Moai Foundation Cc

---
name: moai-foundation-cc
description: >
  Canonical Claude Code authoring kit covering Skills, sub-agents, plugins, slash commands,
  hooks, memory, settings, sandboxing, headless mode, and advanced agent patterns.
  Use when creating Claude Code extensions or configuring Claude Code features.

when_to_use: >
  Use for Claude Code authoring and extension: Skills, sub-agents,
  plugins, slash commands, hooks, memory, settings, sandboxing, headless
  mode, orchestration, and delegation/agent-pattern authoring.

license: Apache-2.0
compatibility: Designed for Claude Code
allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob
user-invocable: false
metadata:
  version: "5.0.0"
  category: "foundation"
  status: "active"
  updated: "2026-01-11"
  modularized: "false"
  tags: "foundation, claude-code, skills, sub-agents, plugins, slash-commands, hooks, memory, settings, sandboxing, headless, agent-patterns"
  aliases: "moai-foundation-cc"

# MoAI Extension: Progressive Disclosure
progressive_disclosure:
  enabled: true
  level1_tokens: 100
  level2_tokens: 5000
---

# Claude Code Authoring Kit

Comprehensive reference for Claude Code Skills, sub-agents, plugins, slash commands, hooks, memory, settings, sandboxing, headless mode, and advanced agent patterns.

## Documentation Index

Core Features:

- reference/claude-code-skills-official.md - Agent Skills creation and management
- reference/claude-code-sub-agents-official.md - Sub-agent development and delegation
- reference/claude-code-plugins-official.md - Plugin architecture and distribution
- reference/claude-code-custom-slash-commands-official.md - Command creation and orchestration

Configuration:

- reference/claude-code-settings-official.md - Configuration hierarchy and management
- reference/claude-code-memory-official.md - Context and knowledge persistence
- reference/claude-code-hooks-official.md - Event-driven automation
- reference/claude-code-iam-official.md - Access control and security

Advanced Features:

- reference/claude-code-sandboxing-official.md - Security isolation
- reference/claude-code-headless-official.md - Programmatic and CI/CD usage
- reference/claude-code-devcontainers-official.md - Containerized environments
- reference/claude-code-cli-reference-official.md - Command-line interface
- reference/claude-code-statusline-official.md - Custom status display
- reference/advanced-agent-patterns.md - Engineering best practices

## Quick Reference

Skills: Model-invoked extensions in ~/.claude/skills/ (personal) or .claude/skills/ (project). Three-level progressive disclosure. Max 500 lines.

Sub-agents: Specialized assistants via Agent(subagent_type="..."). Context window follows the session model (Sonnet 5 = 1M native on the Anthropic API; Haiku / gateway / older models = 200K — CC 2.1.197). Nesting: by default a subagent CAN spawn subagents of its own, up to three layers below the main conversation; `CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_SUBAGENT_SPAWN_DEPTH` changes the limit and `1` turns nesting off (CC 2.1.217+). At the depth limit Claude Code withholds the `Agent` tool. To stop one specific subagent from spawning, omit `Agent` from its `tools` list or add it to `disallowedTools` — MoAI retained agents omit `Agent` with one deliberate carve-out — `manager-lead` carries it as the sole depth-1 fan-out seam, and every leaf worker it spawns MUST omit `Agent` (the depth-2 seal, enforced at lint time; sentinel `DEPTH_SEAL_VIOLATION`) — so nothing re-delegates below that one layer regardless of the depth setting. To create or manage subagents, ask Claude or edit `.claude/agents/` directly — the `/agents` wizard was removed in CC 2.1.198 (the official sub-agents doc still documented a `/agents` tabbed interface as of 2026-07-03; doc lag — verify in a live 2.1.198 session).

Plugins: Reusable bundles in .claude-plugin/plugin.json. Include commands, agents, skills, hooks, MCP servers.

Commands: User-invoked via /command. Parameters: $ARGUMENTS, $1, $2. File refs: @file.

Hooks: Events in settings.json. PreToolUse, PostToolUse, SessionStart, SessionEnd, PreCompact, Notification.

Memory: CLAUDE.md files + .claude/rules/*.md. Enterprise to Project to User hierarchy. @import syntax.

Settings: 6-level hierarchy. Managed to file-managed to CLI to local to shared to user.

Sandboxing: OS-level isolation. Filesystem and network restrictions. Auto-allow safe operations.

Headless: -p flag for non-interactive. --allowedTools, --json-schema, --agents for automation.

