| name | implement-and-verify |
| description | Implement tasks from plans with test-first approach, user-story-centric execution, and AC verification. Use proactively when executing implementation plans. Enforces quality gates, MVP-first delivery, and Article VII story-by-story implementation. |
| degree-of-freedom | low |
| allowed-tools | Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Grep, Glob |
@.claude/shared-imports/constitution.md
@.claude/templates/verification-report.md
@.claude/templates/quality-checklist.md
Implementation & Verification Skill
Overview
This skill executes implementation plans following Specification-Driven Development (SDD) principles: quality gates, test-driven development (TDD), user-story-centric execution, and progressive delivery.
Constitutional Authority: Article III (Test-First), Article V (Template-Driven Quality), Article VII (User-Story-Centric Organization)
Core Principles:
- Quality Gates First: Validate readiness before implementation (Article V)
- Story-by-Story: Implement user stories in priority order (Article VII)
- Test-First: Tests BEFORE implementation, ALL ACs verified (Article III)
- Progressive Delivery: Each story is shippable when complete (Article VII)
Announce at start: "I'm using the implement-and-verify skill to execute this plan with SDD quality gates."
Quick Reference
| Phase | Key Activities | Output | Article |
|---|
| 0. Quality Gates | Validate spec readiness, check constitution | Gate pass/fail | Article V |
| 1. Story Selection | Load tasks by story (P1, P2, P3) | Story tasks | Article VII |
| 2. Progressive Delivery | Define MVP, plan incremental shipping | Delivery plan | Article VII |
| 3. Load Tasks | Read plan, verify dependencies per story | Task selected | Article IV |
| 4. Write Tests | Create tests from ACs (should FAIL) | Test files | Article III |
| 5. Implement | Write code to make tests pass | Implementation | Article III |
| 6. Verify | Run all tests, lint, build | verification-report.md | Article V |
| 7. Update | Mark complete, handover if needed | Updated plan | Article V |
Templates You Will Use
- @.claude/shared-imports/constitution.md - Architectural principles (all phases)
- @.claude/templates/quality-checklist.md - Pre-implementation gates (Phase 0)
- @.claude/templates/plan.md - Input plan with tasks and ACs (Phase 3)
- @.claude/templates/verification-report.md - Verification results (Phase 6)
- @.claude/templates/handover.md - For blocked tasks or agent transitions (Phase 7)
The Process
Copy this checklist to track progress:
SDD Implementation Progress:
- [ ] Phase 0: Quality Gates Validated (constitution check + audit PASS)
- [ ] Phase 1: Story Tasks Loaded (by priority)
- [ ] Phase 2: Progressive Delivery Planned (MVP defined)
- [ ] Phase 3: Tasks Loaded (dependencies verified)
- [ ] Phase 4: Tests Written (from ACs, should FAIL)
- [ ] Phase 5: Implementation Complete
- [ ] Phase 6: Verification Complete (ALL ACs pass)
- [ ] Phase 7: Plan Updated (story marked complete)
Detailed Workflows
Phase 0: Quality Gate Validation
See: @.claude/skills/implement-and-verify/workflows/quality-gates.md
Summary:
- Validate quality checklist (quality-checklist.md)
- MANDATORY: Verify /audit has passed (Article V)
- Audit report must exist
- Status must be PASS or PASS WITH WARNINGS
- Critical Issues must = 0
- Block implementation if gates fail (audit blocking is non-overridable)
Phases 1-2: Story-by-Story Execution & Progressive Delivery
See: @.claude/skills/implement-and-verify/workflows/story-by-story-execution.md
Summary:
- Load tasks by story (P1, P2, P3)
- Implement each story completely
- Auto-invoke /verify --story P# after each story
- Only proceed to next story after current story verification passes
- Each story is independently shippable (MVP = P1 complete)
Phases 3-7: TDD Implementation Workflow
See: @.claude/skills/implement-and-verify/workflows/tdd-implementation.md
Summary:
- Phase 3: Load tasks, verify dependencies, extract ACs
- Phase 4: Write tests FIRST (must FAIL initially)
- Phase 5: Implement minimal code to pass tests
- Phase 6: Verify all ACs (100% coverage required)
- Phase 7: Update plan, generate verification report, create handover if needed
Examples & Patterns
See: @.claude/skills/implement-and-verify/examples/implementation-examples.md
Five concrete examples:
- Successful implementation (test-first → implement → verify)
- Failing AC → debug → fix
- Rollback on breaking change
- Story-level verification (P1 independent test)
- Progressive delivery workflow (P1 → P2 → P3)
Key Patterns:
- Test-First Always:
Write Test → FAIL → Implement → PASS
- Debug on Failure:
AC Fails → Debug → Fix → Re-verify
- Progressive Delivery:
P1 Complete → Verify → Ship or Continue
Enforcement & Failure Modes
See: @.claude/skills/implement-and-verify/references/enforcement-rules.md
Three Critical Rules:
- No Completion Without Passing ACs - Status must be "blocked" if any AC fails
- Test-First Mandatory - Tests written before implementation (must FAIL initially)
- 100% AC Coverage - Every AC must have passing test
Common Pitfalls: Implementing before tests, skipping lint/build, marking complete with failures
11 Failure Modes with Solutions: Quality gates skipped, test-first violated, coverage incomplete, false positive tests, story verification skipped, dependency violations, over-engineering, etc.
