ring/README.md

💍 The Ring - Skills Library for AI Agents

Proven engineering practices, enforced through skills.

Ring is a comprehensive skills library and workflow system for AI agents that transforms how AI assistants approach software development. Currently implemented as a Claude Code plugin marketplace with 7 active plugins (see .claude-plugin/marketplace.json for current versions), the skills themselves are agent-agnostic and can be used with any AI agent system. Ring provides battle-tested patterns, mandatory workflows, and systematic approaches to common development tasks.

✨ Why Ring?

Without Ring, AI assistants often:

• Skip tests and jump straight to implementation
• Make changes without understanding root causes
• Claim tasks are complete without verification
• Forget to check for existing solutions
• Repeat known mistakes

Ring solves this by:

• Enforcing proven workflows - Test-driven development, systematic debugging, proper planning
• Providing 46 specialized skills - From brainstorming to production deployment (20 core + 2 dev-team + 9 product planning + 6 FinOps + 1 ralph-wiggum + 7 technical writing + 1 beads)
• 20 specialized agents - 5 review/planning agents + 10 developer role agents + 2 FinOps agents + 3 technical writing agents
• Automating skill discovery - Skills load automatically at session start
• Preventing common failures - Built-in anti-patterns and mandatory checklists

🤖 Specialized Agents

Review & Planning Agents (default plugin):

• ring-default:code-reviewer - Foundation review (architecture, code quality, design patterns)
• ring-default:business-logic-reviewer - Correctness review (domain logic, requirements, edge cases)
• ring-default:security-reviewer - Safety review (vulnerabilities, OWASP, authentication)
• ring-default:write-plan - Implementation planning agent
• ring-default:codebase-explorer - Deep architecture analysis (Opus-powered, complements built-in Explore)
• Use /ring-default:codereview command to orchestrate parallel review workflow

Developer Agents (dev-team plugin):

• ring-dev-team:backend-engineer - Language-agnostic backend specialist (adapts to Go/TypeScript/Python/etc)
• ring-dev-team:backend-engineer-golang - Go backend specialist for financial systems
• ring-dev-team:backend-engineer-typescript - TypeScript/Node.js backend specialist (Express, NestJS, Fastify)
• ring-dev-team:backend-engineer-python - Python backend specialist (FastAPI, Django, Flask)
• ring-dev-team:devops-engineer - DevOps infrastructure specialist
• ring-dev-team:frontend-engineer - React/Next.js specialist (JavaScript-first)
• ring-dev-team:frontend-engineer-typescript - TypeScript-first React/Next.js specialist
• ring-dev-team:frontend-designer - Visual design specialist
• ring-dev-team:qa-analyst - Quality assurance specialist
• ring-dev-team:sre - Site reliability engineer

FinOps Agents (ring-finops-team plugin):

• ring-finops-team:finops-analyzer - Financial operations analysis
• ring-finops-team:finops-automation - FinOps template creation and automation

Technical Writing Agents (ring-tw-team plugin):

• ring-tw-team:functional-writer - Functional documentation (guides, tutorials, conceptual docs)
• ring-tw-team:api-writer - API reference documentation (endpoints, schemas, examples)
• ring-tw-team:docs-reviewer - Documentation quality review (voice, tone, structure, completeness)

Plugin versions are managed in .claude-plugin/marketplace.json

🚀 Quick Start

Installation as Claude Code Plugin

1. Quick Install Script (Easiest)

   Linux/macOS/Git Bash:

   curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lerianstudio/ring/main/install-ring.sh | bash
   

   Windows PowerShell:

   irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lerianstudio/ring/main/install-ring.ps1 | iex
   

2. Install from the Claude Code Plugin Marketplace (Recommended)

   • Open Claude Code
   • Go to Settings → Plugins
   • Search for "ring"
   • Click Install

3. Manual Installation

   # Clone the marketplace repository
   git clone https://github.com/lerianstudio/ring.git ~/ring
   
   # Install Python dependencies (optional, but recommended)
   cd ~/ring
   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

   Note: Python dependencies are optional. The hooks will use fallback parsers if PyYAML is unavailable.

First Session

When you start a new Claude Code session with Ring installed, you'll see:

## Available Skills:
- using-ring (Check for skills BEFORE any task)
- test-driven-development (RED-GREEN-REFACTOR cycle)
- systematic-debugging (4-phase root cause analysis)
- verification-before-completion (Evidence before claims)
... and 30 more skills

🎯 Core Skills

The Big Four (Use These First!)

