sdd-implement

name	sdd-implement
model	inherit
effort	medium
agents	["sdd-test-author","sdd-implementer","sdd-reviewer"]
description	Implement a feature from its tasks.json with test-driven development — write a failing test first, make it pass, refactor, gate, commit per task. Triggers on "implement {slug}", "build {slug}", "TDD {slug}", "code up the tasks for {slug}", "/sdd:implement {slug}", "імплементуй {slug}", "реалізуй фічу {slug}", "напиши код за задачами". Reads docs/features/{slug}/tasks.json + upstream artifacts, builds a dependency DAG, and drives each task through a strict TDD cycle against the repo's test gate (`npm run test:fast`) — sequential by default, optionally fanning the three subagents over a large DAG. Hard-refuses if tasks.json is missing.

Skill: implement

Turns tasks.json into committed, tested code through a strict per-task TDD cycle — SELECT → RED → GREEN → REFACTOR → GATE → COMMIT. This repo is Node + Express + SQLite; the per-task gate is npm run test:fast (Vitest: unit + integration) plus npm run lint; the full repo gate npm run gate adds Playwright e2e.

This file is the spine; the two files in references/ carry the depth.

Owner

Tech Lead drives; the engine runs the cycle. Three subagents ship with this skill: sdd-test-author (RED), sdd-implementer (GREEN/REFACTOR/GATE), sdd-reviewer (read-only review).

Agents, models & the worker contract

Model is chosen by the kind of work — execution gets a balanced model, independent judgment gets the strongest. The tiers live in each agent's frontmatter:

Agent	Kind	Dispatch (invoke)	model	Effort
sdd-test-author	execution (write the failing test)	/sdd-test-author	inherit	medium → high on escalation
sdd-implementer	execution (green + refactor + gate)	/sdd-implementer	inherit	medium → high on escalation
sdd-reviewer	judgment (independent review)	/sdd-reviewer	claude-opus-4-8[effort=high]	high

• Dispatch. Invoke each subagent by name (/sdd-<name> or a natural-language mention); Cursor routes it via the Task tool. Execution agents inherit the session model; the reviewer is pinned to the strongest model for independent judgment, with effort in its model string ([effort=high]). On persistent red the orchestrator may re-dispatch an executor at a stronger model. If a named subagent isn't available at runtime, fall back to a general agent with the same prompt — a fallback reads nothing from agents/*.md, so inline everything it needs.
• Precedence (highest wins): env var (CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL / CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL) > agent frontmatter > session. Print the resolved per-role model+effort in the banner.
• .size scaling: for L/XL features raise execution effort to high before dispatch; keep the cheap defaults for XS/S.
• Worker contract (every spawned agent):
  1. Isolated context — the agent sees only its prompt string, not this conversation, and re-reads the upstream artifacts itself. This isolation is the point for the reviewer (fresh eyes).
  2. Worker preamble — wrap each delegated task: «execute directly, do not spawn sub-agents, use tools directly, report with absolute file paths». A subagent cannot fan out; the lead owns orchestration.
  3. Verify before claiming done — run the command that proves it, read the output, then claim with evidence.
  4. Cite or drop — sdd-reviewer emits only cited findings (file:line + AC/artifact clause); an uncited finding is dropped.

Inputs

• <slug> — feature slug.
• Gate (hard refuse): docs/features/<slug>/tasks.json must exist and parse as JSON. Missing or malformed → «run tasks <slug> first». Never reconstruct tasks from the markdown — tasks.json is the contract.
• Read for context (agents read these directly, not via paraphrase): spec.md §5 (AC), data-model.md, contracts/openapi.yaml, test-plan.md, sad.md, Accepted adr/, and docs/architecture-map.md (existing conventions + the closest precedent to copy).

Protocol

1. Preconditions. Verify tasks.json exists and parses; confirm each task carries id/title/layer/deps/acs/dod/files_hint. Load the upstream artifacts above (the agents read them directly). Note the current branch — if on the default branch, create/switch to a feature branch before any commit. Don't touch unrelated dirty changes; work only the files each task's files_hint names.
2. Build the DAG. Parse tasks.json, validate deps is acyclic, topologically sort into phases (Kahn). Compute task_count, longest_chain, parallel_width. Mark serialization lanes (overlapping files_hint, or a shared contract file — the compile-coupled lane).
3. Banner. Print how the engine will behave before it acts: tdd=on gate=npm run test:fast commit=per-task branch=<…> tasks=<n> phases=<n> plus the resolved per-role model+effort.
4. Execute in topo order — every task runs the TDD cycle → ./references/tdd-loop.md. Sequential-vs-fan-out → Execution below.
5. Summary + hand off. Report covered AC, commits made (with SDD-Task/SDD-AC trailers), any task dropped/blocked, and per-task gate results. Then emit the stage-handoff block: What I did (covered AC, commits with SDD-Task trailers, gate results) + Review (the committed diff + tasks/tracker.md) + Run next (fresh context, then re-review the whole diff before shipping). sdd-implement does not self-certify the whole change — an independent review over the full diff is the authoritative gate.

Execution

Default: sequential single-agent TDD. Walk the DAG in topo order; for each task whose deps are all done, run the full SELECT → RED → GREEN → REFACTOR → GATE → COMMIT cycle (./references/tdd-loop.md) yourself before the next. Right for this workshop repo — small DAGs, and a linear history is easiest to review.

Optional fan-out for a large DAG. When the graph is genuinely wide — parallel_width >= 2 and non-trivial (size in {M,L,XL} or task_count >= 4) — you MAY dispatch the same three subagents concurrently: a team via TeamCreate, or a Workflow from the Kahn layers, one pipeline per task (sdd-test-author → sdd-implementer → sdd-reviewer). Each concurrent agent needs its own git worktree so two never edit one tree; the lead still serializes commits in dependency order (see ./references/tdd-loop.md §COMMIT), and tasks in one serialization lane queue. If TeamCreate/Workflow isn't available or the DAG isn't wide enough, fall back to sequential — the cycle and its gate are identical either way.

TDD cycle (per task)

SELECT → RED → GREEN → REFACTOR → GATE → COMMIT → ./references/tdd-loop.md. RED is load-bearing: write the test first, run it, and classify the first run — GOOD red (assertion fails / unimplemented) vs BAD red (the test won't run → fix the test) vs false-pass (green immediately → the test is too weak, strengthen it). What makes a test good → ./references/test-quality.md. Quote the failing line before any production code. On a red that survives a normal GREEN retry, escalate rather than weaken the test: stronger model → retry → split the task → if the test encodes a wrong AC, ask a human → rollback to the last green. A red that survives escalation halts the run with a report; never make a test less strict to pass.

Definition of Done

• Every task in tasks.json is either committed (test-first, gate-clean, SDD-Task/SDD-AC trailers) or reported as dropped/blocked with the reason.
• Unit gate green (npm run test:fast).
• The banner printed the run's behavior before execution.
• tracker.md reflects final status; the summary reports gate results and hands off to review (the independent review gate) — sdd-implement does not self-certify the whole change.
• The per-task GATE (npm run test:fast + npm run lint) is this skill's structural self-check; its result is reported in the handoff.

Anti-patterns

• Code before the test. RED first, always.
• Weakening a test to make it pass. If the AC is wrong, ask a human and fix the AC; never edit the test to be less strict.
• A weak or tautological test. A false-pass that looks green hides a useless test — classify the first run against ./references/test-quality.md.
• Parallel agents editing one working tree. Fan-out requires a worktree per agent.
• Committing with a red gate and calling it done.

References

tdd-loop.md · test-quality.md — both in ./references/.