fde-os — Claude Code plugin: 35 skills for FDE work

# FDEOps

**Skills for forward deployed engineers, used through your AI coding agent.**

[![CI](https://github.com/suboss87/fdeops/actions/workflows/validate.yml/badge.svg?branch=Main)](https://github.com/suboss87/fdeops/actions/workflows/validate.yml)
[![npm version](https://img.shields.io/npm/v/fdeops?logo=npm)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/fdeops)
[![npm downloads](https://img.shields.io/npm/dm/fdeops?logo=npm)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/fdeops)
[![License](https://img.shields.io/github/license/suboss87/fdeops)](LICENSE)
![Focus: Forward deployed engineering](https://img.shields.io/badge/focus-forward%20deployed%20engineering-0f766e?style=flat-square)

<a name="why-use-it"></a>

FDEOps helps you turn a customer problem into a working system: clarify the goal, choose an architecture, build and integrate, then verify the result and prepare for rollout.

Use a task skill on its own, or let `fde` coordinate work across strategy, architecture and engineering. Customer memory keeps decisions, evidence and next steps available between sessions.

I built FDEOps around design thinking, first-principles thinking and systems thinking: understand the people doing the work, question assumptions, and examine how a change affects the whole system. I turned my field approach and experience into skills that help your AI coding agent investigate, build and verify, with customer memory to carry the work forward.

[Get started](#quick-start) · [What it helps with](#three-things-it-helps-with) · [Choose a skill](#task-skills) · [Data boundaries](#your-records-your-control) · [Docs](docs/README.md)

## Quick start

### Let `fde` coordinate a customer project

Install in the terminal where your AI coding agent runs, then select your agent:

```bash
npx skills add suboss87/fdeops --skill fde
```

Select `fde` in your agent, or use `@fde` where supported:

```text
@fde this is client01. Their support team reads incoming requests,
checks internal documents, then assigns each request to another team.
Help me prepare for the first meeting. Here is the brief: ...
```

The coordinator selects the relevant method as the work changes. Customer context guides the plan, code changes and verification; the record carries it between sessions. You do not need to learn CLI commands.

### Use one skill for one task

```bash
npx skills add suboss87/fdeops --skill build
```

Then ask your agent:

```text
Use FDEOps build to add a manual-review fallback to this routing service.
Here are the agreed behavior, repository and checks: ...
```

Each task skill includes the instructions it needs. Use `build` with supplied project context without creating a customer record or installing the coordinator.

Use only the methods the work needs, whether the engagement lasts three days, three weeks or several months. A clear, bounded task can go straight to implementation. Uncertain requirements, dependent teams or production risk may need more discovery and coordination. Reuse the customer’s existing tools and approvals; the skill catalog is not a sequence to complete.

<details>
<summary>Installation requirements and alternatives</summary>

These installation commands use Node.js and Git; the optional record CLI requires Node.js 18+. See [installation and upgrades](docs/install.md) for host-specific invocation, the full pack and alternatives. Installing `fde` includes all underlying instructions, but does not add the 35 separate task names to your agent's menu.

</details>

**See it in action:** `npx fdeops demo` turns fictional meeting notes into a review and a fieldbook, a browser view of the customer record. No AI model is called. The demo uses Node.js 18+ and Git; `npx` may download the package. It creates or resets its separate `.demo` workspace. [Five-minute walkthrough](docs/USAGE.md#new-here-5-minutes).

## Three things it helps with

### 1. Strategy: decide what is worth building

Turn the customer’s request into a problem to investigate, a measure of success and a bounded scope. Identify who decides and what evidence would change the plan.

Use [discover](skills/discover/SKILL.md), [who-decides](skills/who-decides/SKILL.md) and [scope](skills/scope/SKILL.md).

### 2. Architecture: choose an approach that fits

Inspect the existing system, compare options against customer constraints and plan a small slice that tests the design. Make dependencies, tradeoffs and failure paths explicit.

