| name | develop |
| description | Use when implementing an epic's task beans through the evaluator loop — after plan and beans exist |
Develop — Evaluator Loop
Usage
Invoke as fiddle:develop --epic <id>.
Execute an implementation plan by iterating: validate → implement per-task → holistic review → finish.
ARGUMENTS: {ARGS}
Step 0: Validate and Setup
0a. Validate Epic
beans show <epic-id> --json
Confirm the epic exists and has child task beans. If no child beans, stop: "No task beans found for this epic. Run fiddle:define first."
0b. Worktree Setup
Use the fiddle:worktrees skill.
Creates an isolated worktree for the epic. All subsequent work happens in this worktree, which keeps the main branch clean.
0c. Read Evaluator Config
Config: see skills/orchestrate/SKILL.md for the schema. This skill reads evaluators.max_dispatches_per_task, evaluators.domains, and evaluators.holistic.
Store max_dispatches_per_task for the convergence budget. Each domain's providers array is an ordered preference list for selecting that domain's single evaluator (the first available provider differing from the implementer wins; implementers are always claude), not a dispatch fan-out. evaluators.holistic.providers behaves differently: holistic review dispatches to all listed providers.
Step 1: Bean Body Validation
For each task/bug bean under the epic, run scripts/validate-bean-body.sh --body <body-file> (add --container for feature beans that are pure containers). On exit 2, stop and report the JSON errors; do not enter the loop with an incomplete bean. Implementer agents work from the bean body alone, so a thin body produces a thin implementation.
Step 2: Per-Task Loop
Process each task bean sequentially, skipping any already marked completed:
Use the fiddle:develop-loop skill with --bean <bean-id> --epic <epic-id>.
The develop-loop sub-skill runs the full cycle for one bean — implementer, evaluators, scorecard merge, convergence — and returns the bean as either completed or needs-attention.
Step 3: Holistic Review
Once every task bean is processed (completed or escalated), run holistic review, and do not invoke finish-branch until it has converged or been escalated. Per-task scores say nothing about cross-domain coherence; only a whole-system pass catches it.
Use the fiddle:develop-holistic skill with --epic <epic-id>.
The develop-holistic sub-skill assesses the system as an integrated whole, creates remediation beans if needed, and iterates until it converges or escalates.
Step 4: Completion
Use the fiddle:finish-branch skill.
User picks: merge, PR, keep, or discard. Worktree cleanup happens here.
Restart Resilience
On session restart, develop re-derives state entirely from beans — all evaluation history lives on bean bodies, so there is no session-scoped state to lose:
- List the epic's task beans via
beans list --parent <epic-id> --json
- For any bean with
in-progress status, use fiddle:develop-loop with --bean <id> --epic <epic-id> — the loop detects its own restart state via parse-eval-log.sh + assess-git-state.sh
- Skip
completed beans; process remaining todo beans normally
- Once all task beans are processed, check whether holistic review already ran by looking for
scorecard-holistic.json and the holistic history file. If it is unfinished or never started, use fiddle:develop-holistic with --epic <epic-id>
Harness Enforcement (Claude Code)
The skill-encoded loop above is the cross-harness baseline. On Claude Code, harness mechanisms additionally enforce it:
- Stop hook (preferred, automatic). Ships in
hooks/hooks.json (develop-verdict-gate.sh). While the .fiddle/active-bean marker names a bean without a recorded terminal verdict, the hook blocks turn-end so the loop continues. Terminal states: CONVERGED, or needs-attention via SPEC_DEFECT / BLOCKED / DISPATCHES_EXCEEDED. Deterministic, no judge model; fails open when no marker exists. The marker lifecycle (arming and clearing) is owned by develop-loop; see skills/develop-loop/SKILL.md.
- /goal (manual equivalent). When the Stop hook is unavailable, phrase the goal condition against recorded verdicts, including the escalation exits: "the active bean has a recorded terminal verdict: CONVERGED, or needs-attention via SPEC_DEFECT / BLOCKED / DISPATCHES_EXCEEDED". A goal phrased only as "converged" fights the dispatch budget, pushing iterations after the loop has legitimately escalated.
- /loop (optional outer watchdog).
/loop re-firing Skill("fiddle:develop", args: "--epic <epic-id>") on an interval guards against a stalled or dead session, and is idempotent via Restart Resilience above. It is a time-based session guard, not a driver for the inner cycle, which is verdict-driven and enforced by the Stop hook or /goal.
Codex and Pi harnesses have none of these mechanisms; they keep the skill-encoded loop via the fiddle:using-fiddle harness mapping.
