Cheatsheet

Slash Commands

Command	Phase	What it does
/mk:meow [task]	0	Entry point — classifies and routes to right agent
/mk:breakdown <source>	pre-1	Spec/PRD → user stories + optional Jira tickets + tech breakdown — stops before plan
/mk:plan [feature]	1	Premise challenge + two-lens plan + Gate 1
/mk:cook [feature]	1→5	Full pipeline: plan → test → build → review → ship
/mk:fix [bug]	varies	Auto-detect complexity, route to fix strategy
/mk:review	4	Multi-pass code review + adversarial analysis
/mk:ship	5	Pre-ship → commit → PR → CI verify → rollback doc
/mk:test	2	TDD enforcement — write or run tests
/mk:audit	4	Full security scan across all platforms
/mk:validate	any	Run deterministic Python validation scripts
/mk:arch [action]	1	Generate, list, or analyze ADRs
/mk:design [system]	1	System design consultation (docs only)
/mk:docs-init	6	Initial codebase scan → doc skeleton
/mk:docs-sync	6	Diff-aware doc updates after feature work
/mk:canary	5	Staged deployment with monitoring
/mk:retro	6	Sprint retrospective with trend tracking
/mk:budget	any	Token cost tracking report
/mk:party [topic]	1	Multi-agent deliberation — 2-4 agents debate, forced synthesis
/mk:spawn [agent]	any	Launch parallel agent session
/mk:status	any	Delivery status report via project-manager
/mk:upgrade	any	Self-update MeowKit
/mk:help	any	Scan project state, recommend next pipeline step
/mk:autobuild "build a X"	0→5	Autonomous green-field build with generator/evaluator loop
/mk:evaluate	4	Behavioral rubric grading with active verification
/mk:sprint-contract	3	Draft contract before harness sprint
/mk:rubric	4	Load/compose rubric preset
/mk:trace-analyze	any	Scatter-gather analysis of trace log
/mk:benchmark	any	Canary suite (quick tier default; --full for 6-task tier)

Agents Quick Reference

Agent	Auto-activates when	Phase	Key output
orchestrator	Every task	0	Routing decision + model tier
planner	Standard/complex tasks	1	Plan file at tasks/plans/
brainstormer	Explicit or complex planning	1	Trade-off analysis
researcher	Research tasks	0,1,4	Structured findings
architect	Schema/API/infra changes	1	ADR + system design
tester	When invoked (always in --tdd mode, on-request otherwise)	2	Tests (failing tests in --tdd mode)
security	Auth/payments/security changes	2,4	BLOCK/PASS verdict
developer	After planner (TDD off) or tester (TDD on)	3	Implementation
reviewer	After implementation	4	5-dimension verdict
shipper	After Gate 2	5	PR + rollback docs
documenter	After ship	6	Updated docs + changelog
analyst	Session start/end	0,6	Cost report + patterns
journal-writer	On failure/escalation	6	Root cause documentation

Workflow Phases

Phase	Name	Gate?	What happens
0	Orient	—	Read memory, load skills, route model tier
1	Plan	✋ Gate 1	Challenge premises, create plan, human approval
2	Test	—	Write failing tests first (TDD mode --tdd/MEOWKIT_TDD=1); optional otherwise
3	Build	—	Implement per plan; in TDD mode, until tests pass
4	Review	✋ Gate 2	5-dimension audit, human approval
5	Ship	—	Commit, PR, CI verify, rollback docs
6	Reflect	—	Update docs, memory, retrospective

Execution Modes

Mode	When	Agents	Gate behavior
Sequential (default)	All tasks	1 per phase	Full gates
Parallel	COMPLEX + independent subtasks	Up to 3, worktree isolation	Gates always sequential
Party	Architecture decisions	2-4 deliberation agents	No code, synthesis only

Model Routing

Tier	Examples	Model
TRIVIAL	Rename, typo, format	Cheapest (Haiku)
STANDARD	Feature, bug fix, tests	Default (Sonnet)
COMPLEX	Architecture, security, auth	Best (Opus)

Domain override: mk:scale-routing at Phase 0. Fintech, healthcare, auth → force COMPLEX regardless of manual classification.

Modes

Mode	Gates	Security	Use for
default	Both	Full	Most work
strict	Both (no WARN)	Every file	Production, auth, payments
fast	Gate 1 only	BLOCK only	Prototypes
architect	N/A	N/A	Design-only sessions
audit	N/A	Comprehensive	Security reviews

Hooks

Hook	Type	What it does	Blocks?
post-write.sh	PostToolUse	Security scan on Edit/Write	Yes
post-session.sh	Stop	Capture session to memory	No
pre-task-check.sh	Skill-invoked	Injection pattern detection	Yes
pre-implement.sh	Skill-invoked	TDD gate — opt-in via --tdd / MEOWKIT_TDD=1; no-op otherwise	Only when TDD enabled
pre-ship.sh	Skill-invoked	Test + lint + typecheck	Yes
privacy-block.sh	PreToolUse	Block .env / *.key / credential reads	Yes
gate-enforcement.sh	PreToolUse	Block source writes before Gate 1 approval	Yes
project-context-loader.sh	SessionStart	Auto-load project-context.md into context	No

