CDD Methodology

> Context-Driven Development (CDD) methodology template with Claude commands

Overview

This package provides a shareable template for initializing Context-Driven Development (CDD) workflow in your projects. It includes:

- CDD folder structure - Example work items and metadata organization
- Claude commands - Slash commands for AI-assisted development workflow

Looking for the why behind these artefacts? See the methodology overview in What is CDD and the full set of influences in Inspiration & Resources.

What's Included

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The cdd/ folder contains:
- .meta/ - Methodology metadata and templates
- Work item folders (e.g., 0001-phase-02-metrics-dashboard/)
- Example of how to organize context-driven work

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The .claude/commands/ folder includes:
- cdd:create-work.md → /cdd:create-work - Create new work items
- cdd:plan-work.md → /cdd:plan-work - Generate implementation plans from decisions
- cdd:save-session.md → /cdd:save-session - Document session progress
- cdd:complete-work.md → /cdd:complete-work - Mark work items complete with summaries
- cdd:list-work.md → /cdd:list-work - List and filter work items

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The .meta/metrics/ folder provides automated productivity tracking:

Purpose: Quantify the impact of CDD on session efficiency and track evidence-based development metrics.

What's Tracked:
- Context reacquisition time (minutes spent recreating context at session start)
- Session duration (total work session length)
- Task completion rate (completed vs. planned tasks)
- Evidence items (artefacts attached per requirement)

How It Works:

1. Session saves capture metrics - When you run /cdd:save-session, frontmatter in DECISIONS.md is automatically updated with session data
2. Scripts aggregate data - Run node cdd/.meta/metrics/scripts/collect-metrics.js to generate summaries from all work items
3. Dashboards consume summaries - The /cdd:list-work command.

Files:
- metrics/README.md - Full methodology, data templates, and automation guide
- metrics/AI_AUTOMATION_GUIDE.md - When AI should run metrics scripts
- metrics/WORKFLOW_EXAMPLE.md - Step-by-step example of metrics capture
- metrics/scripts/collect-metrics.js - Aggregates metrics from all work items
- metrics/scripts/lib/frontmatter.js - Programmatic frontmatter management
- metrics-summary.json - Auto-generated dashboard data (empty skeleton in template)

AI Automation:
The AI assistant automatically runs metrics collection after each /cdd:save-session to keep dashboards up-to-date.

Evidence-Based Claims:
CDD tracks real productivity data so efficiency claims stay grounded in measurement rather than assumptions. See metrics/README.md for current findings.

Usage

1. Initialize your first work item:
- Use /cdd:create-work or manually create folders following the pattern
- Follow the CDD workflow documented in the main README

2. Customize for your needs:
- Adjust the .meta/ templates
- Modify Claude commands as needed
- Add project-specific workflows

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When asking an AI to initialize CDD in your project, you can say:

``
Install the CDD methodology template using npx @cdd/installer
`

Or for manual installation:

`
Copy the CDD template from packages/cdd/ to set up
the workflow with cdd/ folder and .claude/commands/
`

Directory Structure

`
cdd/
├── cdd/ # Work items and metadata
│ ├── .meta/ # Methodology templates and system files
│ │ ├── metrics/ # Metrics system
│ │ │ ├── README.md # Full metrics methodology
│ │ │ ├── AI_AUTOMATION_GUIDE.md # When AI runs metrics scripts
│ │ │ ├── WORKFLOW_EXAMPLE.md # Step-by-step metrics example
│ │ │ └── scripts/ # Automation scripts
│ │ │ ├── collect-metrics.js
│ │ │ ├── lib/frontmatter.js
│ │ │ └── README.md
│ │ ├── metrics-summary.json # Auto-generated metrics dashboard
│ │ └── templates/ # Document templates
│ └── NNNN-work-item/ # Example work items
└── .claude/ # Claude commands
└── commands/ # Slash commands
├── cdd:create-work.md
├── cdd:plan-work.md
├── cdd:save-session.md
├── cdd:complete-work.md
└── cdd:list-work.md
`

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🔌 Optional Extensions

CDD can be enhanced with optional extensions:

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Transform your CDD workspace into a searchable knowledge base with semantic search.

Features:
- 🔍 Semantic search across all work items
- 🤖 AI-powered answers from your documentation (optional)
- 📚 Discover similar solutions from past work
- 💰 Cost-effective (~$0.0006/query with AI)
- 🔒 Privacy-first (local indexing, optional cloud AI)

Install:
`bash
npx @emb715/cdd add rag
``

Learn more: packages/cdd-rag/README.md

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License

MIT