Elephant-Goldfish Model (EGM)

Name: elephant-goldfish-model
Author: google

Elephant-Goldfish Model (EGM) is an open-source plugin for Spec-Driven Development with AI coding agents. Deep-context Elephant sessions draft specifications, and isolated zero-context Goldfish subagents stress-test them before you write code.

Install

Harness	Install
Any AI agent	Ask your agent: `Install https://github.com/google/elephant-goldfish-model`
Antigravity	`agy plugin install https://github.com/google/elephant-goldfish-model` (or `/plugin` in IDE)
Claude Code	`claude plugin marketplace add google/elephant-goldfish-model && claude plugin install egm@egm`
Codex	`codex plugin marketplace add google/elephant-goldfish-model && codex plugin add egm@egm`
Claude Cowork / ChatGPT	See Harnesses for desktop and workspace setup

Quickstart

Ideate & Stress-Test: Run /egm-brainstorm to explore problem boundaries and test early concepts with a Goldfish swarm.
Draft: Run /egm-draft to convert the concept brief into a living design document under docs/designs/<feature>.md.
Review & Resolve: Run /egm-review docs/designs/<feature>.md to run the multi-stage Goldfish reviewer swarm.
Submit & Implement: Submit the verified design doc via pull request and implement code against the approved specification.

In Claude Code, commands use the /egm: prefix (for example /egm:egm-brainstorm).

For detailed setup guides and walkthroughs, see Getting Started, Harnesses, and Framework Architecture.

Skills

Skill	Command	Description
Brainstorm	`/egm-brainstorm`	Zero-doc ideation tool using a multi-lens Goldfish shootdown swarm to stress-test early concepts.
Draft	`/egm-draft`	Iterative, section-by-section markdown design specification compiler.
Review	`/egm-review`	Multi-stage verification pipeline orchestrator (Zoom Out -> Comprehension -> Critic -> Readiness).
Review Loop	`/egm-review-loop`	Concurrent review subagent dispatch engine supporting direct and hierarchical dispatch.
Review Resolve	`/egm-resolve`	Interactive triage and automated patch application engine for review findings.
Drift Report	`/egm-drift-report`	Sequential AST scanner detecting divergence between checked-in specs and live code.
Bootstrap	`/egm-bootstrap`	Recursive bottom-up codebase documentation generator and sentinel-block upserting engine.

Philosophy

EGM uses two animal metaphors to structure AI agents across the software development lifecycle:

🐘 The Elephant (Remembers Everything): Deep-context agents load system history, architecture diagrams, component boundaries, and user journeys. The Elephant runs structured brainstorming, probes operational limits, and drafts comprehensive specifications.
🐠 The Goldfish (Zero-Context Memory): Stateless, isolated subagents read only the draft spec and live source code, without conversational bias. The Goldfish swarm stress-tests designs from conflicting perspectives. Personas in agents/ include Design Critic, Naive Reader, Tech Lead, Codebase Auditor, Structural Validator, Style Editor, and Zoom Out Architect.
🧑‍💻 The Human (Owns the Outcomes): AI is an exploration partner and automated auditor, while human engineers own architectural decisions, trade-offs, and final outcomes.

For the foundational essay introducing this methodology, see Dave Rensin's article: Elephants, Goldfish, and the New Golden Age of Software Engineering.

Contributing

We welcome community contributions! Please review Harnesses and our Contribution Guidelines before submitting pull requests.

License

Apache 2.0 License applies to this project - see the LICENSE file for details.

This is not an officially supported Google product.