Compound Engineering

AI skills that make each unit of engineering work easier than the last.

Philosophy

Each unit of engineering work should make subsequent units easier -- not harder.

Traditional development accumulates technical debt. Every feature adds complexity. Every bug fix leaves behind a little more local knowledge that someone has to rediscover later. The codebase gets larger, the context gets harder to hold, and the next change becomes slower.

Compound engineering inverts this. 80% is in planning and review, 20% is in execution:

• Plan thoroughly before writing code with /ce-brainstorm and /ce-plan using one readiness-based plan artifact
• Review to catch issues and calibrate judgment with /ce-code-review and /ce-doc-review
• Codify knowledge so it is reusable with /ce-compound
• Keep quality high so future changes are easy

The point is not ceremony. The point is leverage. A good brainstorm makes the plan sharper. A good plan makes execution smaller. A good review catches the pattern, not just the bug. A good compound note means the next agent does not have to learn the same lesson from scratch.

Learn more

• Skill documentation catalog
• Compound engineering: how Every codes with agents
• The story behind compounding engineering

Workflow

The core loop is six steps: brainstorm the requirements, plan the implementation, work through the plan, simplify what you wrote, review the result, then compound the learning -- and repeat with better context.

Skill	Purpose
/ce-brainstorm	Interactive Q&A to think through a feature or problem and write a requirements-only unified plan before planning
/ce-plan	Enrich feature ideas or requirements-only plans into implementation-ready plans
/ce-work	Execute implementation-ready plans with worktrees and task tracking
/ce-simplify-code	Refine the freshly written code for clarity and reuse before review
/ce-code-review	Multi-agent review against the plan before merging
/ce-compound	Capture the learning into docs/solutions/ so the next loop starts smarter

Each cycle compounds: /ce-compound writes learnings that the next /ce-brainstorm and /ce-plan read as grounding -- brainstorms sharpen plans, plans inform future plans, reviews catch more issues, patterns get documented. That return arrow is the whole point.

Additional skills

These sit around the loop or get reached for on demand -- not every cycle needs them.

Skill	When to reach for it
/ce-ideate	Before the loop, when you don't yet know what to build -- generates and critically ranks grounded ideas, then routes the strongest one into /ce-brainstorm
/ce-strategy	Upstream anchor -- creates and maintains STRATEGY.md, read as grounding by ideate, brainstorm, and plan so strategy choices flow into every feature
/ce-product-pulse	Outer loop -- a time-windowed report on what users actually experienced (usage, performance, errors), saved to docs/pulse-reports/; its follow-ups feed back into ideation and brainstorming
/ce-debug	Instead of brainstorm -> plan -> work when the input is a bug rather than a feature -- reproduce, trace root cause, fix, then polish/review before PR handoff when warranted
/ce-pov	On demand, before you commit -- a decisive, project-grounded verdict on whether to adopt, switch to, or revisit an external technology, library, pattern, or platform; works cold or mid-session, and proposes the next step (/ce-plan, /ce-brainstorm, or a spike) from the verdict

For the full catalog and how each skill chains together, see docs/skills. The complete inventory is below.

Quick Example

Finding a direction -- when you don't have a specific idea yet, ideate first, then carry the strongest survivor into the loop:

/ce-ideate new drawing tools
/ce-ideate surprise me
/ce-ideate github issues   # ground ideas in your open issues instead of a prompt

/ce-ideate does the homework first (codebase, past learnings, prior art on the web, optionally your issue tracker), then hands you a ranked set of grounded candidates to take into /ce-brainstorm.

Standard feature loop -- turn a rough idea into shipped, reviewed code:

/ce-brainstorm make background job retries safer
/ce-plan
/ce-work
/ce-simplify-code
/ce-code-review
/ce-compound

Simplifying code -- use it after fresh implementation work, or point it at code that keeps slowing changes down:

/ce-simplify-code
/ce-simplify-code simplify the code in my most-churned file

The first pass tightens recent branch changes before review. The targeted pass is useful when one file keeps absorbing unrelated fixes, follow-ups, or merge conflicts.

Debugging a bug -- when you start from broken behavior instead of a feature:

/ce-debug the checkout webhook sometimes creates duplicate invoices
/ce-code-review
/ce-compound

Autonomous -- hand off a feature and let the agent run the whole pipeline:

/ce-brainstorm describe the feature
/lfg

/lfg runs the loop hands-off: it plans, works through the plan, simplifies, runs code review and applies the fixes, runs browser tests, commits, pushes, opens a PR, then watches CI and repairs failures until it's green. Start it after /ce-brainstorm so it plans against real requirements rather than a one-line prompt. It's the autopilot version of the standard loop -- neat when you want to step away and come back to an open, green PR.

Getting Started

After installing, run /ce-setup in any project. It checks repo-local config, reports optional tool capabilities, and helps keep machine-local CE settings safely gitignored.

The compound-engineering plugin currently ships 27 skills and 0 standalone agents. Specialist review, research, and workflow behavior lives inside the owning skills as skill-local prompt assets.

