JSPM – tracerkit@1.9.2

Package Exports

tracerkit

Readme

Replace ad-hoc AI prompts with a repeatable spec-driven workflow: from idea to verified, archived code.

Named after the tracer-bullet technique from The Pragmatic Programmer: Tracer + Kit.

Zero runtime dependencies. Pure Markdown skills, no build step.

Why TracerKit?

Without specs, every AI session starts from scratch. Vague prompts, duplicated context, no way to confirm "done." Most planning tools produce flat task lists where nothing works until everything is done.

TracerKit takes a different approach: tracer-bullet vertical slices. Each phase cuts through every layer (schema → service → API → UI → tests), so every phase is demoable on its own. Integration problems surface early, context stays focused, and AI assistants get small, well-scoped phases instead of sprawling layers.

Get Started

Install

npx tracerkit init

Skills are installed globally to ~/.claude/skills/, available in every project. No per-project setup needed.

Workflow

You: /tk:brief
AI:  | Feature           | Status      | Age | Progress | Next                         |
     |-------------------|-------------|-----|----------|------------------------------|
     | dark-mode-support | in_progress | 3d  | 3/7      | Toggle component renders ... |

     **Focus → dark-mode-support**

You: # continue working on dark-mode-support...

You: /tk:check dark-mode-support
AI:  Status: done | Total: 7/7
     Archived to .tracerkit/archives/dark-mode-support/

---

You: /tk:prd add dark mode support
AI:  Written .tracerkit/prds/dark-mode-support.md
     Run `/tk:plan dark-mode-support` next?

You: /tk:plan dark-mode-support
AI:  Phase 1 — Theme visible end-to-end
     Phase 2 — User can toggle and persist preference
     Written .tracerkit/plans/dark-mode-support.md
     Run `/tk:check dark-mode-support` when ready?

You: # open the plan, implement each phase, write tests...

You: /tk:check dark-mode-support
AI:  Status: done | Total: 5/5
     Archived to .tracerkit/archives/dark-mode-support/

See Examples for full walkthroughs.

Per-project usage

To scope skills to a single project (team members get them via git):

npx tracerkit init .              # install to .claude/skills/ in current dir
npx tracerkit update .            # update project-scoped skills
npx tracerkit uninstall .         # remove project-scoped skills

Skills

TracerKit ships three skills that take a feature from idea to verified archive.

`/tk:prd <idea>`: Write a PRD

Interactive interview that explores your codebase, asks scoping questions one at a time, designs deep modules, and writes a structured PRD.

Output: .tracerkit/prds/<slug>.md

`/tk:plan <slug>`: Create an implementation plan

Reads a PRD and breaks it into phased tracer-bullet vertical slices. Each phase is a thin but complete path through every layer (schema, service, API, UI, tests), demoable on its own.

Output: .tracerkit/plans/<slug>.md

`/tk:brief`: Session briefing

Shows active features, their progress, and suggested focus. Use at the start of a session to orient.

Output: Feature dashboard in the terminal — no files written.

`/tk:check [slug]`: Check and archive

Checks the codebase against the plan's done-when checkboxes. Runs tests, validates user stories, updates check progress, and transitions the PRD status. On done, archives the PRD and plan to .tracerkit/archives/<slug>/ automatically.

Without arguments, shows a feature dashboard with status and progress before asking which feature to check.

Output: Verdict block in .tracerkit/plans/<slug>.md. On done: .tracerkit/archives/<slug>/prd.md + .tracerkit/archives/<slug>/plan.md

Docs

Document	Description
Examples	Walk through end-to-end usage scenarios
CLI Reference	Browse all CLI commands and flags
Configuration	Configure custom artifact paths via `config.json`
Metadata Lifecycle	Understand YAML frontmatter states and transitions
Comparison	Compare TracerKit to Spec Kit, Kiro, and OpenSpec

Contributing

Fork the repo and create a feature branch
Use TracerKit itself to plan your change (/tk:prd + /tk:plan)
Implement following the plan phases
npm run lint:fix && npm run test:run && npm run typecheck
Conventional Commits (enforced by commitlint)
Open a PR against main

Support

For support, please open a GitHub issue. We welcome bug reports, feature requests, and questions.

Acknowledgments

This project was born out of Claude Code for Real Engineers, a cohort by Matt Pocock. The hands-on approach to building real things with Claude Code sparked the idea for TracerKit. If you're serious about AI-assisted engineering, I can't recommend Matt's cohorts and content highly enough.

tracerkit