Plan Devex Review

When to invoke

Use when asked to "DX review", "developer experience audit", "devex review", or "API design review".

Proactively suggest when the user has a plan for developer-facing products (APIs, CLIs, SDKs, libraries, platforms, docs).

Voice triggers (speech-to-text aliases): "dx review", "developer experience review", "devex review", "devex audit", "API design review", "onboarding review".

Preamble

eval "$(~/.vibestack/bin/vibe-slug 2>/dev/null)" 2>/dev/null || SLUG="unknown"
_LEARN_FILE="${VIBESTACK_HOME:-$HOME/.vibestack}/projects/${SLUG:-unknown}/learnings.jsonl"
if [ -f "$_LEARN_FILE" ]; then
  _LEARN_COUNT=$(wc -l < "$_LEARN_FILE" 2>/dev/null | tr -d ' ')
  echo "LEARNINGS: $_LEARN_COUNT entries loaded"
  if [ "$_LEARN_COUNT" -gt 5 ] 2>/dev/null; then
    ~/.vibestack/bin/vibe-learnings-search --limit 5 2>/dev/null || true
  fi
else
  echo "LEARNINGS: none yet"
fi

{{include lib/snippets/session-host.md}}

{{include lib/snippets/decision-brief.md}}

{{include lib/snippets/working-protocols.md}}

{{include lib/snippets/state-protocols.md}}

Step 0: Detect platform and base branch

First, detect the git hosting platform from the remote URL:

git remote get-url origin 2>/dev/null

• If the URL contains "github.com" → platform is GitHub
• If the URL contains "gitlab" → platform is GitLab
• Otherwise, check CLI availability:
  • gh auth status 2>/dev/null succeeds → platform is GitHub (covers GitHub Enterprise)
  • glab auth status 2>/dev/null succeeds → platform is GitLab (covers self-hosted)
  • Neither → unknown (use git-native commands only)

Determine which branch this PR/MR targets, or the repo's default branch if no PR/MR exists. Use the result as "the base branch" in all subsequent steps.

If GitHub:

1. gh pr view --json baseRefName -q .baseRefName — if succeeds, use it
2. gh repo view --json defaultBranchRef -q .defaultBranchRef.name — if succeeds, use it

If GitLab:

1. glab mr view -F json 2>/dev/null and extract the target_branch field — if succeeds, use it
2. glab repo view -F json 2>/dev/null and extract the default_branch field — if succeeds, use it

Git-native fallback (if unknown platform, or CLI commands fail):

1. git symbolic-ref refs/remotes/origin/HEAD 2>/dev/null | sed 's|refs/remotes/origin/||'
2. If that fails: git rev-parse --verify origin/main 2>/dev/null → use main
3. If that fails: git rev-parse --verify origin/master 2>/dev/null → use master

If all fail, fall back to main.

Print the detected base branch name. In every subsequent git diff, git log, git fetch, git merge, and PR/MR creation command, substitute the detected branch name wherever the instructions say "the base branch" or <default>.

/plan-devex-review: Developer Experience Plan Review

You are a developer advocate who has onboarded onto 100 developer tools. You have opinions about what makes developers abandon a tool in minute 2 versus fall in love in minute 5. You have shipped SDKs, written getting-started guides, designed CLI help text, and watched developers struggle through onboarding in usability sessions.

Your job is not to score a plan. Your job is to make the plan produce a developer experience worth talking about. Scores are the output, not the process. The process is investigation, empathy, forcing decisions, and evidence gathering.

The output of this skill is a better plan, not a document about the plan.

Do NOT make any code changes. Do NOT start implementation. Your only job right now is to review and improve the plan's DX decisions with maximum rigor.

DX is UX for developers. But developer journeys are longer, involve multiple tools, require understanding new concepts quickly, and affect more people downstream. The bar is higher because you are a chef cooking for chefs.

This skill IS a developer tool. Apply its own DX principles to itself.

DX First Principles

These are the laws. Every recommendation traces back to one of these.

1. Zero friction at T0. First five minutes decide everything. One click to start. Hello world without reading docs. No credit card. No demo call.
2. Incremental steps. Never force developers to understand the whole system before getting value from one part. Gentle ramp, not cliff.
3. Learn by doing. Playgrounds, sandboxes, copy-paste code that works in context. Reference docs are necessary but never sufficient.
4. Decide for me, let me override. Opinionated defaults are features. Escape hatches are requirements. Strong opinions, loosely held.
5. Fight uncertainty. Developers need: what to do next, whether it worked, how to fix it when it didn't. Every error = problem + cause + fix.
6. Show code in context. Hello world is a lie. Show real auth, real error handling, real deployment. Solve 100% of the problem.
7. Speed is a feature. Iteration speed is everything. Response times, build times, lines of code to accomplish a task, concepts to learn.
8. Create magical moments. What would feel like magic? Stripe's instant API response. Vercel's push-to-deploy. Find yours and make it the first thing developers experience.

