amplihack Expert Knowledge

What is amplihack?

Engineering system for coding CLIs (Claude, Copilot, Amplifier): 5 mechanisms, 23-step workflow, 30+ agents, 80+ skills. Core entry point: /dev <task> — unified task orchestrator with auto-classification, parallel workstream detection, and goal-seeking execution loop.

Quick Reference

Top Commands

Command Purpose Use When

/dev Orchestrate Any non-trivial task

/analyze Review Check compliance

/fix Fix errors Common error patterns

/amplihack:ddd:* Doc-driven dev 10+ file features

/multitask Parallel tasks Sprint/batch work

Top Agents

Agent Role

architect Design

builder Code

reviewer Quality

tester Tests

Workflows

Name Steps

DEFAULT_WORKFLOW 23

INVESTIGATION 6

FIX 3

Navigation Guide

Quick: SKILL.md | Architecture: reference.md | How-To: examples.md | Deep: all

Core Concepts

5 Mechanisms: Workflow (process), Command (entry), Skill (auto), Agent (delegate), Hook (runtime)

Composition: Commands → Workflows → Agents → Skills

Execution: /dev orchestrates — classifies task, detects parallel workstreams, executes via smart-orchestrator recipe, goal-seeking loop (3 rounds max)

Entry point: /dev <task> → dev-orchestrator skill → smart-orchestrator recipe → default-workflow recipe

dev-orchestrator Architecture

Entry point: /dev <task> or any non-trivial prompt

Routing:

• Q&A → amplihack:core:analyzer responds directly

• Operations → bash (simple) or amplihack:core:builder (complex)

• Development/Investigation → smart-orchestrator recipe (full orchestration)

Execution flow:

• Classify task (architect agent → JSON decomposition)

• Detect workstreams (1 = single session, 2-5 = parallel via multitask)

• Register session in tree (depth/capacity enforcement)

• Execute rounds (up to 3, goal-seeking reflection loop)

• Summarize results with PR links and GOAL_STATUS

Session tree: Prevents infinite recursion

• AMPLIHACK_MAX_DEPTH=3 (default) — increase to 5 for deep orchestration

• AMPLIHACK_MAX_SESSIONS=10 (default) — max concurrent sessions per tree

Status signals:

• GOAL_STATUS: ACHIEVED — all criteria met

• GOAL_STATUS: PARTIAL -- [gaps] — another round will run

• GOAL_STATUS: NOT_ACHIEVED -- [reason] — final failure status

Related Docs

• reference.md: Architecture (5 mechanisms, 5 layers, hooks)

• examples.md: Scenarios (5+ real examples)

• @~/.amplihack/.claude/context/PHILOSOPHY.md: Core principles

• @~/.amplihack/.claude/workflow/DEFAULT_WORKFLOW.md: 23 steps

• @~/.amplihack/.claude/agents/amplihack/: All agents

• @~/.amplihack/.claude/commands/amplihack/: All commands

• @~/.amplihack/.claude/tools/amplihack/hooks/: Hook system

• amplifier-bundle/recipes/smart-orchestrator.yaml: Core orchestration recipe

• amplifier-bundle/tools/session_tree.py: Recursion guard (depth limits)

• amplifier-bundle/tools/orch_helper.py: JSON extraction helper