Develop Skill

This skill covers the Development stage of the AI-DLC workflow: claiming Tasks, writing code, reporting progress, and submitting for verification.

OpenClaw operates as a single-agent model with SSE wake — there are no sessions, sub-agents, or Agent Teams. The plugin listens for SSE notification events and wakes the agent when work arrives.

Overview

Developer Agents take Tasks created by PM Agents (via /proposal) and turn them into working code. Each task follows this lifecycle:

open --> assigned --> in_progress --> to_verify --> done (after admin verification)

The agent workflow:

claim --> in_progress --> report work --> self-check AC --> submit for verify --> Admin /review

Task Status Lifecycle

Important: to_verify does NOT unblock downstream tasks — only done or closed does.

Tools

Task Lifecycle:

Work Reporting:

Acceptance Criteria:

Shared tools (checkin, query, comment, search, notifications): see /chorus

Workflow

Step 1: Check In

chorus_checkin()

Review your persona, current assignments, and pending work counts.

Step 2: Find Work

chorus_get_available_tasks({ projectUuid: "<project-uuid>" })

Or check existing assignments:

chorus_get_my_assignments()

Step 3: Claim a Task

chorus_get_task({ taskUuid: "<task-uuid>" })  # Review first
chorus_claim_task({ taskUuid: "<task-uuid>" })

Check: description, acceptance criteria, priority, story points, related proposal/documents.

Step 4: Gather Context

Each task and proposal includes a commentCount field — use it to decide which entities have discussions worth reading.

1. Read the task and identify dependencies:

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   chorus_get_task({ taskUuid: "<task-uuid>" })
   

   Pay attention to dependsOn (upstream tasks) and commentCount.

2. Read task comments (contains previous work reports, progress, feedback):

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   chorus_get_comments({ targetType: "task", targetUuid: "<task-uuid>" })
   

3. Review upstream dependency tasks — your work likely builds on theirs:

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   chorus_get_task({ taskUuid: "<dependency-task-uuid>" })
   chorus_get_comments({ targetType: "task", targetUuid: "<dependency-task-uuid>" })
   

   Look for: files created, API contracts, interfaces, trade-offs.

4. Read the originating proposal for design intent:

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   chorus_get_proposal({ proposalUuid: "<proposal-uuid>" })
   

5. Read project documents (PRD, tech design, ADR):

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   chorus_get_documents({ projectUuid: "<project-uuid>" })
   

Step 5: Start Working

chorus_update_task({ taskUuid: "<task-uuid>", status: "in_progress" })

Dependency enforcement: If this task has unresolved dependencies (dependsOn tasks not in done or closed), the call will be rejected with detailed blocker info. Use chorus_get_unblocked_tasks to find tasks you can start now.

Step 6: Report Progress

Report periodically with chorus_report_work. Include:

• What was completed
• Files created or modified
• Git commits and PRs
• Current status / remaining work
• Blockers or questions

chorus_report_work({
  taskUuid: "<task-uuid>",
  report: "Progress:\n- Created src/services/auth.service.ts\n- Commit: abc1234\n- Remaining: unit tests"
})

Report with status update when complete:

chorus_report_work({
  taskUuid: "<task-uuid>",
  report: "All implementation complete:\n- Files: ...\n- PR: https://github.com/org/repo/pull/42\n- All tests passing",
  status: "to_verify"
})

Step 7: Self-Check Acceptance Criteria

Before submitting, check structured acceptance criteria:

task = chorus_get_task({ taskUuid: "<task-uuid>" })

# If task.acceptanceCriteriaItems is non-empty:
chorus_report_criteria_self_check({
  taskUuid: "<task-uuid>",
  criteria: [
    { uuid: "<criterion-uuid>", devStatus: "passed", devEvidence: "Unit tests cover this" },
    { uuid: "<criterion-uuid>", devStatus: "passed", devEvidence: "Verified manually" }
  ]
})

For required criteria, keep working until you can self-check as passed. Only use failed for optional criteria that are out of scope.

Step 8: Submit for Verification

chorus_submit_for_verify({
  taskUuid: "<task-uuid>",
  summary: "Implemented auth feature:\n- Added login/logout endpoints\n- JWT middleware\n- 95% test coverage\n- All AC self-checked (3/3 passed)"
})

Step 9: Handle Review Feedback

If the task is reopened (verification failed), all acceptance criteria are reset to pending.

1. Check feedback:
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   chorus_get_task({ taskUuid: "<task-uuid>" })
   chorus_get_comments({ targetType: "task", targetUuid: "<task-uuid>" })
   

2. Fix issues, report fixes, re-self-check AC, and resubmit.

Step 10: Task Complete

Once Admin verifies (status: done), move to the next available task (back to Step 2).

SSE Wake Events

The OpenClaw plugin listens for SSE notification events and automatically wakes the agent when relevant events occur. Developer-relevant events:

autoStart Config

When autoStart is enabled in the plugin config, the agent will automatically claim assigned tasks before waking. When disabled, the agent wakes with a notification but must manually claim.

Task Dependencies (DAG)

Tasks can depend on other tasks, forming a directed acyclic graph (DAG).

• chorus_update_task(status: "in_progress") is rejected if any dependsOn task is not done or closed
• Use chorus_get_unblocked_tasks to find tasks with all dependencies resolved
• Use addDependsOn / removeDependsOn in chorus_update_task to manage dependencies

Sequential execution: When multiple tasks have dependencies, work them in order — finish upstream tasks first, wait for admin verification (done), then start downstream tasks.

Work Report Best Practices

Good report (enables continuity):

Implemented password reset flow:

Files created/modified:
- src/services/auth.service.ts (new)
- src/app/api/auth/reset/route.ts (new)
- tests/auth/reset.test.ts (new)

Git:
- Commit: a1b2c3d "feat: password reset flow"
- PR: https://github.com/org/repo/pull/15

Implementation details:
- POST /api/auth/reset-request: sends email with token
- Token expires after 1 hour, single-use
- Rate limiting: 3 requests/hour/email
- 12 new tests, all passing

Acceptance criteria:
- [x] User can request reset via email
- [x] Reset link expires after 1 hour
- [x] Rate limiting prevents abuse

Bad report: Done.

Tips

• Read task comments first — they contain previous work reports for continuity
• Check upstream dependencies — read dependsOn tasks and their comments for interfaces/APIs
• Read the originating proposal — understand design rationale and task DAG
• Use commentCount — skip fetching comments on entities with count 0
• Report progress frequently — include file paths, commits, and PRs
• Write detailed submit summaries — Admin needs them to verify
• If blocked, add a comment explaining why
• One task at a time: finish before claiming another

Next

• After submitting for verification, an Admin reviews using /review
• For platform overview and shared tools, see /chorus