/deep-project, a Claude Code plugin

Blog posts:

• The Deep Trilogy - How the three plugins work together
• What I Learned - Technical lessons from plugin development

/deep-project transforms vague, high-level project requirements into well-scoped planning units through AI-assisted interview and decomposition. It ensures you've thought through every major component of the software you want to build and properly scoped them for thorough planning through /deep-plan.

This plugin is the first step in the deep planning pipeline. After decomposition, each unit can be fed to /deep-plan for comprehensive planning with research, external LLM review, and a TDD approach.

I built this after the first time I wanted to put a vague, broadly scoped software project through /deep-plan. I realized that at a certain level of broadness, for e.g., "Build me an app that does x y and z", that the optimal use of /deep-plan would be to split that vague idea into its distinct, major components and /deep-plan each of them. /deep-project is the plugin that allows you to give it very broad, vague ideas and have it tease out context and form the components that should each be /deep-planned.

TL;DR

/plugin marketplace add piercelamb/deep-project
/plugin install deep-project
/plugin enable deep-project
/deep-project @planning/requirements.md

Table of Contents

• Overview
• The Deep Trilogy
• Why deep-project?
• When to Use
• Quick Start
• How It Works
• Installation
• Usage
• Workflow Steps
• Output Files
• Requirements
• Best Practices
• Troubleshooting
• Testing
• Project Structure
• Contributing

Overview

deep-project orchestrates a decomposition workflow that breaks large projects into manageable pieces before detailed planning:

Interview → Split Analysis → Dependency Mapping → Directory Creation → Spec Generation

The plugin guides you through:

• Interview Phase: Structured Q&A to understand your mental model of the project
• Split Analysis: Determine if the project benefits from multiple planning units
• Dependency Discovery: Map relationships between splits
• Spec Generation: Create focused spec files for each unit

By the end, you have a planning directory with a project manifest and numbered split directories, each containing a spec file ready for /deep-plan.

The Deep Trilogy

This plugin is part of a three-plugin pipeline for turning ideas into production code:

/deep-project (decompose) → /deep-plan (plan) → /deep-implement (build)

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        THE DEEP TRILOGY                           │
│                From Vague Idea to Production Code                 │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                   │
│         "I want to build a SaaS platform"                         │
│                        │                                          │
│                        ▼                                          │
│      ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐                      │
│      │            /deep-project            │  ◀── YOU ARE HERE    │
│      └─────────────────────────────────────┘                      │
│           │            │            │                             │
│           ▼            ▼            ▼                             │
│      ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐                        │
│      │ 01-auth │  │ 02-bill │  │   ...   │                        │
│      │ spec.md │  │ spec.md │  │         │                        │
│      └─────────┘  └─────────┘  └─────────┘                        │
│           │            │            │                             │
│           ▼            ▼            ▼                             │
│      ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐                        │
│      │ /deep-  │  │ /deep-  │  │   ...   │                        │
│      │  plan   │  │  plan   │  │         │                        │
│      └─────────┘  └─────────┘  └─────────┘                        │
│         │   │       │ │ │           │                             │
│         ▼   ▼       ▼ ▼ ▼           ▼                             │
│      ┌────┐┌────┐┌────┐┌────┐┌────┐┌─────────┐                    │
│      │ 01 ││ 02 ││ 01 ││ 02 ││ 03 ││   ...   │                    │
│      └────┘└────┘└────┘└────┘└────┘└─────────┘                    │
│        │    │     │     │    │          │                         │
│        └─┬──┘     └──┬──┴────┘          │                         │
│          │           │                  │                         │
│          ▼           ▼                  ▼                         │
│      ┌─────────┐┌─────────┐        ┌─────────┐                    │
│      │ /deep-  ││ /deep-  │        │   ...   │                    │
│      │implement││implement│        │         │                    │
│      └─────────┘└─────────┘        └─────────┘                    │
│           │          │                  │                         │
│           ▼          ▼                  ▼                         │
│      ┌─────────┐┌─────────┐        ┌─────────┐                    │
│      │  auth   ││ billing │        │   ...   │                    │
│      │  code   ││  code   │        │         │                    │
│      └─────────┘└─────────┘        └─────────┘                    │
│           │          │                  │                         │
│           └──────────┴──────────────────┘                         │
│                          │                                        │
│                          ▼                                        │
│                 Production Codebase                               │
│                                                                   │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Where to start?

• Vague multi-component project? Start here with /deep-project
• Single focused feature? Skip to /deep-plan
• Already have section files? Skip to /deep-implement

Why deep-project?

Without deep-project

You: "Claude, I need to build a complete SaaS platform"
Claude: *overwhelmed by scope, makes assumptions, misses critical relationships*
Result: Inconsistent implementation, integration issues, rework

With deep-project

You: "/deep-project @planning/saas-requirements.md"
deep-project: Interview → Split Analysis → Manifest → Spec Files
Result:
  - 01-auth-system/spec.md
  - 02-billing-integration/spec.md
  - 03-user-dashboard/spec.md
  Each ready for focused /deep-plan sessions

Time Investment: ~15 minutes of interview
Time Saved: Hours of coordination and rework from poorly scoped planning

When to Use

Use deep-project when:

• Your project has multiple distinct subsystems
• Requirements are vague and need decomposition
• You want to parallelize planning across multiple focused sessions
• Dependencies between components need explicit mapping

Skip deep-project when:

• The project is already a single, well-defined feature
• Requirements are clear and bounded
• You're doing a bug fix or small enhancement
• You already have well-scoped spec files
• Even in these cases, /deep-project will scope the project to a single component.

