Sample Repository Specification
This document specifies what the practical session project should contain for each day's exercises. It is a specification, not a built repository. Actual repository construction is a separate future effort.
The course is deliverable without a purpose-built sample repository. Every exercise includes fallback options for attendees who bring their own projects or use open source codebases.
Requirements by Day
| Day | Exercise | What's Needed | Why | Fallback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Installation and First Contact | 5–10 source files + test suite (any language) | Agent needs enough code to demonstrate multi-file awareness | Any personal project with tests |
| 1 | Assistive vs Agentic Comparison | Same project + access to a second AI tool | Side-by-side comparison of assistive and agentic modes | Facilitator demonstrates the comparison |
| 2 | Write CLAUDE.md From Scratch | Same project, with any existing CLAUDE.md removed | Attendees need to experience the before/after of adding context | Rename existing CLAUDE.md temporarily |
| 2 | Cross-Project Contamination | A second project directory (different domain or language) | Contamination requires switching between distinct projects | Facilitator demonstrates |
| 3 | CLAUDE.md Audit | The CLAUDE.md created in Day 2 Exercise 1 | Audit requires a real file with both style and architecture rules | Provided sample CLAUDE.md at different lifecycle stages |
| 3 | Highlander Analysis | 10–15 source files with potential duplication | Agent needs enough code to find duplicated logic | Intentionally create a duplicate function, then ask the agent to find it |
| 3 | Write Your First Skill | A repeated task in the project | Skill writing requires a real procedure to codify | Use a generic task (run tests with specific flags, create a new module from template) |
| 4 | Define and Execute Steel Thread | Same project with a bounded task to implement | Steel thread exercise requires a real implementation target | Add a new API endpoint, write tests for an untested module, extract duplicated logic |
| 4 | Session Lifecycle Ritual | Same project (continuation from Exercise 1) | Restart prompt requires a real session to end and resume | Works with any project |
| 4 | Evaluation Framework Self-Assessment | Honest view of the current setup (CLAUDE.md, skills, last week's sessions) | Scoring requires real practice to assess against the framework's dimensions | Works for any attendee; the optional stagnation stretch (ACI-009) uses git history — eg the Intent project's (28 edits over 10 months) |
| 5 | Scaffold a Two-Node Whiteboard | A scratch git repo you can create directories and files in | The whiteboard lives in a directory; the exercise builds it from scratch | Any empty or scratch repository |
| 5 | Claim, Ask, Announce | The same scratch whiteboard (optionally two terminals) | Running the coordination verbs live; single-writer removes contention | Simulate both nodes by hand in one terminal |
| 5 | Provoke and Prevent a Collision | The same scratch whiteboard | Seeing the claim check stop a live Highlander violation | Walk the collision through by hand |
| 5 | Independent Verification Pass | A recently "done" work product (the Day 4 steel thread, or a sample) | Verifying requires real as-built code to read at file:line | Use a provided sample diff with a planted discrepancy |