# TAILOR

Tailor - Reuse-First AI Engineering

### *Make the code fit the project — with zero waste.* **The Unified AI Coding-Agent Engineering Framework** Combining **Spec-Driven Development (SDD)**, **Adaptive Pragmatism (Lite/Full/Ultra)**, **Progressive Project Memory (`.ai/`)**, **AST Semantic Code Reuse**, and a **Native Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server** for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI / Antigravity, Windsurf, Roo Code / Cline, GitHub Copilot CLI, and Zed. Created by **Aman Katiyar** ([@AmanKtyr](https://github.com/AmanKtyr)). [![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-blue.svg)](LICENSE) [![Node: >=18](https://img.shields.io/badge/Node-%3E%3D18.0.0-green.svg)](package.json) [![TypeScript: Strict](https://img.shields.io/badge/TypeScript-Strict-blue.svg)](tsconfig.json) [![Tests: Vitest](https://img.shields.io/badge/Tests-41%20Passing-brightgreen.svg)](tests/) [![Benchmarks: 100%](https://img.shields.io/badge/Benchmarks-100%25-success.svg)](benchmarks/) [![MCP: Supported](https://img.shields.io/badge/MCP-Protocol%202024--11--05-purple.svg)](src/mcp/) ---

## Overview & Objectives AI coding assistants frequently encounter two distinct failure modes: 1. **Unstructured Generation ("Vibe Coding"):** Agents generate code from loose prompts, introducing redundant dependencies, duplicate components, and unvetted architectural changes. 2. **Extreme Laziness without Specifications:** Agents produce abbreviated implementations without documented requirements, contracts, or architectural constraints. **Tailor** unifies these requirements into a disciplined, multi-agent engineering framework: * **Spec-Driven Development (SDD):** Transforms user intent into formal feature specifications (`spec.md`), technical plans (`plan.md`), and granular checklists (`tasks.md`), governed by a **Project Constitution** (`.ai/CONSTITUTION.md`). * **Adaptive Pragmatism Ladder:** Enforces the 7-step decision ladder (YAGNI -> Existing Code -> Stdlib -> Native API -> Installed Dep -> One-liner -> Minimal Code) with configurable intensity levels (`lite`, `balanced`, `ultra`, `strict`). * **Progressive Project Memory (`.ai/`):** Self-healing, compact domain memory reducing LLM context token overhead by up to 80% with live drift repair. * **AST Semantic Code Reuse:** Deterministically indexes workspace components, hooks, and utilities to inject reuse audits prior to code generation. * **Strict Anti-Styling & Anti-Bloat Guardrails:** Enforces zero unsolicited CSS, prevents styling sprawl (gradients, glassmorphism, random Tailwind classes), and mandates minimal diff discipline. * **17 Production Agent Skills:** Standardized skills across frontend, backend, security, testing, architecture, and governance synchronized automatically to `.agents/skills/`. * **Native MCP Server:** Connects directly to Claude Desktop, Cursor, Zed, Windsurf, and Antigravity via standard JSON-RPC. --- ## Comparison Matrix | Capability / Dimension | GitHub `spec-kit` (Specify) | DietrichGebert `ponytail` | **Tailor 2.0 (Unified)** | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | **Core Paradigm** | Spec-Driven Development (SDD) | Pragmatism & LOC reduction | **Unified Framework: SDD + Pragmatism + Memory + Reuse + MCP** | | **CLI & Runtime** | Python (`uv tool install specify-cli`) | Prompt-only (no executable CLI) | **Zero-Config Node/TypeScript CLI (`npx @amanktyr/tailor`)** | | **Project Constitution** | `.specify/memory/constitution.md` | Hardcoded prompt rule | **`.ai/CONSTITUTION.md` + `.ai/INDEX.md` + Live ADRs** | | **Pre-Execution Reuse Audit** | None (causes duplicated code) | Text rule only | **AST scan automatically injects existing components into `plan.md`** | | **Pragmatism Intensity** | None (tends to generate bloat) | `lite`, `full`, `ultra` | **`lite`, `balanced`, `ultra`, `strict` embedded everywhere** | | **Native MCP Server** | None | None | **Built-in JSON-RPC 2.0 Server (`tailor mcp` / `tailor-mcp`)** | | **Live Drift Detection** | None | None | **Continuous AST scanner auto-repairs stale project memory** | | **Multi-Agent Adapters** | 4 platforms | 5 platforms | **10+ Platforms (Claude, Cursor, Codex, Gemini, Windsurf, Cline, Copilot, Zed)** | | **Open Source Standards** | Standard GitHub | HN/Reddit buzz | **NPM CLI, Skills standard, MCP protocol, and CI workflows** | --- ## Quick Start & Installation Tailor can be utilized via the universal **Agent Skills** standard, as a **Global / Local CLI**, or as a **Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server**. ### 1. Universal Agent Installation (`skills` CLI) ```bash # Install Tailor across all AI coding assistants in your workspace npx skills add AmanKtyr/Tailor -y # Or install globally across your machine (-g) npx skills add AmanKtyr/Tailor -g -y ``` ### 2. NPM CLI Installation ```bash # Install globally npm install -g @amanktyr/tailor # Or run directly via npx without installation: npx @amanktyr/tailor init ``` ### 3. Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server Setup Add Tailor to your `claude_desktop_config.json` or Cursor MCP settings: ```json { "mcpServers": { "tailor": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@amanktyr/tailor", "mcp"] } } } ``` --- ## CLI Command Reference ```bash # Project Governance & Initialization tailor init # Conduct discovery, stack selection, and initialize .ai/ tailor constitution # View or regenerate .ai/CONSTITUTION.md tailor sync # Synchronize all 10+ AI agent adapter files # Skills Governance tailor skills list # Inspect all 17 agent engineering skills and sync status tailor skills sync # Mirror all skills into .agents/skills/ for Gemini & Codex tailor skills info # View complete directives and rules for a specific skill # Spec-Driven Development (SDD) Workflow tailor spec init # Initialize specs/ directory and constitution tailor spec new # Scaffold specs/-/spec.md with user stories tailor spec plan # Generate reuse-aware technical plan (plan.md) tailor spec tasks # Generate granular, ordered task checklist (tasks.md) tailor spec list # View all active feature specs and completion status # Intelligence, Memory & Security tailor analyze # Deterministically inspect stack, frameworks, and reusable catalog tailor memory update # Synchronize .ai/ progressive memory documents tailor memory drift # Detect drift between active code and recorded memory tailor security # Run static security rules and credential leak checks tailor dependencies --check # Evaluate package for bloat, redundancy, and licenses tailor review # Run holistic quality, architecture, and security gates tailor doctor # Run full system, git, memory, and skill diagnostics tailor mcp # Start stdio Model Context Protocol (MCP) server ``` --- ## The 7-Step Pragmatism Ladder Before writing any new implementation or adding dependencies, AI agents follow this mandatory sequence: ``` ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ 1. Does this need to exist? (YAGNI) │ │ -> Reject speculative complexity or future-proofing.│ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ 2. Already in this codebase? │ │ -> Search src/components/, src/lib/, src/utils/. │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ 3. Does the Standard Library do it? │ │ -> Use crypto.randomUUID(), structuredClone(), etc. │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ 4. Does a Native Platform / Browser API cover it? │ │ -> Use