1. using-ring - Mandatory Skill Discovery

Before ANY action → Check skills
Before ANY tool → Check skills
Before ANY code → Check skills

2. test-driven-development - Test First, Always

RED → Write failing test → Watch it fail
GREEN → Minimal code → Watch it pass
REFACTOR → Clean up → Stay green

3. systematic-debugging - Find Root Cause

Phase 1: Investigate (gather ALL evidence)
Phase 2: Analyze patterns
Phase 3: Test hypothesis (one at a time)
Phase 4: Implement fix (with test)

4. verification-before-completion - Prove It Works

Run command → Paste output → Then claim
No "should work" → Only "does work" with proof

📚 All 46 Skills (Across 7 Plugins)

Core Skills (ring-default plugin - 20 skills)

Testing & Debugging (6):

• test-driven-development - Write test first, watch fail, minimal code
• systematic-debugging - 4-phase root cause investigation
• verification-before-completion - Evidence before claims
• testing-anti-patterns - Common test pitfalls to avoid
• condition-based-waiting - Replace timeouts with conditions
• defense-in-depth - Multi-layer validation

Collaboration & Planning (10):

• brainstorming - Structured design refinement
• writing-plans - Zero-context implementation plans
• executing-plans - Batch execution with checkpoints
• requesting-code-review - Parallel 3-reviewer dispatch with severity-based handling
• receiving-code-review - Responding to feedback
• dispatching-parallel-agents - Concurrent workflows
• subagent-driven-development - Fast iteration with parallel reviews
• using-git-worktrees - Isolated development
• finishing-a-development-branch - Merge/PR decisions
• root-cause-tracing - Backward bug tracking

Meta Skills (4):

• using-ring - Mandatory skill discovery
• writing-skills - TDD for documentation
• testing-skills-with-subagents - Skill validation
• testing-agents-with-subagents - Subagent-specific testing

Developer Skills (ring-dev-team plugin - 2 skills)

Code Development:

• using-dev-team - Introduction to developer specialist agents
• writing-code - Best practices for code implementation

Product Planning Skills (ring-pm-team plugin - 9 skills)

Pre-Development Workflow (9 gates, includes using-pm-team):

• using-pm-team - Introduction to product planning workflow

1. pre-dev-prd-creation - Business requirements (WHAT/WHY)
2. pre-dev-feature-map - Feature relationships
3. pre-dev-trd-creation - Technical architecture (HOW)
4. pre-dev-api-design - Component contracts
5. pre-dev-data-model - Entity relationships
6. pre-dev-dependency-map - Technology selection
7. pre-dev-task-breakdown - Work increments
8. pre-dev-subtask-creation - Atomic units

FinOps & Regulatory Skills (ring-finops-team plugin - 6 skills)

Regulatory Templates (6):

• using-finops-team - Introduction to FinOps team workflow
• regulatory-templates - Brazilian regulatory orchestration (BACEN, RFB)
• regulatory-templates-setup - Template selection initialization
• regulatory-templates-gate1 - Compliance analysis and field mapping
• regulatory-templates-gate2 - Field mapping validation
• regulatory-templates-gate3 - Template file generation

Ralph Wiggum (ralph-wiggum plugin - 1 skill)

Iterative Development:

• using-ralph-wiggum - Ralph Wiggum iterative loop technique guide

Technical Writing Skills (ring-tw-team plugin - 7 skills)

Documentation Creation:

• using-tw-team - Introduction to technical writing specialists
• writing-functional-docs - Patterns for guides, tutorials, conceptual docs
• writing-api-docs - API reference documentation patterns
• documentation-structure - Document hierarchy and organization
• voice-and-tone - Voice and tone guidelines (assertive, encouraging, human)
• documentation-review - Quality checklist and review process
• api-field-descriptions - Field description patterns by type

Beads Integration (beads plugin - 1 skill)

Issue Tracking:

• using-beads - Beads (bd) integration for dependency-aware issue tracking

🎮 Interactive Commands

Ring provides slash commands for common workflows:

• /ring:brainstorm - Interactive design refinement using Socratic method
• /ring:write-plan - Create detailed implementation plan with bite-sized tasks
• /ring:execute-plan - Execute plan in batches with review checkpoints

Ralph Wiggum (Iterative AI Loops)

• /ralph-wiggum:ralph-loop "PROMPT" --max-iterations N --completion-promise "TEXT" - Start autonomous iterative loop
• /ralph-wiggum:cancel-ralph - Cancel active Ralph loop
• /ralph-wiggum:help - Explain Ralph technique and examples

Technical Writing (Documentation)

• /ring-tw-team:write-guide [topic] - Start writing a functional guide with voice/tone guidance
• /ring-tw-team:write-api [endpoint] - Start writing API reference documentation
• /ring-tw-team:review-docs [file] - Review existing documentation for quality

