Conductor: Context-Driven Development

Measure twice, code once.

Overview

Conductor enables context-driven development by:

1. Establishing project context (product vision, tech stack, workflow)
2. Organizing work into "tracks" (features, bugs, improvements)
3. Creating specs and phased implementation plans
4. Executing with TDD practices and progress tracking

Interoperability: This skill understands conductor projects created by either:

• Gemini CLI extension (/conductor:setup, /conductor:newTrack, etc.)
• Claude Code commands (/conductor-setup, /conductor-newtrack, etc.)

Both tools use the same conductor/ directory structure.

When to Use This Skill

Automatically engage when:

• Project has a conductor/ directory
• User mentions specs, plans, tracks, or context-driven development
• User asks about project status or implementation progress
• Files like conductor/tracks.md, conductor/product.md exist
• User wants to organize development work

Slash Commands

Users can invoke these commands directly:

Conductor Directory Structure

When you see this structure, the project uses Conductor:

conductor/
├── product.md              # Product vision, users, goals
├── product-guidelines.md   # Brand/style guidelines (optional)
├── tech-stack.md           # Technology choices
├── workflow.md             # Development standards (TDD, commits, coverage)
├── tracks.md               # Master track list with status markers
├── setup_state.json        # Setup progress tracking
├── code_styleguides/       # Language-specific style guides
└── tracks/
    └── <track_id>/         # Format: shortname_YYYYMMDD
        ├── metadata.json   # Track type, status, dates
        ├── spec.md         # Requirements and acceptance criteria
        └── plan.md         # Phased task list with status

Status Markers

Throughout conductor files:

• [ ] - Pending/New
• [~] - In Progress
• [x] - Completed (often followed by 7-char commit SHA)

Reading Conductor Context

When working in a Conductor project:

1. Read conductor/product.md - Understand what we're building and for whom
2. Read conductor/tech-stack.md - Know the technologies and constraints
3. Read conductor/workflow.md - Follow the development methodology (usually TDD)
4. Read conductor/tracks.md - See all work items and their status
5. For active work: Read the current track's spec.md and plan.md

Workflow Integration

When implementing tasks, follow conductor/workflow.md which typically specifies:

1. TDD Cycle: Write failing test → Implement → Pass → Refactor
2. Coverage Target: Usually >80%
3. Commit Strategy: Conventional commits (feat:, fix:, test:, etc.)
4. Task Updates: Mark [~] when starting, [x] when done + commit SHA
5. Phase Verification: Manual user confirmation at phase end

Gemini CLI Compatibility

Projects set up with Gemini CLI's Conductor extension use identical structure. The only differences are command syntax:

Files, workflows, and state management are fully compatible.

Example: Recognizing Conductor Projects

When you see conductor/tracks.md with content like:

## [~] Track: Add user authentication
*Link: [conductor/tracks/auth_20241215/](conductor/tracks/auth_20241215/)*

You know:

• This is a Conductor project
• There's an in-progress track for authentication
• Spec and plan are in conductor/tracks/auth_20241215/
• Follow the workflow in conductor/workflow.md

References

For detailed workflow documentation, see references/workflows.md.