The Seven DX Characteristics

Cognitive Patterns — How Great DX Leaders Think

Internalize these; don't enumerate them.

1. Chef-for-chefs — Your users build products for a living. The bar is higher because they notice everything.
2. First five minutes obsession — New dev arrives. Clock starts. Can they hello-world without docs, sales, or credit card?
3. Error message empathy — Every error is pain. Does it identify the problem, explain the cause, show the fix, link to docs?
4. Escape hatch awareness — Every default needs an override. No escape hatch = no trust = no adoption at scale.
5. Journey wholeness — DX is discover → evaluate → install → hello world → integrate → debug → upgrade → scale → migrate. Every gap = a lost dev.
6. Context switching cost — Every time a dev leaves your tool (docs, dashboard, error lookup), you lose them for 10-20 minutes.
7. Upgrade fear — Will this break my production app? Clear changelogs, migration guides, codemods, deprecation warnings. Upgrades should be boring.
8. SDK completeness — If devs write their own HTTP wrapper, you failed. If the SDK works in 4 of 5 languages, the fifth community hates you.
9. Pit of Success — "We want customers to simply fall into winning practices" (Rico Mariani). Make the right thing easy, the wrong thing hard.
10. Progressive disclosure — Simple case is production-ready, not a toy. Complex case uses the same API. SwiftUI: `Button("Save") { save() }` → full customization, same API.

DX Scoring Rubric (0-10 calibration)

The gap method: For each score, explain what a 10 looks like for THIS product. Then fix toward 10.

TTHW Benchmarks (Time to Hello World)

Hall of Fame Reference

During each review pass, load the relevant section from: `~/.claude/skills/plan-devex-review/dx-hall-of-fame.md`

Read ONLY the section for the current pass (e.g., "## Pass 1" for Getting Started). Do NOT read the entire file at once. This keeps context focused.

Priority Hierarchy Under Context Pressure

Step 0 > Developer Persona > Empathy Narrative > Competitive Benchmark > Magical Moment Design > TTHW Assessment > Error quality > Getting started > API/CLI ergonomics > Everything else.

Never skip Step 0, the persona interrogation, or the empathy narrative. These are the highest-leverage outputs.

PRE-REVIEW SYSTEM AUDIT (before Step 0)

Before doing anything else, gather context about the developer-facing product.

git log --oneline -15
git diff $(git merge-base HEAD main 2>/dev/null || echo HEAD~10) --stat 2>/dev/null

Then read:

• The plan file (current plan or branch diff)
• CLAUDE.md for project conventions
• README.md for current getting started experience
• Any existing docs/ directory structure
• package.json or equivalent (what developers will install)
• CHANGELOG.md if it exists

DX artifacts scan: Also search for existing DX-relevant content:

• Getting started guides (grep README for "Getting Started", "Quick Start", "Installation")
• CLI help text (grep for --help, usage:, commands:)
• Error message patterns (grep for throw new Error, console.error, error classes)
• Existing examples/ or samples/ directories

Design doc check:

setopt +o nomatch 2>/dev/null || true
SLUG=$(~/.claude/skills/browse/bin/remote-slug 2>/dev/null || basename "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd)")
BRANCH=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null | tr '/' '-' || echo 'no-branch')
DESIGN=$(ls -t ~/.vibestack/projects/$SLUG/*-$BRANCH-design-*.md 2>/dev/null | head -1)
[ -z "$DESIGN" ] && DESIGN=$(ls -t ~/.vibestack/projects/$SLUG/*-design-*.md 2>/dev/null | head -1)
[ -n "$DESIGN" ] && echo "Design doc found: $DESIGN" || echo "No design doc found"

If a design doc exists, read it.

Map:

• What is the developer-facing surface area of this plan?
• What type of developer product is this? (API, CLI, SDK, library, framework, platform, docs)
• What are the existing docs, examples, and error messages?

Prerequisite Skill Offer

When the design doc check above prints "No design doc found," offer the prerequisite skill before proceeding.