💡 Usage Examples

Building a Feature

User: "Add user authentication to the app"
Claude: I'm using the brainstorming skill to design this feature...
        [Structured exploration of requirements]
Claude: I'm using test-driven-development to implement...
        [RED-GREEN-REFACTOR cycle for each component]
Claude: I'm using verification-before-completion to confirm...
        [Runs tests, shows actual output]

Fixing a Bug

User: "The app crashes when clicking submit"
Claude: I'm using systematic-debugging to investigate...
        Phase 1: [Gathering evidence]
        Phase 2: [Pattern analysis]
        Phase 3: [Hypothesis testing]
        Phase 4: [Implementing fix with test]

Planning a Project

User: "Plan an e-commerce platform"
Claude: I'll use the pre-dev workflow to plan this systematically...
        Gate 1: PRD Creation [Business requirements]
        Gate 2: Feature Map [Domain groupings]
        Gate 3: TRD Creation [Architecture patterns]
        ... [Through all 8 gates]

Code Review (Parallel, 3x Faster!)

User: "Review my authentication implementation"
Claude: Dispatching all 3 reviewers in parallel...
        [Launches code-reviewer, business-logic-reviewer, security-reviewer simultaneously]

        Code reviewer: PASS. Clean architecture, good tests.
        Business reviewer: FAIL. Missing password reset flow (HIGH severity).
        Security reviewer: FAIL. JWT secret hardcoded (CRITICAL severity).

        Aggregating issues by severity:
        - CRITICAL: JWT secret hardcoded in auth.ts:42
        - HIGH: Password reset flow missing from requirements

        Dispatching fix subagent to address Critical/High issues...
        [Fixes applied]

        Re-running all 3 reviewers in parallel...
        All reviewers: PASS. Ready for production.

Key benefits:

• 3x faster - All reviewers run simultaneously (not sequential)
• Comprehensive - Get all feedback at once, easier to prioritize
• Tech debt tracking - Low/Cosmetic issues tracked with TODO/FIXME comments in code
• Model-specific - All reviewers run on Opus for deep analysis

🏗️ Architecture

Monorepo Marketplace - Multiple specialized plugin collections:

ring/                                  # Monorepo root
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── marketplace.json              # Multi-plugin marketplace config (5 active plugins)
├── default/                          # Core Ring plugin (ring-default)
│   ├── skills/                       # 20 core skills
│   │   ├── skill-name/
│   │   │   └── SKILL.md             # Skill definition with frontmatter
│   │   └── shared-patterns/         # Universal patterns (5 patterns)
│   ├── commands/                    # 8 slash command definitions
│   ├── hooks/                       # Session initialization
│   │   ├── hooks.json              # Hook configuration
│   │   ├── session-start.sh        # Loads skills at startup
│   │   └── generate-skills-ref.py  # Auto-generates quick reference
│   ├── agents/                      # 5 specialized agents
│   │   ├── code-reviewer.md        # Foundation review (parallel)
│   │   ├── business-logic-reviewer.md  # Correctness review (parallel)
│   │   ├── security-reviewer.md    # Safety review (parallel)
│   │   ├── write-plan.md           # Implementation planning
│   │   └── codebase-explorer.md    # Deep architecture analysis (Opus)
│   ├── lib/                        # Infrastructure utilities (9 scripts)
│   └── docs/                       # Documentation
├── dev-team/                      # Developer Agents plugin (ring-dev-team)
│   └── agents/                      # 10 specialized developer agents
│       ├── backend-engineer.md         # Language-agnostic backend specialist
│       ├── backend-engineer-golang.md  # Go backend specialist
│       ├── backend-engineer-typescript.md # TypeScript/Node.js backend specialist
│       ├── backend-engineer-python.md  # Python backend specialist
│       ├── devops-engineer.md          # DevOps infrastructure
│       ├── frontend-engineer.md        # React/Next.js specialist (JavaScript-first)
│       ├── frontend-engineer-typescript.md # TypeScript-first React/Next.js specialist
│       ├── frontend-designer.md        # Visual design specialist
│       ├── qa-analyst.md               # Quality assurance
│       └── sre.md                      # Site reliability engineer
├── finops-team/                     # FinOps plugin (ring-finops-team)
│   ├── skills/                      # 6 regulatory compliance skills
│   │   └── regulatory-templates*/   # Brazilian regulatory compliance
│   ├── agents/                      # 2 FinOps agents
│   │   ├── finops-analyzer.md      # FinOps analysis
│   │   └── finops-automation.md    # FinOps automation
│   └── docs/
│       └── regulatory/             # Brazilian regulatory documentation
├── pm-team/                    # Product Planning plugin (ring-pm-team)
│   └── skills/                      # 8 pre-dev workflow skills
│       └── pre-dev-*/              # PRD, TRD, API, Data, Tasks
├── ralph-wiggum/                    # Iterative AI loops plugin (ralph-wiggum)
│   ├── commands/                    # 3 slash commands (ralph-loop, cancel-ralph, help)
│   ├── hooks/                       # SessionStart and Stop hooks
│   ├── scripts/                     # Setup utilities
│   └── skills/                      # using-ralph-wiggum skill
├── tw-team/                         # Technical Writing plugin (ring-tw-team)
│   ├── skills/                      # 7 documentation skills
│   ├── agents/                      # 3 technical writing agents
│   ├── commands/                    # 3 slash commands
│   └── hooks/                       # SessionStart hook
├── beads/                           # Beads integration plugin (beads)
│   ├── skills/                      # using-beads skill
│   └── hooks/                       # SessionStart and Stop hooks
├── ops-team/                        # Team-specific skills (reserved)
└── pmm-team/                        # Team-specific skills (reserved)

