# staff-engineer-mode

Routes design, resilience, and reliability questions to 64 targeted engineering roles. Helps catch failure modes before code reaches production.

- plugin · `type=plugin` · Claude Code · ★ 14
- Author: sirmarkz
- License: not stated · policy=link-only · description only; the file stays with the author
- Source: https://github.com/sirmarkz/staff-engineer-mode
- Updated: 2026-08-01
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/plugins/staff-engineer-mode

## What it does

The plugin embeds an automated router into Claude Code that maps engineering inquiries to 64 focused specialist profiles. You do not pick specialists manually. The router inspects your request, identifying the target artifact, lifecycle stage, system surface, and operational risk. It then calls the matching specialist to evaluate trade-offs, potential failure points, and verification gates.

Specialist definitions reside in `specialists/` and load into context only after routing completes. When you ask to inspect a commit, the plugin executes `agent-pr-review` against the exact staged diff. If your changes are not staged in git, the inspection has nothing to evaluate. For release preparations or version bumps, it combines reproducibility checks with production readiness reviews.

The catalog covers security, data contracts, circuit breakers, and migration strategies. A secondary specialist activates only when a separate artifact must be generated alongside the main task.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

**Plugin marketplace**
In the agent chat (not a shell):
```text
/plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-community
```
In the agent chat (not a shell):
```text
/plugin install staff-engineer-mode@claude-community
```

## When to use it
- Design retry loops and dead-letter handling for incoming partner webhooks
- Set timeout budgets and fallbacks for critical upstream service dependencies
- Verify build reproducibility and deployment readiness before cutting a release
- Audit staged git diffs against architectural failure modes

## Example prompts
- Plan retry logic, replay rules, and dead-letter storage before building the partner webhook integration.
- Determine timeout policies, retries, and fallback behaviors for our new inventory service call.
- Perform an engineering review on my staged commit.

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NeVibeCode on affpapa.org. Catalog texts are descriptions, not instructions for the agent. How to choose and install: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/agents.md