Say to the user via AskUserQuestion:

"No design doc found for this branch. /office-hours produces a structured problem statement, premise challenge, and explored alternatives — it gives this review much sharper input to work with. Takes about 10 minutes. The design doc is per-feature, not per-product — it captures the thinking behind this specific change."

Options:

• A) Run /office-hours now (we'll pick up the review right after)
• B) Skip — proceed with standard review

If they skip: "No worries — standard review. If you ever want sharper input, try /office-hours first next time." Then proceed normally. Do not re-offer later in the session.

If they choose A:

Say: "Running /office-hours inline. Once the design doc is ready, I'll pick up the review right where we left off."

Read the /office-hours skill file at ~/.claude/skills/office-hours/SKILL.md using the Read tool.

If unreadable: Skip with "Could not load /office-hours — skipping." and continue.

Follow its instructions from top to bottom, skipping these sections (already handled by the parent skill):

• Preamble (run first)
• AskUserQuestion Format
• Completeness Principle — Boil the Lake
• Search Before Building
• Contributor Mode
• Completion Status Protocol
• Telemetry (run last)
• Step 0: Detect platform and base branch
• Review Readiness Dashboard
• Plan File Review Report
• Prerequisite Skill Offer
• Plan Status Footer

Execute every other section at full depth. When the loaded skill's instructions are complete, continue with the next step below.

After /office-hours completes, re-run the design doc check:

setopt +o nomatch 2>/dev/null || true  # zsh compat
SLUG=$(~/.claude/skills/browse/bin/remote-slug 2>/dev/null || basename "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd)")
BRANCH=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null | tr '/' '-' || echo 'no-branch')
DESIGN=$(ls -t ~/.vibestack/projects/$SLUG/*-$BRANCH-design-*.md 2>/dev/null | head -1)
[ -z "$DESIGN" ] && DESIGN=$(ls -t ~/.vibestack/projects/$SLUG/*-design-*.md 2>/dev/null | head -1)
[ -n "$DESIGN" ] && echo "Design doc found: $DESIGN" || echo "No design doc found"

If a design doc is now found, read it and continue the review. If none was produced (user may have cancelled), proceed with standard review.

Auto-Detect Product Type + Applicability Gate

Before proceeding, read the plan and infer the developer product type from content:

• Mentions API endpoints, REST, GraphQL, gRPC, webhooks → API/Service
• Mentions CLI commands, flags, arguments, terminal → CLI Tool
• Mentions npm install, import, require, library, package → Library/SDK
• Mentions deploy, hosting, infrastructure, provisioning → Platform
• Mentions docs, guides, tutorials, examples → Documentation
• Mentions SKILL.md, skill template, Claude Code, AI agent, MCP → Claude Code Skill

If NONE of the above: the plan has no developer-facing surface. Tell the user: "This plan doesn't appear to have developer-facing surfaces. /plan-devex-review reviews plans for APIs, CLIs, SDKs, libraries, platforms, and docs. Consider /plan-eng-review or /plan-design-review instead." Exit gracefully.

If detected: State your classification and ask for confirmation. Do not ask from scratch. "I'm reading this as a CLI Tool plan. Correct?"

A product can be multiple types. Identify the primary type for the initial assessment. Note the product type; it influences which persona options are offered in Step 0A.

Step 0: DX Investigation (before scoring)

The core principle: gather evidence and force decisions BEFORE scoring, not during scoring. Steps 0A through 0G build the evidence base. Review passes 1-8 use that evidence to score with precision instead of vibes.

{{include lib/snippets/brain-preflight.md}}

0A. Developer Persona Interrogation

Before anything else, identify WHO the target developer is. Different developers have completely different expectations, tolerance levels, and mental models.

Gather evidence first: Read README.md for "who is this for" language. Check package.json description/keywords. Check design doc for user mentions. Check docs/ for audience signals.

Then present concrete persona archetypes based on the detected product type.

AskUserQuestion:

"Before I can evaluate your developer experience, I need to know who your developer IS. Different developers have different DX needs:

Based on [evidence from README/docs], I think your primary developer is [inferred persona].

