Director Mode Lite
Use Claude Code like a Director, not a Programmer.
TDD-focused autonomous development toolkit.
The orchestration pioneer: Director Mode has always orchestrated from outside Claude Code — an outer script drives headless claude -p sessions (goal in, JSON out), composing whole sessions the way an OS composes processes. When the Fable 5 era shipped the native Workflow tool, it validated the pattern this lineage had been running for 8+ months (see how CMS predicted it). The two layers compose, and DM-Lite keeps shipping — v1.9 (July 2026) adds a guided setup wizard and Claude 5 spec alignment.
Outer loop DM-Lite script → N headless `claude -p` sessions (cross-model, cross-account)
Inner loop each session → Workflow tool → agent fleet (in-harness, deterministic)For the in-session layer, see the Workflow orchestration tutorial →
What's Included
Commands
/workflow, /auto-loop, /evolving-loop, /getting-started, validators, generators
Agents
3 core + 5 experts + 6 self-evolving agents
Skills
TDD workflow, validation, generation, interop routing
Key Feature: Auto-Loop
TDD-based autonomous development loop. Define acceptance criteria, and Auto-Loop iterates through Red-Green-Refactor cycles until complete.
/auto-loop "Create a calculator module
Acceptance Criteria:
- [ ] add(a, b) function
- [ ] subtract(a, b) function
- [ ] Unit tests for all functions"
[Iteration 1] RED → Write failing test...
[Iteration 2] GREEN → Implement code...
[Iteration 3] REFACTOR → Clean up...
[Iteration 4] All criteria complete!Self-Evolving Loop
Beyond Auto-Loop: dynamically generates task-specific skills, learns from failures, and evolves its own strategy. No other tool has this.
8-phase workflow: ANALYZE → GENERATE → EXECUTE → VALIDATE → DECIDE → LEARN → EVOLVE → SHIP
Core Features
🎯 TDD-Native
Red-Green-Refactor cycle built into every workflow. Tests drive development, not the other way around.
🤖 14 Specialized Agents
3 core (reviewer, debugger, doc-writer) + 5 experts (CLAUDE.md, MCP, hooks, agents, skills) + 6 self-evolving agents.
✅ Validators & Generators
Validate your CLAUDE.md, agents, skills, hooks, and MCP config. Generate new components from templates.
🔀 Interop Router
Auto-routes tasks to Codex or Gemini CLI when more efficient. Decision scoring with safety controls.
💾 Checkpoint Recovery
Resume from checkpoints. Never lose progress. Works in both Auto-Loop and Self-Evolving Loop.
⚡ Parallel Execution
Multiple agents work simultaneously. Problem analysis with 5 parallel Explore agents.
The 5-Step Workflow
Why Director Mode Lite?
| Traditional AI Coding | Director Mode Lite | |
|---|---|---|
| Workflow | Ask → Wait → Copy → Test → Repeat | Direct → Auto-execute → Review |
| Testing | Often forgotten | TDD built into workflow |
| Automation | Manual intervention needed | Auto-Loop + Self-Evolving Loop |
| Agents | None or basic | 14 specialized agents (auto-triggered) |
| Learning | No structured learning strategy | Cross-session learning & strategy evolution |
Quick Install
# Install via Claude Code plugin marketplace:
claude plugin install director-mode-liteReady to Direct?
Join the community to get help and share your experience with Director Mode.