Constraint-first development framework overview. USE WHEN learning about Manifold or checking available commands. Individual commands are separate skills - use /manifold:m0-init, /manifold:m1-constrain, etc. directly.
Constraint-first development framework overview. USE WHEN learning about Manifold or checking available commands. Individual commands are separate skills - use /manifold:m0-init, /manifold:m1-constrain, etc. directly.
Manifold
Constraint-first development framework that makes ALL constraints visible BEFORE implementation.
Quick Start
Each command is a separate skill. Use them directly:
/manifold:m0-init my-feature # Initialize manifold
/manifold:m1-constrain my-feature # Discover constraints
/manifold:m2-tension my-feature # Surface conflicts
/manifold:m3-anchor my-feature # Backward reasoning
/manifold:m4-generate my-feature # Create all artifacts
/manifold:m5-verify my-feature # Validate constraints
/manifold:m-status # Show current state
Available Skills:
/manifold:m0-init - Initialize a constraint manifold
Forward: "Build a retry system" → might miss edge cases
Backward: "95% retry success" → REQUIRES:
Accurate failure classification
Sufficient retry budget
Stable downstream services
Idempotent operations
Example:
/manifold:m3-anchor payment-retry --outcome="95% retry success"
For 95% success, what MUST be true?
- RT-1: Can distinguish transient from permanent failures
- RT-2: Retries are idempotent
- RT-3: Sufficient retry budget
SOLUTION SPACE:
A. Client-side exponential backoff
B. Server-side queue with workflow engine
C. Hybrid approach
/manifold:m4-generate
Generate ALL artifacts simultaneously from the constraint manifold.
--check-only - Show integration checklist without making changes
--auto-wire - Attempt automatic integration where safe
Why this exists:/manifold:m4-generate creates artifacts in isolation. Integration (wiring modules together, adding feature flags, updating imports) was manual and error-prone. This command identifies integration points and produces actionable checklists.
Example:
/manifold:m6-integrate graph-d-validation
INTEGRATION CHECKLIST:
[1] Wire WAL into Storage
├── Source: src/storage/wal.rs
├── Target: src/storage/mod.rs
├── Action: Add `pub mod wal;`
└── Satisfies: RT-1, T3
[2] Add WAL feature flag
├── Target: Cargo.toml
├── Action: Add `wal = []` to [features]
└── Satisfies: T3
/manifold:m-status
Show current Manifold state and next recommended action.
Programmatic CI/CD checks - Validate .verify.json in pipelines
Gap tracking - Each gap has an actionable item
Progress monitoring - Coverage improves as gaps are addressed
Context Preservation
When installed as a plugin, manifold state is automatically preserved across context compaction via the included PreCompact hook. No manual configuration needed.
The hook injects .manifold/ state before compaction, so Claude remembers:
Current phase for each feature
Constraint counts and coverage
Next recommended action
Philosophy
Manifold treats development as constraint satisfaction, not feature building:
All constraints exist simultaneously — business, technical, UX, security, operational, and future failure modes are all present-tense constraints
Surface conflicts early — find tensions before they become bugs
Reason backward — from outcome to requirements, not spec to implementation
Single source of truth — all artifacts derive from the constraint manifold