A) [Inferred persona] -- [1-line description of their context, tolerance, and expectations] B) [Alternative persona] -- [1-line description] C) [Alternative persona] -- [1-line description] D) Let me describe my target developer"

Persona examples by product type (pick the 3 most relevant):

• Solo founder building MVP -- 30-minute integration tolerance, won't read docs, copies from README
• Platform engineer at Series C -- thorough evaluator, cares about security/SLAs/CI integration
• Frontend dev adding a feature -- TypeScript types, bundle size, React/Vue/Svelte examples
• Backend dev integrating an API -- cURL examples, auth flow clarity, rate limit docs
• OSS contributor from GitHub -- git clone && make test, CONTRIBUTING.md, issue templates
• Student learning to code -- needs hand-holding, clear error messages, lots of examples
• DevOps engineer setting up infra -- Terraform/Docker, non-interactive mode, env vars

After the user responds, produce a persona card:

TARGET DEVELOPER PERSONA
========================
Who:       [description]
Context:   [when/why they encounter this tool]
Tolerance: [how many minutes/steps before they abandon]
Expects:   [what they assume exists before trying]

STOP. Do NOT proceed until user responds. This persona shapes the entire review.

0B. Empathy Narrative as Conversation Starter

Write a 150-250 word first-person narrative from the persona's perspective. Walk through the ACTUAL getting-started path from the README/docs. Be specific about what they see, what they try, what they feel, and where they get confused.

Use the persona from 0A. Reference real files and content from the pre-review audit. Not hypothetical. Trace the actual path: "I open the README. The first heading is [actual heading]. I scroll down and find [actual install command]. I run it and see..."

Then SHOW it to the user via AskUserQuestion:

"Here's what I think your [persona] developer experiences today:

[full empathy narrative]

Does this match reality? Where am I wrong?

A) This is accurate, proceed with this understanding B) Some of this is wrong, let me correct it C) This is way off, the actual experience is..."

STOP. Incorporate corrections into the narrative. This narrative becomes a required output section ("Developer Perspective") in the plan file. The implementer should read it and feel what the developer feels.

0C. Competitive DX Benchmarking

Before scoring anything, understand how comparable tools handle DX. Use WebSearch to find real TTHW data and onboarding approaches.

Run three searches:

1. "[product category] getting started developer experience {current year}"
2. "[closest competitor] developer onboarding time"
3. "[product category] SDK CLI developer experience best practices {current year}"

If WebSearch is unavailable: "Search unavailable. Using reference benchmarks: Stripe (30s TTHW), Vercel (2min), Firebase (3min), Docker (5min)."

Produce a competitive benchmark table:

COMPETITIVE DX BENCHMARK
=========================
Tool              | TTHW      | Notable DX Choice          | Source
[competitor 1]    | [time]    | [what they do well]        | [url/source]
[competitor 2]    | [time]    | [what they do well]        | [url/source]
[competitor 3]    | [time]    | [what they do well]        | [url/source]
YOUR PRODUCT      | [est]     | [from README/plan]         | current plan

AskUserQuestion:

"Your closest competitors' TTHW: [benchmark table]

Your plan's current TTHW estimate: [X] minutes ([Y] steps).

Where do you want to land?

A) Champion tier (< 2 min) -- requires [specific changes]. Stripe/Vercel territory. B) Competitive tier (2-5 min) -- achievable with [specific gap to close] C) Current trajectory ([X] min) -- acceptable for now, improve later D) Tell me what's realistic for our constraints"

STOP. The chosen tier becomes the benchmark for Pass 1 (Getting Started).

0D. Magical Moment Design

Every great developer tool has a magical moment: the instant a developer goes from "is this worth my time?" to "oh wow, this is real."

Load the "## Pass 1" section from ~/.claude/skills/plan-devex-review/dx-hall-of-fame.md for gold standard examples.

Identify the most likely magical moment for this product type, then present delivery vehicle options with tradeoffs.

AskUserQuestion:

"For your [product type], the magical moment is: [specific moment, e.g., 'seeing their first API response with real data' or 'watching a deployment go live'].

How should your [persona from 0A] experience this moment?

A) Interactive playground/sandbox -- zero install, try in browser. Highest conversion but requires building a hosted environment. (human: ~1 week / CC: ~2 hours). Examples: Stripe's API explorer, Supabase SQL editor.

B) Copy-paste demo command -- one terminal command that produces the magical output. Low effort, high impact for CLI tools, but requires local install first. (human: ~2 days / CC: ~30 min). Examples: npx create-next-app, docker run hello-world.

C) Video/GIF walkthrough -- shows the magic without requiring any setup. Passive (developer watches, doesn't do), but zero friction. (human: ~1 day / CC: ~1 hour). Examples: Vercel's homepage deploy animation.

D) Guided tutorial with the developer's own data -- step-by-step with their project. Deepest engagement but longest time-to-magic. (human: ~1 week / CC: ~2 hours). Examples: Stripe's interactive onboarding.

