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