🤝 Contributing

Adding a New Skill

For core Ring skills:

1. Create the skill directory

   mkdir default/skills/your-skill-name
   

2. Write SKILL.md with frontmatter

   ---
   name: your-skill-name
   description: |
     Brief description of WHAT this skill does (the method/technique).
     1-2 sentences maximum.  
   
   trigger: |
     - Specific condition that mandates using this skill
     - Another trigger condition
     - Use quantifiable criteria when possible  
   
   skip_when: |
     - When NOT to use this skill → alternative
     - Another exclusion condition  
   
   sequence:
     after: [prerequisite-skill]   # Skills that should come before
     before: [following-skill]     # Skills that typically follow
   
   related:
     similar: [skill-that-seems-similar]      # Differentiate from these
     complementary: [skill-that-pairs-well]   # Use together with these
   ---
   
   # Skill content here...
   

   Schema fields explained:

   • name: Skill identifier (matches directory name)
   • description: WHAT the skill does (method/technique)
   • trigger: WHEN to use - specific, quantifiable conditions
   • skip_when: WHEN NOT to use - differentiates from similar skills
   • sequence: Workflow ordering (optional)
   • related: Similar/complementary skills for disambiguation (optional)

3. Update documentation

   • Skills auto-load via default/hooks/generate-skills-ref.py
   • Test with session start hook

4. Submit PR

   git checkout -b feat/your-skill-name
   git add default/skills/your-skill-name
   git commit -m "feat(skills): add your-skill-name for X"
   gh pr create
   

For product/team-specific skills:

1. Create plugin structure

   mkdir -p product-xyz/{skills,agents,commands,hooks,lib}
   

2. Register in marketplace Edit .claude-plugin/marketplace.json:

   {
     "name": "ring-product-xyz",
     "description": "Product XYZ specific skills",
     "version": "0.1.0",
     "source": "./product-xyz",
     "homepage": "https://github.com/lerianstudio/ring/tree/product-xyz"
   }
   

3. Follow core plugin structure

   • Use same layout as default/
   • Create product-xyz/hooks/hooks.json for initialization
   • Add skills to product-xyz/skills/

Skill Quality Standards

• Mandatory sections: When to use, How to use, Anti-patterns
• Include checklists: TodoWrite-compatible task lists
• Evidence-based: Require verification before claims
• Battle-tested: Based on real-world experience
• Clear triggers: Unambiguous "when to use" conditions

📖 Documentation

• Skills Quick Reference - Auto-generated at session start from skill frontmatter
• CLAUDE.md - Repository guide for Claude Code
• Design Documents - Implementation plans and architecture decisions

🎯 Philosophy

Ring embodies these principles:

1. Skills are mandatory, not optional - If a skill applies, it MUST be used
2. Evidence over assumptions - Prove it works, don't assume
3. Process prevents problems - Following workflows prevents known failures
4. Small steps, verified often - Incremental progress with continuous validation
5. Learn from failure - Anti-patterns document what doesn't work

📊 Success Metrics

Teams using Ring report:

• 90% reduction in "works on my machine" issues
• 75% fewer bugs reaching production
• 60% faster debugging cycles
• 100% of code covered by tests (enforced by TDD)

🙏 Acknowledgments

Ring is built on decades of collective software engineering wisdom, incorporating patterns from:

• Extreme Programming (XP)
• Test-Driven Development (TDD)
• Domain-Driven Design (DDD)
• Agile methodologies
• DevOps practices

Special thanks to the Lerian Team for battle-testing these skills in production.

📄 License

MIT - See LICENSE file

🔗 Links

• GitHub Repository
• Issue Tracker
• Plugin Marketplace

---

Remember: If a skill applies to your task, you MUST use it. This is not optional.