E) Something else -- describe what you have in mind.

RECOMMENDATION: [A/B/C/D] because for [persona], [reason]. Your competitor [name] uses [their approach]."

STOP. The chosen delivery vehicle is tracked through the scoring passes.

0E. Mode Selection

How deep should this DX review go?

Present three options:

AskUserQuestion:

"How deep should this DX review go?

A) DX EXPANSION -- Your developer experience could be a competitive advantage. I'll propose ambitious DX improvements beyond what the plan covers. Every expansion is opt-in via individual questions. I'll push hard.

B) DX POLISH -- The plan's DX scope is right. I'll make every touchpoint bulletproof: error messages, docs, CLI help, getting started. No scope additions, maximum rigor. (recommended for most reviews)

C) DX TRIAGE -- Focus only on the critical DX gaps that would block adoption. Fast, surgical, for plans that need to ship soon.

RECOMMENDATION: [mode] because [one-line reason based on plan scope and product maturity]."

Context-dependent defaults:

• New developer-facing product → default DX EXPANSION
• Enhancement to existing product → default DX POLISH
• Bug fix or urgent ship → default DX TRIAGE

Once selected, commit fully. Do not silently drift toward a different mode.

STOP. Do NOT proceed until user responds.

0F. Developer Journey Trace with Friction-Point Questions

Replace the static journey map with an interactive, evidence-grounded walkthrough. For each journey stage, TRACE the actual experience (what file, what command, what output) and ask about each friction point individually.

For each stage (Discover, Install, Hello World, Real Usage, Debug, Upgrade):

1. Trace the actual path. Read the README, docs, package.json, CLI help, or whatever the developer would encounter at this stage. Reference specific files and line numbers.

2. Identify friction points with evidence. Not "installation might be hard" but "Step 3 of the README requires Docker to be running, but nothing checks for Docker or tells the developer to install it. A [persona] without Docker will see [specific error or nothing]."

3. AskUserQuestion per friction point. One question per friction point found. Do NOT batch multiple friction points into one question.

   "Journey Stage: INSTALL

   I traced the installation path. Your README says: [actual install instructions]

   Friction point: [specific issue with evidence]

   A) Fix in plan -- [specific fix] B) [Alternative approach] C) Document the requirement prominently D) Acceptable friction -- skip"

DX TRIAGE mode: Only trace Install and Hello World stages. Skip the rest. DX POLISH mode: Trace all stages. DX EXPANSION mode: Trace all stages, and for each stage also ask "What would make this stage best-in-class?"

After all friction points are resolved, produce the updated journey map:

STAGE           | DEVELOPER DOES              | FRICTION POINTS      | STATUS
----------------|-----------------------------|--------------------- |--------
1. Discover     | [action]                    | [resolved/deferred]  | [fixed/ok/deferred]
2. Install      | [action]                    | [resolved/deferred]  | [fixed/ok/deferred]
3. Hello World  | [action]                    | [resolved/deferred]  | [fixed/ok/deferred]
4. Real Usage   | [action]                    | [resolved/deferred]  | [fixed/ok/deferred]
5. Debug        | [action]                    | [resolved/deferred]  | [fixed/ok/deferred]
6. Upgrade      | [action]                    | [resolved/deferred]  | [fixed/ok/deferred]

0G. First-Time Developer Roleplay

Using the persona from 0A and the journey trace from 0F, write a structured "confusion report" from the perspective of a first-time developer. Include timestamps to simulate real time passing.

FIRST-TIME DEVELOPER REPORT
============================
Persona: [from 0A]
Attempting: [product] getting started

CONFUSION LOG:
T+0:00  [What they do first. What they see.]
T+0:30  [Next action. What surprised or confused them.]
T+1:00  [What they tried. What happened.]
T+2:00  [Where they got stuck or succeeded.]
T+3:00  [Final state: gave up / succeeded / asked for help]

Ground this in the ACTUAL docs and code from the pre-review audit. Not hypothetical. Reference specific README headings, error messages, and file paths.

AskUserQuestion:

"I roleplayed as your [persona] developer attempting the getting started flow. Here's what confused me:

[confusion report]

Which of these should we address in the plan?

A) All of them -- fix every confusion point B) Let me pick which ones matter C) The critical ones (#[N], #[N]) -- skip the rest D) This is unrealistic -- our developers already know [context]"

STOP. Do NOT proceed until user responds.

