Trellis Meta-Skill

Version Compatibility

Item	Value
Trellis CLI Version	0.4.0-beta.8
Skill Last Updated	2026-03-24
Min Claude Code Version	1.0.0+
Min Node.js Version	>=18.17.0

⚠️ Version Mismatch Warning: If your Trellis CLI version differs from above, some features may not work as documented. Run trellis --version to check.

---

Platform Compatibility

Feature Support Matrix

Feature	Claude Code	iFlow	Cursor	OpenCode	Codex	Kilo	Kiro	Gemini CLI	Antigravity	Qoder	CodeBuddy
Core Systems
Workspace system	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full
Task system	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full
Spec system	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full
Commands/Skills	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Full	✅ Skills	✅ Full	✅ Skills	✅ TOML	✅ Workflows	✅ Skills	✅ Full
Agent definitions	✅ Full	✅ Full	⚠️ Manual	✅ Full	✅ TOML	⚠️ Manual	⚠️ Manual	⚠️ Manual	⚠️ Manual	⚠️ Manual	⚠️ Manual
Shared agent skills	—	—	—	—	✅ Full	—	—	—	—	—	—
Hook-Dependent Features
SessionStart hook	✅ Full	✅ Full	❌ None	❌ None	⚠️ Optional	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None
PreToolUse hook	✅ Full	✅ Full	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None
SubagentStop hook	✅ Full	✅ Full	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None
Auto context injection	✅ Full	✅ Full	❌ Manual	❌ Manual	❌ Manual	❌ Manual	❌ Manual	❌ Manual	❌ Manual	❌ Manual	❌ Manual
Ralph Loop	✅ Full	✅ Full	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None
Multi-Agent/Session
Multi-Agent (current dir)	✅ Full	✅ Full	⚠️ Limited	⚠️ Limited	⚠️ Limited	⚠️ Limited	⚠️ Limited	⚠️ Limited	⚠️ Limited	⚠️ Limited	⚠️ Limited
Multi-Session (worktrees)	✅ Full	✅ Full	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None	❌ None

Legend

• ✅ Full: Feature works as documented
• ⚠️ Limited/Manual: Works but requires manual steps
• ❌ None/Manual: Not supported or requires manual workaround

Platform Categories

Full Hook Support (Claude Code, iFlow)

All features work as documented. Hooks provide automatic context injection and quality enforcement. iFlow shares the same Python hook system as Claude Code.

Partial Hook Support (Codex)

• Works: Workspace, tasks, specs, skills (.codex/skills/ + .agents/skills/ shared layer), TOML agent definitions (.codex/agents/), optional SessionStart hook
• Doesn't work: PreToolUse, SubagentStop, Ralph Loop, Multi-Session
• Note: SessionStart hook requires codex_hooks = true in ~/.codex/config.toml

Commands Only (Cursor, OpenCode, Kilo, Kiro, Gemini CLI, Antigravity, Qoder, CodeBuddy)

• Works: Workspace, tasks, specs, commands/skills (platform-specific format)
• Doesn't work: Hooks, auto-injection, Ralph Loop, Multi-Session
• Workaround: Manually read spec files at session start; no automatic quality gates
• Note: Each platform uses its own command format (Kiro/Qoder use Skills, Gemini uses TOML, Antigravity uses Workflows, CodeBuddy uses nested Markdown commands)

Designing for Portability

When customizing Trellis, consider platform compatibility:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                 PORTABLE (All 11 Platforms)                  │
│  - .trellis/workspace/    - .trellis/tasks/                 │
│  - .trellis/spec/         - Platform commands/skills        │
│  - File-based configs     - JSONL context files             │
│  - config.yaml            - Monorepo packages support       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              │
┌─────────────────────────────▼───────────────────────────────┐
│         SHARED AGENT SKILLS (agentskills.io standard)       │
│  - .agents/skills/          (Codex + universal agent CLIs)  │
└─────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────┘
                              │
┌─────────────────────────────▼───────────────────────────────┐
│              HOOK-CAPABLE (Claude Code + iFlow)              │
│  - .claude/hooks/ or .iflow/hooks/                          │
│  - settings.json hook configuration                         │
│  - Auto context injection   - SubagentStop control          │
│  - Ralph Loop               - Multi-Session worktrees       │
│  - Task lifecycle hooks     - Dynamic spec discovery        │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

---

Purpose

This is the meta-skill for Trellis - it documents the original, unmodified Trellis system. When customizing Trellis for a specific project, record changes in a project-local skill (trellis-local), keeping this meta-skill as the authoritative reference for vanilla Trellis.

Skill Hierarchy

~/.claude/skills/
└── trellis-meta/              # THIS SKILL - Original Trellis documentation
                               # ⚠️ DO NOT MODIFY for project-specific changes

project/.claude/skills/
└── trellis-local/             # Project-specific customizations
                               # ✅ Record all modifications here

Why this separation?

