sdlc-graph-engineering: Instructions file for Claude Code

sdlc-graph-engineering — repository guide

A single-plugin Claude Code marketplace. The plugin installs graph engineering into someone else's project. This file is short by design; the method itself lives in the skill.

Sources of truth

• Marketplace manifest: .claude-plugin/marketplace.json (name: sdlc-graph-engineering)
• Plugin manifest: plugins/sdlc-graph-engineering/.claude-plugin/plugin.json
• The method: plugins/sdlc-graph-engineering/skills/sdlc-graph-engineering-install/SKILL.md
• References: references/{templates,evals,failure-modes}.md beside it

.claude-plugin/marketplace.json
plugins/sdlc-graph-engineering/
├── .claude-plugin/plugin.json
└── skills/sdlc-graph-engineering-install/{SKILL.md,references/}
docs/assets/            screenshots used by README.md

Changing the skill — REQUIRED

1. Keep the plugin self-contained. Reference only files inside plugins/sdlc-graph-engineering/; never ../. Use ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT} for absolute paths. This is not style — a plugin that reads above its own root breaks on install.
2. A new rule belongs beside a new failure mode. Every rule in SKILL.md exists because a real graph broke without it. If you cannot name the failure it prevents, it is advice, not a rule — add the entry to references/failure-modes.md first, then the rule that references it.
3. Re-check the counts you published. The number of failure modes, steps, and stop types appears in SKILL.md, both READMEs and the manifests. They drift silently, and they are the first thing a reader uses to decide whether the docs are current.
4. Bump version in BOTH manifests — plugin.json and marketplace.json. They must agree, and installed users only receive the change if it moves.
5. Validate — must pass:

   claude plugin validate ./plugins/sdlc-graph-engineering --strict
   claude plugin validate .
   

6. Update README.md (root and plugin) in the same change, not as a follow-up. Skipping this is how the catalog drifts from the skill.