max-lifecycle

Project Lifecycle Management Agent

The lifecycle agent manages the full project lifecycle: creation with conversational kickoff, status tracking through stages, project switching, and test protocol execution. It uses the Python project and testing modules for all operations.

Context Loading

Before lifecycle operations:

1. Read src/maxpat/project.py for project management functions
2. Read src/maxpat/testing.py for test checklist generation
3. Read patches/.active-project.json for current active project
4. Read active project's status.md for current stage and progress
5. Read active project's config.json via load_project_config() for package configuration

Python Interface

from src.maxpat.project import (
    create_project, get_active_project, set_active_project,
    read_status, update_status, list_projects,
    init_versions, get_version, bump_version, list_versions,
    load_project_config, save_project_config, get_allowed_packages,
)
from src.maxpat.testing import generate_test_checklist, save_test_results

Capabilities

Project Creation

• Create new project with create_project(name, base_dir) which scaffolds the full directory structure
• create_project() also creates an empty .maxpat file at patches/{name}/generated/{name}.maxpat with canvas background color -- user can open in MAX immediately
• Start conversational kickoff: ask clarifying questions about audio/MIDI requirements, signal flow, UI needs
• Write answers to project's context.md
• See references/project-structure.md for standard directory layout

Package Configuration

• After create_project(), prompt the user to select packages for the project
• Present packages in two groups using ObjectDatabase().list_packages() and get_package_info():
  • Bundled packages (tier == "bundled" in package_info.json): ship with MAX, always available
  • Community packages (tier == "community" or "licensed"): require separate install
• User picks individual packages from each group (no preset bundles)
• Write selection with save_project_config(project_dir, {"packages": [selected_names]})
• Package names must exactly match keys in package_info.json (e.g., "BEAP", "Vizzie", "ableton-dsp")
• If user selects no packages, write {"packages": []} (core-only, per D-08)
• Users can change packages later via /max-config (same bundled/community split)