FREE · OPEN SOURCE · MIT LICENSE

Feature Forge

A process for taking a feature from product thinking to shipped software with coding agents.

Decide what matters. Give agents a plan they can implement. Review the documents, verify the result, and carry what you learned into the next feature.

Developed by Ken St. Clair through work on real projects since February 2026. Installation for Claude Code; the process is model agnostic.

Keep the work connected

A feature record connects the decisions you made to the software you release.

Agents read Markdown. Humans read HTML.

The same documentation serves both audiences. Agents work from the source; you read and review the composed document in your browser.

Plan for agent implementation

Break larger features into coherent slices. Make ownership, dependencies, and integration clear so agents can work on a useful part of the feature.

Choose the reviews that help

The orchestrator can bring in product, architecture, security, and other reviewer perspectives. Implementation gets independent code review, completion review, and a final walkthrough.

Learn from each feature

Cleanup updates durable documentation and proposes improvements to project guidance. The next feature starts with what the last one taught you.

From an idea to a release

  1. Dev hygiene

    Set up an isolated branch or worktree and a home for the feature's documents.

  2. Product thinking

    Understand the problem and scope. Challenge whether this feature is worth the time and resources.

  3. Brief

    Describe the user need and requirements, with analytics and rollout decisions.

  4. Architecture

    Explore the codebase and relevant sources. Preserve alternatives and the reasons for your choices.

  5. Plan

    Create work slices that implementation agents can own and verify.

  6. Human review

    Review the complete feature dossier together before implementation.

  7. Implement

    Build with test-driven development. Integrate the work and walk through the changed user flows.

  8. Verify

    An independent reviewer checks the implementation against the requirements and acceptance criteria.

  9. Ship and land

    Prepare the pull request, follow the project's approval policy, and verify the release.

  10. Cleanup

    Close out the feature record and bring lessons into durable project guidance.

Small, understood changes use Whetstone. The shorter route keeps the work proportional to the change.

Pair it with Lahe

Lahe, the live agentic HTML editor, lets you comment on a document or edit it directly in your browser. Your agent updates the source and replies beside the passage.

Feature Forge defines the development process. Lahe provides the live review surface. They're separate open source projects that work together.

Explore Lahe

Use it in your project

Clone the repository and use the included installer to add the skills to your project's Claude Code setup. Start with /feature-forge or /whetstone. The README includes setup instructions.

Feature Forge draws on research into other agent workflows and practical iteration. The repository credits the people and systems studied.

Book a call

30 minutes, video or phone

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Or email me at ken@stclair.ai