Engineering

Claude Code Repo Readiness

Make the repo legible to agents before asking them to do real work.

Use when

You are about to let a coding agent do meaningful work in a repo and want fewer dumb mistakes.

Cadence

Before major agent work

Verification

Repo has agent instructions, documented commands, architecture notes, risk areas, and a docs/loops scaffold.

Advanced spec

Structured loop spec

FieldValue
NameClaude Code Repo Readiness
CategoryEngineering
TriggerBefore major agent work
ObjectiveMake the repo legible to agents before asking them to do real work.
Allowed inputsRelevant files, source notes, logs, tests, screenshots, metrics, or task state for this loop
Allowed actionsInventory current README, AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md, scripts, tests, and architecture docs.; Add missing install, dev, test, lint, typecheck, build, and e2e commands.; Document product goal, architecture, standards, protected areas, and review rules.; Create docs/loops/ for state, progress, and done contracts.
VerificationRepo has agent instructions, documented commands, architecture notes, risk areas, and a docs/loops scaffold.
Stop conditionStop when the verifier passes, the budget is exhausted, no progress is made, a blocker appears, or approval is required.
BudgetSet a time, turn, token, retry, file, or dollar cap before running the loop.
Approval boundaryHuman approval required before public, destructive, financial, legal, account, or production-impacting actions.
Safe outputPull request, patch, report, or evidence log
Works withClaude Code, OpenAI Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, any tool-using coding agent
Runbook

Steps

  1. Inventory current README, AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md, scripts, tests, and architecture docs.
  2. Add missing install, dev, test, lint, typecheck, build, and e2e commands.
  3. Document product goal, architecture, standards, protected areas, and review rules.
  4. Create docs/loops/ for state, progress, and done contracts.
Copy prompt

Prompt

Prepare this repository for agentic coding work. Add or update repo instructions, command references, architecture overview, risk areas, PR/review standards, and a docs/loops scaffold. Verify commands where practical and return the patch with readiness evidence.
Metadata

Tags

Claude Coderepo setupdocsagent harness
Next loops

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