Building a feature

The loop that takes a change from idea to an open PR. The harness has two gates that enforce the spine of this loop — the commit-gate runs npm run check before any git add/git commit, and the landing-gate won't let you finish with committed work that isn't pushed and PR'd — so follow the loop and they stay out of your way.

1. Build it red-green

Work red-green TDD: write a failing test that pins the behaviour you want, watch it fail, then write the smallest code that makes it pass. Service logic is database-agnostic and tests run on in-memory PGlite (npm test) — no database to stand up. Adding a new service? Use the create-service skill for the folder shape and wiring.

2. Make the ship sound

Run npm run check (format → lint → typecheck → test) until it's clean. This is the same gate CI runs and the same one the commit-gate runs for you before a commit — so a clean check means the commit will go through. If your change touches logic, also confirm the lines you added are tested (npm run coverage:diff) and that the tests pin the behaviour (npm run mutate:diff) — these are PR-review questions you'd rather answer before pushing.

3. Commit on a branch

Never commit straight to main — work on a branch (a worktree gives you one). Commit in focused steps with messages that say why. The commit-gate runs npm run check first; if it fails it blocks the commit and hands you the errors — fix them, don't work around the gate.

4. Push and open the PR

git push -u origin <branch>
gh pr create --fill          # then flesh out the body: what changed and why

5. Get it merged — hand off, or babysit it yourself

The PR being open isn't "shipped" — it isn't shipped until it's merged. What happens next depends on who's running you:

• Part of a Skylark playbook with a babysitter agent on the roster? Hand the baton to it through the issue CLI as your last action, then stop. It runs the babysit-pr skill from here — watching CI, weighing reviews, resolving conflicts, and merging.
• Working solo, or no babysitter to hand off to (e.g. this skill is being run outside Skylark by some other tool)? Run the babysit-pr skill yourself, right now, to take the PR the rest of the way to a merge.

Either way, don't consider the feature done until babysit-pr's job is done — a merged PR on a sound main.