Use [options](skills/options/SKILL.md), [plan](skills/plan/SKILL.md) and [integrate](skills/integrate/SKILL.md).

### 3. Engineering: build, verify and hand over

Implement the change, debug failures and test the agreed behavior. Report what passed on which revision and environment, what remains unproven and what the operating team needs before rollout.

Use [build](skills/build/SKILL.md), [debug](skills/debug/SKILL.md), [review](skills/review/SKILL.md), [ship](skills/ship/SKILL.md) and [handoff](skills/handoff/SKILL.md). A passing local test does not establish deployment or customer acceptance. [Verification and its limits](docs/verification.md).

<a name="keep-a-customer-record"></a>
<a name="how-skills-work"></a>

For ongoing work, a local Markdown record at `~/fde-engagements/<customer>/.fde/` carries decisions, evidence and next steps between sessions. The coordinator retrieves relevant context and prepares consequential updates for your review. Use [debrief](skills/debrief/SKILL.md) after meetings and [switch-clients](skills/switch-clients/SKILL.md) when changing customers. [How records work](docs/USAGE.md).

## Choose a skill

<a name="task-skills"></a>

**35 task skills + one coordinator, `fde`**. Each task skill works on its own; the coordinator includes all underlying methods.

| Work in front of you | Start with |
|---|---|
| An unclear customer request | `brief`, `discover` |
| Unclear ownership or access | `who-decides`, `earn-trust` |
| A decision about scope or approach | `scope`, `options`, `plan` |
| An implementation or system connection | `build`, `integrate` |
| A failure or a result to verify | `debug`, `review`, `qa`, `evaluate` |
| A release or operating handover | `ship`, `runbook`, `handoff` |
| Meeting notes or a customer update | `debrief`, `readout` |

Start with the task you need, or let `fde` select it. `dashboard` works with saved records; `debrief` can review supplied notes and return a draft. Each skill explains the context it needs. [Full skill catalog](docs/skills-reference.md).

<a name="what-a-working-day-looks-like"></a>

<details>
<summary><strong>View your customer records in the fieldbook</strong></summary>

The fieldbook is a read-only browser view of next actions, risks, evidence gaps and results awaiting acceptance.

![Fieldbook showing fictional customer records](media/fieldbook-preview.png)

```bash
npx fdeops dashboard --all --open
```

Copy an action into your agent to continue. Regenerate the view after record updates. [Daily use](docs/USAGE.md).

</details>

<a name="your-records-your-control"></a>
<a name="your-data-stays-yours"></a>

> [!NOTE]
> **Use FDEOps with the setup that fits your work.** Try individual skills with sample data, or use a customer-approved local model or LLM provider for customer projects, including regulated and production work.
>
> Customer records stay in local files. The FDEOps CLI makes no network calls; your AI coding agent’s settings determine what it sends to a model provider. Use data approved for that setup.
>
> [Setup guidance](SECURITY.md#before-customer-work) · [Privacy and masking](PRIVACY.md) · [Local-model results](docs/verification.md#local-model-results)

## Who this is for

Forward deployed engineers, consultants and delivery teams working across customer meetings, codebases and operating environments. Bring your existing tools, access and customer agreements. Start with one task or use `fde` throughout the engagement.

## Go deeper

[Install or upgrade](docs/install.md) · [Daily use](docs/USAGE.md) · [Worked examples](examples/) · [Skill catalog](docs/skills-reference.md) · [Source connections](mcp/recipes/) · [Repository layout](docs/REPO_LAYOUT.md) · [Verification](docs/verification.md) · [Contribute](CONTRIBUTING.md)

Built and maintained by [Subash Natarajan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/subashn/). [Issues](https://github.com/suboss87/fdeops/issues) · [Discussions](https://github.com/suboss87/fdeops/discussions).

## License

[MIT](LICENSE).