• User may have multiple projects with different Trellis customizations
• Each project's trellis-local skill tracks ITS OWN modifications
• The meta-skill remains clean as the reference for original Trellis
• Enables easy upgrades: compare meta-skill with new Trellis version

---

Self-Iteration Protocol

When modifying Trellis for a project, follow this protocol:

1. Check for Existing Project Skill

# Look for project-local skill
ls -la .claude/skills/trellis-local/

2. Create Project Skill if Missing

If no trellis-local exists, create it:

mkdir -p .claude/skills/trellis-local

Then create .claude/skills/trellis-local/SKILL.md:

---
name: trellis-local
description: |
  Project-specific Trellis customizations for [PROJECT_NAME].
  This skill documents modifications made to the vanilla Trellis system
  in this project. Inherits from trellis-meta for base documentation.
---

# Trellis Local - [PROJECT_NAME]

## Base Version

Trellis version: X.X.X (from package.json or trellis --version)
Date initialized: YYYY-MM-DD

## Customizations

### Commands Added

(none yet)

### Agents Modified

(none yet)

### Hooks Changed

(none yet)

### Specs Customized

(none yet)

### Workflow Changes

(none yet)

---

## Changelog

### YYYY-MM-DD

- Initial setup

3. Record Every Modification

When making ANY change to Trellis, update trellis-local/SKILL.md:

Example: Adding a new command

### Commands Added

#### /trellis:my-command

- **File**: `.claude/commands/trellis/my-command.md`
- **Purpose**: [what it does]
- **Added**: 2026-01-31
- **Why**: [reason for adding]

Example: Modifying a hook

### Hooks Changed

#### inject-subagent-context.py

- **Change**: Added support for `my-agent` type
- **Lines modified**: 45-67
- **Date**: 2026-01-31
- **Why**: [reason]

4. Never Modify Meta-Skill for Project Changes

The trellis-meta skill should ONLY be updated when:

• Trellis releases a new version
• Fixing documentation errors in the original
• Adding missing documentation for original features

---

Architecture Overview

Trellis transforms AI assistants into structured development partners through enforced context injection.

System Layers

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        USER INTERACTION                              │
│  /trellis:start  /trellis:brainstorm  /trellis:parallel             │
│  /trellis:finish-work  /trellis:before-dev  /trellis:check          │
└─────────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────┘
                                  │
┌─────────────────────────────────▼───────────────────────────────────┐
│                         SKILLS LAYER                                 │
│  .claude/commands/trellis/*.md   (17 slash commands)                │
│  .claude/agents/*.md             (6 sub-agent definitions)          │
│  .agents/skills/*/SKILL.md       (shared agent skills layer)        │
└─────────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────┘
                                  │
┌─────────────────────────────────▼───────────────────────────────────┐
│                          HOOKS LAYER                                 │
│  SessionStart      → session-start.py (workflow + context + status) │
│  PreToolUse:Agent  → inject-subagent-context.py (spec injection)    │
│  SubagentStop      → ralph-loop.py (quality enforcement)            │
│  Task Lifecycle    → config.yaml hooks (after_create/start/finish/  │
│                      archive → e.g. Linear sync)                    │
└─────────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────┘
                                  │
┌─────────────────────────────────▼───────────────────────────────────┐
│                       PERSISTENCE LAYER                              │
│  .trellis/workspace/  (journals, session history)                   │
│  .trellis/tasks/      (task tracking, context files, subtasks)      │
│  .trellis/spec/       (coding guidelines, monorepo per-package)     │
│  .trellis/config.yaml (packages, hooks, update.skip, spec_scope)   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Key Design Principles

Principle	Description
Specs Injected, Not Remembered	Hooks enforce specs - agents always receive context
Read Before Write	Understand guidelines before writing code
Layered Context	Only relevant specs load (via JSONL files)
Human Commits	AI never commits - human validates first
Pure Dispatcher	Dispatch agent only orchestrates

---

Core Components

1. Workspace System

Track development progress across sessions with per-developer isolation.

.trellis/workspace/
├── index.md                    # Global overview
└── {developer}/                # Per-developer
    ├── index.md                # Personal index (@@@auto markers)
    └── journal-N.md            # Session journals (max 2000 lines)

Key files: .trellis/.developer (identity), journals (session history)

2. Task System

Track work items with phase-based execution, parent-child subtasks, and lifecycle hooks.

.trellis/tasks/{MM-DD-slug}/
├── task.json           # Metadata, phases, branch, subtasks
├── prd.md              # Requirements
├── info.md             # Technical design (optional)
├── implement.jsonl     # Context for implement agent
├── check.jsonl         # Context for check agent
├── debug.jsonl         # Context for debug agent
├── research.jsonl      # Context for research agent (optional)
└── cr.jsonl            # Context for code review (optional)

3. Spec System

Maintain coding standards that get injected to agents. Supports both single-repo and monorepo layouts.

# Single repo
.trellis/spec/
├── frontend/           # Frontend guidelines
├── backend/            # Backend guidelines
└── guides/             # Thinking guides

# Monorepo (per-package)
.trellis/spec/