Full Skill Inventory

Skill	Purpose
/ce-strategy	Create or maintain STRATEGY.md
/ce-ideate	Generate and critically evaluate grounded ideas
/ce-pov	Form a decisive, project-grounded verdict on an external input
/ce-brainstorm	Explore requirements and write a right-sized requirements doc
/ce-plan	Create structured implementation plans
/ce-work	Execute implementation plans systematically
/ce-code-review	Review code with skill-local reviewer personas
/ce-doc-review	Review requirements and plan documents
/ce-debug	Reproduce failures, trace root cause, fix bugs, and prepare non-trivial fixes for PR
/ce-compound	Document solved problems to compound team knowledge
/ce-compound-refresh	Refresh stale or drifting learnings
/ce-optimize	Run iterative optimization loops
/ce-product-pulse	Generate time-windowed product pulse reports
/ce-riffrec-feedback-analysis	Convert Riffrec recordings or notes into structured feedback
/ce-resolve-pr-feedback	Resolve PR review feedback
/ce-commit	Create a git commit with a clear message
/ce-commit-push-pr	Commit, push, and open a PR with related work references preserved
/ce-worktree	Ensure work happens in an isolated git worktree
/ce-promote	Draft user-facing announcement copy
/ce-test-browser	Run browser tests on PR-affected pages
/ce-test-xcode	Build and test iOS apps on simulator
/ce-setup	Diagnose optional tool capabilities and project config
/ce-simplify-code	Simplify recent code changes
/ce-polish	Start a dev server and iterate on UX polish
/ce-proof	Create, edit, and share Proof documents
/ce-dogfood	Hands-off diff-scoped browser QA of the active branch, with autonomous fixes
/lfg	Full autonomous engineering workflow

---

Install

Claude Code

/plugin marketplace add EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin
/plugin install compound-engineering

Already have Compound Engineering installed? Compound Engineering moved to a root-native layout. You must refresh the marketplace before updating — see Existing Installs. Running /plugin update alone keeps you on the old version.

Cursor

In Cursor Agent chat, install from the plugin marketplace:

/add-plugin compound-engineering

Or search for "compound engineering" in the plugin marketplace.

Codex App

Compound Engineering is not listed in Codex's built-in plugin marketplace yet. Add it as a custom marketplace:

1. In the Codex app, open Plugins from the sidebar.
2. Click Add / Add plugin marketplace.
3. Enter:

Field	Value
Source	EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin
Git ref	main
Sparse paths	leave blank

1. Click Add marketplace.
2. Select Compound Engineering, install compound-engineering, then restart Codex.

The Codex app install is self-contained for Compound Engineering. Specialist reviewer and research behavior lives inside the skills as local prompt assets; no separate custom-agent install step is required.

Codex CLI

Register the marketplace, then install the plugin.

1. Register the marketplace with Codex:

bash codex plugin marketplace add EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin

1. Install the plugin:

bash codex plugin add compound-engineering@compound-engineering-plugin

You can also launch codex, run /plugins, find the Compound Engineering marketplace, select the compound-engineering plugin, and choose Install. Restart Codex after install completes.

The native Codex plugin install is self-contained for Compound Engineering. Specialist reviewer and research behavior lives inside the skills as local prompt assets; no separate custom-agent install step is required.

For a non-default Codex profile, run every Codex-related step against the same CODEX_HOME. This example installs CE into a work profile:

CODEX_HOME="$HOME/.codex/profiles/work" codex plugin marketplace add EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin
CODEX_HOME="$HOME/.codex/profiles/work" codex plugin add compound-engineering@compound-engineering-plugin

The marketplace step only makes the plugin available; the plugin install is what activates the native CE skills for that profile.

Kimi Code CLI

Kimi Code CLI can install Compound Engineering directly from this repository because the repo ships a native .kimi-plugin/plugin.json manifest:

/plugins install https://github.com/EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin

You can also browse it through Kimi's custom marketplace flow:

/plugins marketplace https://raw.githubusercontent.com/EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin/main/.kimi-plugin/marketplace.json

After installing or updating, run /reload or start a new Kimi session so the plugin skills are loaded.

GitHub Copilot

For VS Code Copilot Agent Plugins:

1. Run Chat: Install Plugin from Source from the VS Code command palette
2. Use EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin for the repo
3. Select compound-engineering when VS Code shows the plugins in this repository

For Copilot CLI, use:

Inside Copilot CLI:

/plugin marketplace add EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin
/plugin install compound-engineering@compound-engineering-plugin

From a shell with the copilot binary:

copilot plugin marketplace add EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin
copilot plugin install compound-engineering@compound-engineering-plugin

Copilot CLI reads the existing Claude-compatible plugin manifests, so no separate Bun install step is needed.

Factory Droid

From a shell with the droid binary:

droid plugin marketplace add https://github.com/EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin
droid plugin install compound-engineering@compound-engineering-plugin

Droid uses plugin@marketplace plugin IDs; here compound-engineering is the plugin and compound-engineering-plugin is the marketplace name. Droid installs the existing Claude Code-compatible plugin and translates the format automatically, so no Bun install step is needed.

Qwen Code

```bash qwen extensions install EveryInc/compound-engineering-plug