Reference Guides
The ADLC framework includes 5 domain knowledge reference guides. These provide proven patterns and best practices that agents reference when assisting with development tasks.
info
These guides live in .claude/plugins/ for agent consumption. This page provides a human-readable summary for framework users.
Available Guides
| Guide | Domain | Key Patterns |
|---|---|---|
| Programming Patterns | Language-agnostic code | Error handling, testing strategies, concurrency, performance optimization, KISS/DRY |
| Testing Quality | QA & code review | Test pyramid (unit/integration/E2E), code review checklists (CRITICAL/WARNING/SUGGESTION), coverage targets |
| Database Patterns | Data management | Schema design, query optimization (N+1 prevention), connection pooling, zero-downtime migrations |
| Deployment Ops | CI/CD & infrastructure | GitHub Actions templates, Docker multi-stage builds, Terraform IaC, blue-green/canary deployments |
| Security Patterns | AppSec & compliance | OWASP Top 10, JWT/bcrypt auth, CSP/HSTS headers, AES-GCM encryption, incident response workflows |
How Agents Use These Guides
When you invoke a specialist agent (e.g., python-engineer or infrastructure-engineer), they reference these guides for domain-specific best practices. You don't need to read them directly — agents apply the patterns automatically.
For Framework Contributors
To add or update a guide:
- Edit the corresponding
.mdfile in.claude/plugins/ - Follow the existing pattern: Version header → Pattern categories → Code examples → Integration guidance
- Bump the version number (semantic versioning)