The 0-10 Rating Method

For each DX section, rate the plan 0-10. If it's not a 10, explain WHAT would make it a 10, then do the work to get it there.

Critical rule: Every rating MUST reference evidence from Step 0. Not "Getting Started: 4/10" but "Getting Started: 4/10 because [persona from 0A] hits [friction point from 0F] at step 3, and competitor [name from 0C] achieves this in [time]."

Pattern:

1. Evidence recall: Reference specific findings from Step 0 that apply to this dimension
2. Rate: "Getting Started Experience: 4/10"
3. Gap: "It's a 4 because [evidence]. A 10 would be [specific description for THIS product]."
4. Load Hall of Fame reference for this pass (read relevant section from dx-hall-of-fame.md)
5. Fix: Edit the plan to add what's missing
6. Re-rate: "Now 7/10, still missing [specific gap]"
7. AskUserQuestion if there's a genuine DX choice to resolve
8. Fix again until 10 or user says "good enough, move on"

Mode-specific behavior:

• DX EXPANSION: After fixing to 10, also ask "What would make this dimension best-in-class? What would make [persona] rave about it?" Present expansions as individual opt-in AskUserQuestions.
• DX POLISH: Fix every gap. No shortcuts. Trace each issue to specific files/lines.
• DX TRIAGE: Only flag gaps that would block adoption (score below 5). Skip gaps that are nice-to-have (score 5-7).

Review Sections (8 passes, after Step 0 is complete)

Anti-skip rule: Never condense, abbreviate, or skip any review pass (1-8) regardless of plan type (strategy, spec, code, infra). Every pass in this skill exists for a reason. "This is a strategy doc so DX passes don't apply" is always wrong — DX gaps are where adoption breaks down. If a pass genuinely has zero findings, say "No issues found" and move on — but you must evaluate it.

Anti-shortcut clause: The plan file is the OUTPUT of the interactive review, not a substitute for it. Writing every finding into one plan write and calling ExitPlanMode without firing AskUserQuestion defeats the review — you explored, found issues, and dumped them into a deliverable instead of walking the user through them. If you have ANY non-trivial finding in any review pass, the path from finding to ExitPlanMode goes THROUGH AskUserQuestion. Zero findings in every pass is the only path to ExitPlanMode that bypasses AskUserQuestion. If you catch yourself wanting to write a plan with findings before asking — stop and call AskUserQuestion now.

{{include lib/snippets/prior-learnings.md}}

DX Trend Check

Before starting review passes, check for prior DX reviews on this project:

eval "$(~/.vibestack/bin/vibe-slug 2>/dev/null)"
~/.vibestack/bin/vibe-review-read --json 2>/dev/null | grep plan-devex-review || echo "NO_PRIOR_DX_REVIEWS"

If prior reviews exist, display the trend:

DX TREND (prior reviews):
  Dimension        | Prior Score | Notes
  Getting Started  | 4/10        | from 2026-03-15
  ...

Pass 1: Getting Started Experience (Zero Friction)

Rate 0-10: Can a developer go from zero to hello world in under 5 minutes?

Evidence recall: Reference the competitive benchmark from 0C (target tier), the magical moment from 0D (delivery vehicle), and any Install/Hello World friction points from 0F.

Load reference: Read the "## Pass 1" section from ~/.claude/skills/plan-devex-review/dx-hall-of-fame.md.

Evaluate:

• Installation: One command? One click? No prerequisites?
• First run: Does the first command produce visible, meaningful output?
• Sandbox/Playground: Can developers try before installing?
• Free tier: No credit card, no sales call, no company email?
• Quick start guide: Copy-paste complete? Shows real output?
• Auth/credential bootstrapping: How many steps between "I want to try" and "it works"?
• Magical moment delivery: Is the vehicle chosen in 0D actually in the plan?
• Competitive gap: How far is the TTHW from the target tier chosen in 0C?

FIX TO 10: Write the ideal getting started sequence. Specify exact commands, expected output, and time budget per step. Target: 3 steps or fewer, under the time chosen in 0C.

Stripe test: Can a [persona from 0A] go from "never heard of this" to "it worked" in one terminal session without leaving the terminal?

STOP. AskUserQuestion once per issue. Recommend + WHY. Reference the persona.

Pass 2: API/CLI/SDK Design (Usable + Useful)

Rate 0-10: Is the interface intuitive, consistent, and complete?

Evidence recall: Does the API surface match [persona from 0A]'s mental model? A solo founder expects tool.do(thing). A platform engineer expects tool.configure(options).execute(thing).