## Skill Creation

### Progressive Disclosure Architecture

Level 1 (Metadata): Name and description loaded at startup, approximately 100 tokens per Skill

Level 2 (Instructions): SKILL.md body loaded when triggered, under 5K tokens recommended

Level 3 (Resources): Additional files loaded on demand, effectively unlimited

### Required Format

Create a SKILL.md file with YAML frontmatter containing name in kebab-case and description explaining what it does and when to use it in third person. Maximum 1024 characters for description. After the frontmatter, include a heading with the skill name, a Quick Start section with brief instructions, and a Details section referencing REFERENCE.md for more information.

### Best Practices

- Third person descriptions (does not I do)
- Include trigger terms users mention
- Keep under 500 lines
- One level deep references
- Test with Haiku, Sonnet, Opus

## Sub-agent Creation

### Using /agents Command

> **CC 2.1.198 CHANGELOG delta**: The `/agents` wizard was **removed** — per the CHANGELOG, "ask Claude to create or manage subagents, or edit `.claude/agents/` directly." The official sub-agents doc still documented a `/agents` tabbed interface as of 2026-07-03 (doc lag, or the removal covers only the creation wizard); verify in a live 2.1.198 session before relying on the flow below.

Type /agents, select Create New Agent, define purpose and tools, press e to edit prompt.

### File Format

Create a markdown file with YAML frontmatter containing name, description explaining when to invoke (use PROACTIVELY for auto-delegation), tools as comma-separated list (Read, Write, Bash), and model specification (sonnet). After frontmatter, include the system prompt.

### Critical Rules

- Nesting is allowed by default (three layers below the main conversation); MoAI retained agents omit `Agent` from `tools` with one deliberate carve-out — `manager-lead` carries it as the sole depth-1 fan-out seam, and every leaf worker it spawns MUST omit `Agent` (the depth-2 seal, enforced at lint time; sentinel `DEPTH_SEAL_VIOLATION`) — so nothing re-delegates below that one layer
- Cannot use AskUserQuestion effectively
- All user interaction before delegation
- Context window follows the session model (Sonnet 5 = 1M native on the Anthropic API; Haiku / gateway / older models = 200K — CC 2.1.197)

## Plugin Creation

### Directory Structure

Create my-plugin directory with .claude-plugin/plugin.json, commands directory, agents directory, skills directory, hooks/hooks.json, and .mcp.json file.

### Manifest (plugin.json)

Create a JSON object with name, description explaining plugin purpose, version as 1.0.0, and author object containing name field.

### Commands

Use /plugin install owner/repo to install from GitHub.
Use /plugin validate . to validate current directory.
Use /plugin enable plugin-name to enable a plugin.

## Advanced Agent Patterns

### Two-Agent Pattern for Long Tasks

Initializer agent: Sets up environment, feature registry, progress docs

Executor agent: Works single features, updates registry, maintains progress

See reference/advanced-agent-patterns.md for details.

### Orchestrator-Worker Architecture

Lead agent: Decomposes tasks, spawns workers, synthesizes results

Worker agents: Execute focused tasks, return condensed summaries

### Context Engineering Principles

- Smallest set of high-signal tokens
- Just-in-time retrieval over upfront loading
- Context compaction for long sessions
- External memory files persist outside window

### Tool Design Best Practices

- Consolidate related functions into single tools
- Return high-signal context-aware responses
- Clear parameter names (user_id not user)
- Instructive error messages with examples

### Explore/Search Performance Optimization

When using Explore agent or direct exploration tools (Grep, Glob, Read), apply these optimizations to prevent performance bottlenecks with GLM models:

**AST-Grep Priority**
- Use structural search (ast-grep) before text-based search (Grep)
- Run `moai ast-grep` to scan, `moai ast-edit` to rewrite matches
- Example: `sg -p 'class $X extends Service' --lang python` is faster than `grep -r "class.*extends.*Service"`

**Search Scope Limitation**
- Always use `path` parameter to limit search scope
- Example: `Grep(pattern="func ", path="internal/core/")` instead of `Grep(pattern="async def")`

**File Pattern Specificity**
- Use specific Glob patterns instead of wildcards
- Example: `Glob(pattern="internal/core/*.go")` instead of `Glob(pattern="src/**/*.py")`

**Parallel Processing**
- Execute independent searches in parallel (single message, multiple tool calls)
- Maximum 5 parallel searches to prevent context fragmentation