Agent Integration & Related Workflows
See: @.claude/skills/implement-and-verify/references/integration.md
Executor Agent Execution:
- Triggered by: User runs
/implement plan.md
- Agent: executor-implement-verify
- Receives: plan.md, tasks.md, spec.md, constitution
- Returns: Implemented code, verification reports per story, handovers if blocked
Supporting Agents:
- Code Analyzer: For understanding existing code before modification
- Debugger: For test failures (via debug-issues skill)
Handover Protocols:
- To Planner: If requirements unclear
- To Orchestrator: If blocked by external dependency
Verification Workflow:
implement-and-verify skill (completes story P1)
↓ auto-invokes
/verify plan.md --story P1 (SlashCommand tool)
↓ produces
verification-P1.md (PASS/FAIL report)
Prerequisites
Before using this skill:
- ✅ tasks.md exists (Article IV: tasks before implementation)
- ✅ plan.md exists with ≥2 ACs per user story
- ✅ spec.md exists with user stories and priorities
- ✅ All [NEEDS CLARIFICATION] markers resolved (or override approved)
- ✅ Audit has passed (or CRITICAL issues resolved) - MANDATORY
- ⚠️ Optional: quality-checklist.md validated (Article V quality gate)
- ⚠️ Optional: Test framework set up (for TDD)
Dependencies
Depends On:
- specify-feature skill - Provides spec.md with user stories
- create-implementation-plan skill - Provides plan.md with ACs and tech stack
- generate-tasks skill - MUST run before this skill (Article IV)
- /audit command - Should have passed before implementation starts
Integrates With:
- debug-issues skill - Use when tests fail or ACs don't pass
- analyze-code skill - Use when understanding existing code before modifying
- /verify command - Automatically invoked after each story completes
Tool Dependencies:
- Read, Write, Edit tools (code implementation)
- Bash tool (running tests, builds, linters)
- Grep, Glob tools (finding files and code patterns)
Next Steps
After implementation completes, automatic workflow progression per story:
Automatic Chain (per User Story):
implement-and-verify (implements story P1)
↓ (auto-invokes /verify)
/verify plan.md --story P1 (validates P1 independently)
↓ (if PASS)
Ready for P2 OR ship MVP
↓ (if user continues)
implement-and-verify (implements story P2)
↓ (auto-invokes /verify)
/verify plan.md --story P2 (validates P2 independently)
↓ (if PASS)
Ready for P3 OR ship enhancement
↓ (continues for all stories)
User Action Required:
- After P1 verification passes: Decision to ship MVP or continue to P2
- After any story passes: Can ship incrementally (Article VII progressive delivery)
- If verification fails: Debug with debug-issues skill, fix, re-verify
Outputs Created (per story):
YYYYMMDD-HHMM-verification-P#.md - Story verification reportYYYYMMDD-HHMM-handover-*.md - If blocked or transitioning agents- Updated
tasks.md with completed tasks marked
- Test files (created before implementation per Article III)
Commands:
- /verify plan.md --story P# - Automatically invoked after each story
- /bug - If tests fail and debugging needed
- /analyze - If existing code analysis needed
Related Skills & Commands
Direct Integration:
- specify-feature skill - Provides spec.md with user stories (workflow start)
- create-implementation-plan skill - Provides plan.md with ACs (workflow predecessor)
- generate-tasks skill - Provides tasks.md with task breakdown (required predecessor)
- debug-issues skill - Use when tests fail or blockers occur
- analyze-code skill - Use when existing code needs understanding
- /implement command - User-facing command that invokes this skill
- /verify command - Automatically invoked after each story (per P1, P2, P3)
Workflow Context:
- Position: Phase 4 of SDD workflow (final execution phase)
- Triggers: User runs /implement plan.md after audit passes
- Output: Implemented code + verification reports per story
Quality Gates:
- Pre-Implementation: quality-checklist.md validation (Article V)
- Per-Story: /verify --story P# automatic validation (Article VII)
- Test-First: Tests written before implementation (Article III)
- 100% AC Coverage: Every AC must have passing test
Progressive Delivery Pattern (Article VII):
P1 implemented → /verify --story P1 → PASS → Ship MVP or Continue
P2 implemented → /verify --story P2 → PASS → Ship Enhancement or Continue
P3 implemented → /verify --story P3 → PASS → Ship Complete Feature
Each story is independently shippable, enabling faster value delivery.
Success Metrics
Verification Quality:
- 100% AC coverage required
- All ACs must pass
- No task complete without verification
Implementation Quality:
- Tests written first
- Minimal implementation (YAGNI)
- Lint and build pass
When to Use This Skill
Use implement-and-verify when:
- User has a plan ready to execute
- User wants to implement tasks with TDD
- User needs AC verification
- User says "implement the plan"
Don't use when:
- No plan exists yet (use create-plan skill)
- User just wants to analyze code (use analyze-code skill)
- User wants to debug (use debugging skill)
Version
Version: 1.2.0
Last Updated: 2025-10-23
Owner: Claude Code Intelligence Toolkit
Change Log:
- v1.2.0 (2025-10-23): Refactored to progressive disclosure pattern (<500 lines)
- v1.1.0 (2025-10-23): Added Phase 0 Step 0.3 - Mandatory audit validation enforcement
- v1.0.0 (2025-10-22): Initial version with cross-skill references