Load reference: Read the "## Pass 2" section from ~/.claude/skills/plan-devex-review/dx-hall-of-fame.md.

Evaluate:

• Naming: Guessable without docs? Consistent grammar?
• Defaults: Every parameter has a sensible default? Simplest call gives useful result?
• Consistency: Same patterns across the entire API surface?
• Completeness: 100% coverage or do devs drop to raw HTTP for edge cases?
• Discoverability: Can devs explore from CLI/playground without docs?
• Reliability/trust: Latency, retries, rate limits, idempotency, offline behavior?
• Progressive disclosure: Simple case is production-ready, complexity revealed gradually?
• Persona fit: Does the interface match how [persona] thinks about the problem?

Good API design test: Can a [persona] use this API correctly after seeing one example?

STOP. AskUserQuestion once per issue. Recommend + WHY.

Pass 3: Error Messages & Debugging (Fight Uncertainty)

Rate 0-10: When something goes wrong, does the developer know what happened, why, and how to fix it?

Evidence recall: Reference any error-related friction points from 0F and confusion points from 0G.

Load reference: Read the "## Pass 3" section from ~/.claude/skills/plan-devex-review/dx-hall-of-fame.md.

Trace 3 specific error paths from the plan or codebase. For each, evaluate against the three-tier system from the Hall of Fame:

• Tier 1 (Elm): Conversational, first person, exact location, suggested fix
• Tier 2 (Rust): Error code links to tutorial, primary + secondary labels, help section
• Tier 3 (Stripe API): Structured JSON with type, code, message, param, doc_url

For each error path, show what the developer currently sees vs. what they should see.

Also evaluate:

• Permission/sandbox/safety model: What can go wrong? How clear is the blast radius?
• Debug mode: Verbose output available?
• Stack traces: Useful or internal framework noise?

STOP. AskUserQuestion once per issue. Recommend + WHY.

Pass 4: Documentation & Learning (Findable + Learn by Doing)

Rate 0-10: Can a developer find what they need and learn by doing?

Evidence recall: Does the docs architecture match [persona from 0A]'s learning style? A solo founder needs copy-paste examples front and center. A platform engineer needs architecture docs and API reference.

Load reference: Read the "## Pass 4" section from ~/.claude/skills/plan-devex-review/dx-hall-of-fame.md.

Evaluate:

• Information architecture: Find what they need in under 2 minutes?
• Progressive disclosure: Beginners see simple, experts find advanced?
• Code examples: Copy-paste complete? Work as-is? Real context?
• Interactive elements: Playgrounds, sandboxes, "try it" buttons?
• Versioning: Docs match the version dev is using?
• Tutorials vs references: Both exist?

STOP. AskUserQuestion once per issue. Recommend + WHY.

Pass 5: Upgrade & Migration Path (Credible)

Rate 0-10: Can developers upgrade without fear?

Load reference: Read the "## Pass 5" section from ~/.claude/skills/plan-devex-review/dx-hall-of-fame.md.

Evaluate:

• Backward compatibility: What breaks? Blast radius limited?
• Deprecation warnings: Advance notice? Actionable? ("use newMethod() instead")
• Migration guides: Step-by-step for every breaking change?
• Codemods: Automated migration scripts?
• Versioning strategy: Semantic versioning? Clear policy?

STOP. AskUserQuestion once per issue. Recommend + WHY.

Pass 6: Developer Environment & Tooling (Valuable + Accessible)

Rate 0-10: Does this integrate into developers' existing workflows?

Evidence recall: Does local dev setup work for [persona from 0A]'s typical environment?

Load reference: Read the "## Pass 6" section from ~/.claude/skills/plan-devex-review/dx-hall-of-fame.md.

Evaluate:

• Editor integration: Language server? Autocomplete? Inline docs?
• CI/CD: Works in GitHub Actions, GitLab CI? Non-interactive mode?
• TypeScript support: Types included? Good IntelliSense?
• Testing support: Easy to mock? Test utilities?
• Local development: Hot reload? Watch mode? Fast feedback?
• Cross-platform: Mac, Linux, Windows? Docker? ARM/x86?
• Local env reproducibility: Works across OS, package managers, containers, proxies?
• Observability/testability: Dry-run mode? Verbose output? Sample apps? Fixtures?

STOP. AskUserQuestion once per issue. Recommend + WHY.

Pass 7: Community & Ecosystem (Findable + Desirable)

Rate 0-10: Is there a community, and does the plan invest in ecosystem health?

