| name | rc-tdd |
| description | Enforce a red → green → refactor TDD loop for a change. Trigger: implementing a behavior change where a test can define done. Composes with Gentle AI's sdd-apply. |
| user-invocable | true |
| license | MIT |
| metadata | {"author":"rawcode","version":"1.0","extends":"gentle-ai"} |
Purpose
A rawcode extension for Gentle AI. It turns "add X" into a verifiable loop so
that done means a test passed, not that code exists. It does not replace
sdd-apply — it supplies the discipline sdd-apply runs under.
Default: strict
TDD is on by default for any code change. The tdd-gate Stop hook enforces
it: if you change code and end the turn without running a test, it blocks once
and asks for the test. You only skip it when the user explicitly says so —
"urgent", "hotfix", "skip tdd" (or a .rawcode-no-tdd marker file). Pure
refactors under existing coverage, config, and docs are not code changes and
don't trigger the gate.
When to use
- Implementing or fixing a behavior that a test can pin down.
- Any
sdd-apply task whose success criterion is checkable by code.
The loop
- Define done. Restate the task as a failing test. "Fix the bug" → "write a
test that reproduces it." "Add validation" → "write a test for invalid input."
State the success criterion in one line before touching implementation.
- Red. Write the smallest test that fails for the right reason. Run it.
Confirm it fails, and that the failure message is the one you expect — not an
import or syntax error masquerading as a red.
- Green. Write the minimum code to pass. No speculative abstraction, no
handling for cases no test demands.
- Refactor. Clean up with the test green. Re-run after every change.
- Verify honestly. Run the test and quote the real result. If you did not
run it, say so — never report green you did not see.
Rules (rawcode discipline)
- One behavior per loop. Don't batch unrelated changes into one red-green.
- The test is the contract: if the test is wrong, fix the test first, visibly.
- Match the project's existing test framework and layout — detect it, don't impose one.
- No stub or
TODO left passing as done.
Compose with Gentle AI
- Under
sdd-apply: each task in tasks.md enters this loop; check the task off
only when its test is green.
- Persist nothing new — the task list and its status live wherever the active
SDD artifact store already keeps them (
engram / openspec).
- Honors strict-TDD mode: if the project's
sdd-init marked strict_tdd: true,
this loop is mandatory, not optional.