## Workflow: Explore-Plan-Code-Commit

Phase 1 Explore: Read files, understand structure, map dependencies

Phase 2 Plan: Use think prompts, outline approach, define criteria

Phase 3 Code: Implement iteratively, verify each step, handle edges

Phase 4 Commit: Descriptive messages, logical groupings, clean history

## MoAI-ADK Integration

### Core Skills

- moai-foundation-cc: This authoring kit
- moai-foundation-core: SPEC system and workflows
- moai-foundation-philosopher: Strategic thinking

### Essential Sub-agents

- manager-spec: EARS specifications
- manager-develop: DDD execution
- Agent(general-purpose) with security instructions: Security analysis
- Agent(general-purpose) with backend instructions: API development
- Agent(general-purpose) with frontend instructions: UI implementation

## Security Features

### Sandboxing

- Filesystem: Write restricted to cwd
- Network: Domain allowlists via proxy
- OS-level: bubblewrap (Linux), Seatbelt (macOS)

### Dev Containers

- Security-hardened with firewall
- Whitelisted outbound only
- --dangerously-skip-permissions for trusted only

### Headless Safety

- Always use --allowedTools in CI/CD
- Validate inputs before passing to Claude
- Handle errors with exit codes

## Resources

For detailed patterns and working examples, see the reference directory.

Version History:

- v5.0.0 (2026-01-11): Converted to narrative format per CLAUDE.md Documentation Standards
- v4.0.0 (2026-01-06): Added plugins, sandboxing, headless, statusline, dev containers, CLI reference, advanced patterns
- v3.0.0 (2025-12-06): Added progressive disclosure, sub-agent details, integration patterns
- v2.0.0 (2025-11-26): Initial comprehensive release

<!-- moai:evolvable-start id="rationalizations" -->
## Common Rationalizations

| Rationalization | Reality |
|---|---|
| "I will use Bash sed instead of Edit, it is faster" | Edit is the preferred tool for accuracy and review. Bash sed errors are silent and hard to trace. |
| "This hook does not need a timeout, it finishes quickly" | Hooks without timeouts can hang the entire session. Always set an explicit timeout. |
| "I can put all logic in CLAUDE.md, rules are overkill" | CLAUDE.md has a 40K character limit. Rules load conditionally and scale without bloating the prompt. |
| "Settings.json changes are low risk" | Incorrect settings.json breaks hooks, permissions, and model routing. Validate the JSON after every edit. |
| "I will skip progressive disclosure, all content is needed" | Loading 5K tokens for every skill wastes 67% of context. Level 1 metadata is sufficient for routing. |
| "This skill does not need allowed-tools, Claude will figure it out" | Missing allowed-tools means the skill silently inherits all tools. Explicit is safer than implicit. |

<!-- moai:evolvable-end -->

<!-- moai:evolvable-start id="red-flags" -->
## Red Flags

- CLAUDE.md exceeds 40,000 characters
- Hook registered in settings.json without a corresponding script file
- Skill frontmatter uses space-separated allowed-tools instead of comma-separated
- Agent definition uses YAML array for tools instead of CSV string
- settings.json contains hardcoded absolute paths instead of $CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR
- Progressive disclosure disabled for a skill that exceeds 3000 tokens

Provenance (frontmatter CSV-format drift): space-separated `allowed-tools` silently breaks tool permissions (CONST-V3R5-038) — observed recurrence, provenance pending in memory.

<!-- moai:evolvable-end -->

<!-- moai:evolvable-start id="verification" -->
## Verification

- [ ] CLAUDE.md character count is under 40,000 (show wc -c output)
- [ ] settings.json is valid JSON (show json validation output)
- [ ] Every hook in settings.json has a matching script file in .claude/hooks/
- [ ] All skill frontmatter uses CSV format for allowed-tools
- [ ] Agent frontmatter uses CSV for tools and YAML array for skills
- [ ] All metadata values in skill frontmatter are quoted strings
- [ ] $CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR used instead of absolute paths in hook commands

<!-- moai:evolvable-end -->

---

## Decision Heuristics

Fast defaults — always confirm against the cited body section for non-trivial decisions.

- If a deferred tool (AskUserQuestion etc.) is needed, default to a `ToolSearch` preload first (<- §Documentation Index / sub-agents).
- If declaring `allowed-tools`, default to a comma-separated string, never space-separated (<- §Red Flags).
- If CLAUDE.md nears 40K chars, default to moving detail into path-scoped rules (<- §Verification).
- If a hook is registered, default to also setting an explicit timeout (<- §Common Rationalizations).
- If a skill exceeds ~3000 tokens, default to keeping progressive disclosure enabled (<- §Common Rationalizations).