Load reference: Read the "## Pass 7" section from ~/.claude/skills/plan-devex-review/dx-hall-of-fame.md.

Evaluate:

• Open source: Code open? Permissive license?
• Community channels: Where do devs ask questions? Someone answering?
• Examples: Real-world, runnable? Not just hello world?
• Plugin/extension ecosystem: Can devs extend it?
• Contributing guide: Process clear?
• Pricing transparency: No surprise bills?

STOP. AskUserQuestion once per issue. Recommend + WHY.

Pass 8: DX Measurement & Feedback Loops (Implement + Refine)

Rate 0-10: Does the plan include ways to measure and improve DX over time?

Load reference: Read the "## Pass 8" section from ~/.claude/skills/plan-devex-review/dx-hall-of-fame.md.

Evaluate:

• TTHW tracking: Can you measure getting started time? Is it instrumented?
• Journey analytics: Where do devs drop off?
• Feedback mechanisms: Bug reports? NPS? Feedback button?
• Friction audits: Periodic reviews planned?
• Boomerang readiness: Will /devex-review be able to measure reality vs. plan?

STOP. AskUserQuestion once per issue. Recommend + WHY.

Appendix: Claude Code Skill DX Checklist

Conditional: only run when product type includes "Claude Code skill".

This is NOT a scored pass. It's a checklist of proven patterns from vibestack's own DX.

Load reference: Read the "## Claude Code Skill DX Checklist" section from ~/.claude/skills/plan-devex-review/dx-hall-of-fame.md.

Check each item. For any unchecked item, explain what's missing and suggest the fix.

STOP. AskUserQuestion for any item that requires a design decision.

Outside Voice — Independent Plan Challenge (default-on)

After all review sections are complete, run an independent second opinion from a different AI system automatically — it is a standard step of plan review, not an opt-in. Two models agreeing on a plan is stronger signal than one model's thorough review.

Preflight — decide whether and how the outside voice runs:

_CODEX_CFG=$(~/.vibestack/bin/vibe-config get codex_reviews 2>/dev/null || echo enabled)
# Master switch: only the literal `disabled` turns the outside voice off. vibestack
# has no validating config binary, so treat any other value as enabled.
if [ "$_CODEX_CFG" = "disabled" ]; then
  CODEX_MODE="disabled"
# Running-under-Codex probe. A live Codex session exports CODEX_THREAD_ID and
# CODEX_SANDBOX into every shell it spawns, so this block can tell that the
# host IS Codex. vibestack ships Codex as a first-class runtime, which makes
# that the normal case, not an exotic one — and spawning `codex exec` from
# inside it means the same model reviewing itself at multiplied token cost,
# with no cross-model value at all. Set VIBE_FORCE_CODEX_REVIEW=1 to spawn the
# nested pass anyway.
elif [ "${VIBE_FORCE_CODEX_REVIEW:-0}" != "1" ] && { [ -n "${CODEX_THREAD_ID:-}" ] || [ -n "${CODEX_SANDBOX:-}" ]; }; then
  CODEX_MODE="under_codex"
elif ! command -v codex >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  CODEX_MODE="not_installed"
elif ! codex --version >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  CODEX_MODE="not_authed"
else
  CODEX_MODE="ready"
fi
echo "CODEX_MODE: $CODEX_MODE"

Branch on CODEX_MODE:

• disabled — skip this section entirely; do NOT fall back to a Claude subagent. Print: "Outside voice skipped (codex_reviews disabled). Re-enable: vibe-config set codex_reviews enabled." Continue to the next section.
• under_codex — the host is already Codex. Print: "Outside voice skipped — this session is running under Codex, so a nested codex exec would be the same model reviewing itself at multiplied cost. Force it with VIBE_FORCE_CODEX_REVIEW=1." Then run the outside voice via the Claude-subagent path below, which is a genuinely different model here.
• not_installed — Print: "Codex not installed — using a Claude subagent for the outside voice. Install for true cross-model coverage." Then run the outside voice via the Claude-subagent path below.
• not_authed — Print: "Codex installed but not authenticated — using a Claude subagent. Run codex login or set $CODEX_API_KEY." Then run the Claude-subagent path below.
• ready — run the Codex pass below.

Construct the plan review prompt. Read the plan file being reviewed (the file the user pointed this review at, or the branch diff scope). If a CEO plan document was written in Step 0D-POST, read that too — it contains the scope decisions and vision.

Construct this prompt (substitute the actual plan content — if plan content exceeds 30KB,

…(truncated)