Archon protocol
7. After each major phase: brief the user on progress

**Tier 3:**
1. Check `.citadel/_templates/app-types/` for a matching template
2. If found: present the template PRD, ask "Does this match? What would you change?"
3. User approves or modifies → architect skill with template defaults
4. Brief architecture review (faster than Tier 2 since the shape is known)
5. Create and execute Archon campaign

**Tier 4:**
1. Invoke the prd skill in express mode (ask at most 1 question, or 0 if the description is complete)
2. User approves PRD (this is the only mandatory human checkpoint)
3. Invoke the architect skill (auto-approve if all end conditions are machine-verifiable)
4. Create Archon campaign with ALL safety systems active:
   - Direction alignment every 2 phases
   - Quality spot-check every phase
   - Regression guard every build phase
   - Anti-pattern scan every build phase
   - Circuit breakers: 3 failures = new approach, 5+ type errors = park
   - Phase end conditions must pass before proceeding
5. Execute autonomously until complete or parked

From special-place-administrator/citadel_codex, MIT.

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