# Riper Workflow

> RIPER methodology — Research, Innovate, Plan, Execute, Review. Five-phase systematic development with separation of concerns, persistent artifacts per phase, and approval gates. Use for architecture changes, multi-file refactors, migrations, or any work where mistakes compound.

- Skill: `hermeticormus/riper-workflow` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add hermeticormus/riper-workflow`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/hermeticormus/riper-workflow/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Research & Search
- License: MIT
- Author: hermeticormus (https://skillmd.com/u/hermeticormus)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/hermeticormus/riper-workflow

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# RIPER workflow

## Phases

1. **Research** — read-only. Output: research-notes.md.
2. **Innovate** — read-only. Output: approaches.md (2-3 viable).
3. **Plan** — write to docs. Output: [task]-plan.md with measurable success criteria.
4. **Execute** — full access. Follow plan, verify each step.
5. **Review** — read-only after. Output: review.md.

## Principles

- Separation of concerns: each phase has its own access mode
- Context efficiency: minimal tokens per phase
- Persistent knowledge: `~/dev/[task]/` per task
- Conscious transitions: deliberate phase changes

## When

Use for architecture, migrations, auth/payments/data work, multi-file refactors.

Don't use for typo fixes, obvious single-file bugs, prototype exploration.

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Full content + worked task example at https://github.com/HermeticOrmus/riper-workflow-skills.