Key Skills

Skill	Trigger	Output
mk:cook	"build feature"	Full pipeline execution
mk:fix	"fix bug", "debug"	Root cause + fix + regression test
mk:ship	"ship", "deploy", "create PR"	PR URL + rollback docs
mk:review	"review", "check diff"	Verdict: APPROVE/BLOCK
mk:scout	"find files", "search codebase"	File map + architecture fingerprint
mk:investigate	"debug this", "why broken"	Root cause + evidence
mk:docs-finder	"docs for [lib]"	Structured documentation
mk:multimodal	Image/video/audio file	Analysis via Gemini
mk:qa-manual	"test this flow"	QA report or Playwright .spec.ts
mk:cso	"security audit"	OWASP + STRIDE findings
mk:party	"decide architecture"	Multi-agent decision brief
mk:scale-routing	Phase 0 (automatic)	Domain complexity level
mk:worktree	Parallel execution setup	Isolated git worktree
mk:autobuild	"build a X from scratch"	Autonomous generator/evaluator build loop
mk:evaluate	Harness Phase 4	Rubric-graded behavioral verdict with evidence
mk:sprint-contract	Harness FULL density	Acceptance criteria contract before sprint
mk:rubric	Evaluator setup	Load/compose rubric preset
mk:trace-analyze	Trace log available	Root cause analysis across trace spans
mk:benchmark	Canary testing	Quick or full canary suite with scored output

Planning (Phase 1)

Command	Purpose	Ends with
mk:plan-creator	Create plan from scratch	Print & Stop
mk:plan-ceo-review	Product lens review	Print & Stop
mk:plan-ceo-review	Engineering lens review	Print & Stop
/mk:cook [path]	Begin implementation	Runs pipeline

All three review skills stop after printing — you control when to run /mk:cook [plan path].

Command	What it does
/mk:plan "feature"	Create plan via mk:plan-creator
npx mewkit task new --type feature "desc"	Create task from template
npx mewkit task list	List active tasks

Task Templates

Template	Use when	Create with
feature	Adding new functionality	npx mewkit task new --type feature
bug-fix	Fixing broken behavior	npx mewkit task new --type bug-fix
refactor	Restructuring code	npx mewkit task new --type refactor
security	Security review	npx mewkit task new --type security
guideline	Team standards	Copy from tasks/templates/guideline.md

Task status flow

draft → in-progress → blocked → review → done

Non-trivial rule

Create a task file for any change affecting > 2 files OR > 30 minutes.

Harness Env Vars

Source of truth: .claude/.env.example. Most defaults live in .claude/settings.json env block (team-shared, git-committed); override here per-project / per-user. Uncommented values in .claude/.env win over settings.json; shell exports win over both.

Density + budget

Variable	Values	Effect
MEOWKIT_AUTOBUILD_MODE	MINIMAL | FULL | LEAN	Override auto-detected scaffolding density
MEOWKIT_MODEL_HINT	e.g. opus-4-6	Tell harness which model is running (enables LEAN auto-detect)
MEOWKIT_BUDGET_WARN	e.g. 30	USD warn threshold (prints warning, continues)
MEOWKIT_BUDGET_BLOCK	e.g. 100	USD hard-block threshold (halts the run, sets final_status=TIMED_OUT)
MEOWKIT_BUDGET_CAP	e.g. 50	User-set cap; overrides BUDGET_BLOCK (can be lower OR higher)

Core runtime

Variable	Values	Effect
MEOWKIT_TDD	0 | 1	1 = strict red-green-refactor (pre-implement.sh enforces failing-test-first); 0 = optional (default)
MEOWKIT_HOOK_PROFILE	standard | fast | strict	Hook profile selector. Legacy alias MEOW_HOOK_PROFILE still accepted; new name wins if both set

Memory loader

Variable	Values	Effect
MEOWKIT_MEMORY_BUDGET	chars (default 4000, ~1K tokens)	Max memory injected by memory-loader per prompt
MEOWKIT_MEMORY_STALENESS_MONTHS	months (default 6)	Skip memory entries older than N months

Hook controls

Set to off to disable an individual hook; default on.

Variable	Effect
MEOWKIT_BUILD_VERIFY	Phase 4 build / lint / typecheck verification hook
MEOWKIT_LOOP_DETECT	Loop / regression detection hook
MEOWKIT_PRECOMPLETION	Pre-completion guard hook
MEOWKIT_TDD_FLAG_DETECTOR	Detects --tdd flag and toggles strict mode
MEOWKIT_PM_AUTO	off disables silent project-manager post-phase fires; /mk:status still works

Precedence reminder

shell export  >  .claude/.env  >  .claude/settings.json "env" block

Unquoted values strip inline comments after #. Quote values that contain a literal # (e.g. API keys): VAR="abc#123".