beast-forge

Plan iron, verify real.

Claude Code plugin that turns any task description — even vague ones — into an ironclad plan, executes it with TDD, and independently verifies the result with agents that have never seen the executor's work.

"fix the auth bug" → Plan Forge refines it → Execute with TDD → Verification Chain proves it's done

Why

Claude Code is great at writing code. It's not great at:

• Knowing when it's actually done. It says "complete" — two days later you find half the work is missing.
• Checking its own work. The same agent that wrote the code reviews the code. Confirmation bias is built in.
• Learning from mistakes. The 7th task makes the same class of errors as the 1st.
• Surfacing what it doesn't know. It assumes instead of verifying, carries phantom APIs through an entire plan.

Beast-forge fixes this with two machines:

Plan Forge — a refinement loop that greps your project's CLAUDE.md for gotchas, searches past plans for precedents, spikes risky assumptions, gets a second opinion from a different AI model, and cycles until two independent reviewers find zero issues.

Verification Chain — two agents who have never seen the executor's output independently verify every acceptance criterion by running the actual commands, then an auditor spot-checks 30-50% of the evidence to catch fakes and gaps.

Install

claude plugin install https://github.com/malakhov-dmitrii/beast.git

Then, one-time per project:

/beast setup

This creates a docs/ vault, starter semgrep rules, and adds failure tracking sections to your CLAUDE.md.

Usage

/beast-forge "add rate limiting to the API"     # plan → execute → verify
/beast-forge --full "migrate to new auth system" # extended research + spike
/beast-forge --discuss "make engagement better"  # refines vague input first
/beast-forge --plan-only                         # plan without executing
/beast-forge --execute                           # execute an existing plan

How It Works

Plan Forge

A refinement loop — not linear phases. Cycles until all gates pass.

PRECEDENT ─── grep CLAUDE.md gotchas, past plans, docs/
     │
RESEARCH ──── read every touched file, grep all usages, spike <5 min
     │
CHALLENGE ─── second opinion (codex CLI or fresh opus agent)
     │
CLARIFY ───── self-decide what you can, ask user only for real design choices
     │
PLAN ──────── concrete steps, acceptance criteria (static + unit + e2e)
     │
REVIEW ────── 2 binary gates: Skeptic (0 mirages) + Integration (contracts safe)
     │
     └── fail? → loop back. Max 5 iterations.

Spikes are not a phase — they're a principle. Any time an assumption can be tested in under 5 minutes, test it. Don't carry it as an assumption.

Second opinion uses OpenAI's Codex CLI for a genuinely independent review. If codex isn't installed, a fresh Claude agent with an adversarial prompt provides the challenge.

Verification Chain

After execution, three layers verify the work:

Layer 0: Static ──── tsc, lsp, semgrep, scc (instant, every time)
Layer 1: Unit ────── project test suite on changed modules
Layer 2: E2E ─────── trigger real flows, check DB state, verify data pipeline
Layer 3: Agents ──── Evidence Collector → Auditor (independent, no executor access)

Evidence Collector (sonnet) takes only the FINAL-PLAN as input. For each acceptance criterion: runs the command, records the output, flags weak criteria that prove code was written but not that it works.

Auditor (opus) takes the Evidence Report. Re-runs 30-50% of commands (weighted toward integration tests), catches fake proofs, finds missing criteria, runs the full E2E scenario, checks for uncommitted changes.

If gaps are found → back to execution with a specific list. The failure pattern is added to CLAUDE.md so the system learns.

Micro-Verify

For quick fixes that don't need the full forge:

After any direct executor:
  lsp_diagnostics → semgrep → reference check → tests (<30s)
  Verdict: CLEAN | SUSPECT [list]

Project Structure

agents/
  skeptic.md              # Mirage hunter — verifies plan claims against reality
  evidence-collector.md   # Independent verification — no executor access
  auditor.md              # Spot-checks evidence, catches fakes and gaps
  researcher.md           # Deep codebase + dependency investigation
  planner.md              # Writes concrete, testable plans
  explorer.md             # Maps project structure and patterns
  executor.md             # TDD implementation
  architect.md            # Post-execution architectural review
  simplifier.md           # Refactoring pass
  qa-fixer.md             # Auto-fix loop for failing tests

commands/
  beast-forge.md          # Main command — plan + execute + verify
  beast-setup.md          # One-time project setup

skills/
  beast-forge/SKILL.md    # Core skill specification

templates/
  semgrep-starter.yml     # Starter rules for project gotchas
  docs-structure.md       # Knowledge vault structure
  claude-md-additions.md  # CLAUDE.md sections to add

What /beast setup Creates

your-project/
├── docs/                        # Knowledge vault (git-tracked)
│   ├── INDEX.md                 # Navigation
│   ├── architecture/INDEX.md    # How systems work
│   ├── decisions/INDEX.md       # Why you chose X over Y
│   ├── specs/INDEX.md           # What features do
│   ├── retros/INDEX.md          # What happened + lessons
│   └── runbooks/INDEX.md        # How to operate
├── .semgrep/rules.yml           # Project-specific gotcha rules
└── CLAUDE.md                    # + Common Failures section
                                 # + Project Docs reference

Comparison

| | beast-forge | Beast v2 | beast-lite (gstack) | OMC ralplan | |---|---|---|---|---| | Planning depth | PRECEDENT + RESEARCH + CHALLENGE + CLARIFY + PLAN | P1-P8 with stop hook | Frame + Research + Plan | Planner → Architect → Critic | | Verification | Evidence Collector + Auditor (independent) | Architect review | Skeptic + Critic | Critic only | | Persistence | Ralph (OMC) | Stop hook state machine | None | None | | Second opinion | Codex CLI / fresh opus | None | Spike | None | | Learning loop | CLAUDE.md Common Failures | None | Lessons dir | None | | Project setup | /beast setup (docs, semgrep, CLAUDE.md) | None | None | None | | Gotcha surfacing | Auto-grep CLAUDE.md per touched file | None | None | None | | Works without config | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |

Requirements

• Claude Code CLI (required)
• semgrep (optional) — project-specific gotcha rules as static analysis
• scc (optional) — code complexity metrics for planning
• codex CLI (optional) — cross-model second opinion. Falls back to fresh Claude agent.

# optional tools
brew install semgrep scc

Philosophy

1. Garbage in, iron out. The system's job is to refine, not to require perfect input.
2. Verify independently. The agent that wrote the code cannot verify the code. Separate agents, separate context.
3. Spike, don't theorize. If you can test an assumption in 5 minutes, test it. Don't debate it for 30.
4. Learn from gaps. Every verification failure is recorded. The same bug class should never happen twice.
5. Active, not passive. Trigger checks, poll results, query state. Never wait for schedules.

License

MIT

Author

Dmitrii Malakhov