The Problem
Developers using Claude‑Code often hit the model’s context limit when tackling multi‑step projects. They must manually split work, track progress, and keep git history clean, which is time‑consuming and error‑prone.
What This Does
chief automates the split‑and‑loop workflow. A project description is stored as a PRD (.chief/prds/.json or .md). The CLI reads the PRD, generates a task list, and invokes Claude‑Code repeatedly—each iteration runs a single task, commits the result, and persists state via the “Ralph Wiggum loop”. Core logic lives in:
internal/loop/manager.go – orchestrates the loop and task persistence. internal/prd/loader.go – parses PRD files into Go structs. internal/tui/ – provides the terminal UI (Bubble Tea + Lip Gloss).
The entry point is cmd/chief/main.go, which wires sub‑commands (new, edit, status) from internal/cmd/.
How To Use It
Setup
Install the Claude‑Code CLI and authenticate it (required by the README). Build the binary:
From the repository root
make # uses the Makefile; falls back to go build ./cmd/chief or explicit build go build -o chief ./cmd/chief Optionally install via Homebrew (pre‑built formula is in Formula/chief.rb).
Configuration
Create a PRD with chief new – this writes a skeleton to .chief/prds/. Edit the PRD manually or with chief edit (uses prompts from embed/editprompt.txt). No additional config files are required; the tool reads the PRD at runtime.
Running
Start the TUI; press “s” to begin the loop chief
Run a single task without the UI (useful for CI) chief run --prd .chief/prds/your-project.json
(The exact flags are defined in internal/cmd/.go; run is a placeholder for the command that triggers the loop.)
Real‑World Use
A product team defines a feature set in my‑app.prd.json. Running chief creates a git branch, then iteratively asks Claude‑Code to implement each feature, committing after every successful step. The resulting linear commit history can be reviewed, reverted, or merged like any conventional codebase, while the model never exceeds its context window.
Example workflow
chief new # scaffolds my-app.prd.json vim .chief/prds/my-app.prd.json # fill in tasks git checkout -b feature/my-app chief # TUI drives implementation git push origin feature/my-app
Code Health & Issues
Medium – Missing LICENSE file – repository lacks a LICENSE despite the README claiming MIT; legal reuse is ambiguous. (root/) Low – Hard‑coded prompt paths – embed files (embed/.txt) are read directly; changes to directory layout could break loading. (embed/embed.go) Medium – Limited CI coverage – GitHub Actions defined (.github/workflows/.yml) but no badge or test matrix shown; verify that all test suites run on push. (.github/) Low – No explicit error handling for Claude CLI failures – internal/loop/loop.go calls external commands without robust retry logic; a transient API error could abort the whole run. Low – Platform‑specific audio – notification sound uses cgo in internal/notify/soundnocgo.go; may fail on minimal containers without audio libraries.
Positive signals: 16 test files covering core packages, a Makefile, and CI workflow files indicate an intent toward continuous testing and reproducible builds.
The Bottom Line
chief delivers a focused solution for breaking large Claude‑Code projects into manageable, version‑controlled steps, with a usable TUI and solid test coverage. The main blocker is the missing license file and modest CI visibility; teams comfortable handling those compliance gaps can adopt it to streamline AI‑assisted development workflows.