Quick Start

TL;DR: Create a requirements file, run the command, answer questions.

1. Create a requirements file:

Option A: Use your editor — Create planning/requirements.md with your project description.

Option B: Command line:

mkdir -p planning
cat > planning/requirements.md << 'EOF'
# My SaaS Platform

Build a complete SaaS platform with:
- User authentication (OAuth, email/password)
- Subscription billing
- Admin dashboard
- User-facing dashboard
- API for third-party integrations
EOF

Requirements files can be as detailed or vague as you like. The interview phase will extract specifics.

2. Run deep-project:

/deep-project @planning/requirements.md

3. Follow the prompts through Interview → Split Analysis → Confirmation → Generation

That's it. Your planning directory will contain numbered split directories with focused spec files.

How It Works

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     deep-project workflow                        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                 │
│   /deep-project @requirements.md                                │
│          │                                                      │
│          ▼                                                      │
│   ┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐    │
│   │  Interview   │ ──▶ │    Split     │ ──▶ │  Dependency  │    │
│   │  (adaptive)  │     │   Analysis   │     │   Mapping    │    │
│   └──────────────┘     └──────────────┘     └──────────────┘    │
│                                                   │             │
│                                                   ▼             │
│   ┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐    │
│   │     Spec     │ ◀── │  Directory   │ ◀── │    User      │    │
│   │  Generation  │     │   Creation   │     │ Confirmation │    │
│   └──────────────┘     └──────────────┘     └──────────────┘    │
│          │                                                      │
│          ▼                                                      │
│   ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│   │  01-auth/spec.md  02-billing/spec.md  03-dashboard/...   │  │
│   │  (Focused planning units ready for /deep-plan)           │  │
│   └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                                                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Installation

Prerequisites

• Claude Code installed
• uv (Python package manager)
• Python 3.11+

Install via Marketplace (Recommended)

Option A: CLI commands

/plugin marketplace add piercelamb/deep-project
/plugin install deep-project
/plugin enable deep-project

Option B: Via UI

/plugin marketplace add piercelamb/deep-project
/plugin install deep-project
/plugins

Then scroll to "Installed", find deep-project, and click "Enable".

Already installed /deep-plan or /deep-implement? All three plugins share a marketplace. If you've already added any one of the deep trilogy repos, just run /plugin install deep-project directly — no need to add another marketplace.

Manual Installation

Option A: Via settings.json

Clone the repo, then add to your project's .claude/settings.json:

git clone https://github.com/piercelamb/deep-project.git /path/to/deep-project

{
  "plugins": {
    "paths": ["/path/to/deep-project"]
  }
}

Option B: Via --plugin-dir flag (development/testing)

git clone https://github.com/piercelamb/deep-project.git /path/to/deep-project
claude --plugin-dir /path/to/deep-project

Usage

Basic Invocation

/deep-project @path/to/requirements.md

The requirements file can be as detailed or vague as you like. The planning directory is inferred from the requirements file's parent directory.

Resuming

If the workflow is interrupted (context limit, user pause), re-run with the same requirements file:

/deep-project @planning/requirements.md

The plugin detects existing artifacts and resumes from the appropriate step.

Workflow Steps

Output Files

After running deep-project, your planning directory contains:

planning/
├── requirements.md              # Your original input
├── deep_project_interview.md    # Interview transcript
├── project-manifest.md          # ★ Split structure & dependencies
└── splits/
    ├── 01-auth-system/
    │   └── spec.md              # Focused spec for auth
    ├── 02-billing/
    │   └── spec.md              # Focused spec for billing
    └── 03-dashboard/
        └── spec.md              # Focused spec for dashboard

project-manifest.md

The manifest contains:

• Overview of all splits
• Dependency graph
• Recommended execution order
• Machine-readable SPLIT_MANIFEST block

Requirements

• Claude Code
• Python >= 3.11
• uv package manager

Python Dependencies

Managed via pyproject.toml - no external API keys required (unlike /deep-plan).

Best Practices

1. Start with high-level requirements - Don't over-specify. The interview surfaces details.

2. Answer interview questions thoroughly - Your mental model shapes the decomposition.

3. Review the manifest carefully - This is where you catch scope issues before they cascade.

4. Prefer more splits over fewer - Smaller, focused units are easier to plan and implement.

5. Map dependencies explicitly - Integration issues come from implicit assumptions.

Troubleshooting

"Requirements file not found"

Issue: The @file path doesn't exist

Solution:

• Ensure the file path is correct and the file exists
• Use absolute paths if relative paths aren't resolving

Workflow interrupted mid-step

Issue: Context limit or manual interruption

Solution:

• Re-run /deep-project @requirements.md
• The plugin detects completed steps and resumes

"Session state conflict detected"

Issue: Existing files conflict with current requirements

Solution:

• Choose "Start fresh" to begin new analysis
• Or "Resume" to continue from where you stopped
• If requirements changed significantly, start fresh

Testing

Run the test suite:

cd /path/to/deep-project
uv run pytest tests/

Project Structure

deep_project/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   ├── plugin.json              # Plugin metadata
│   └── marketplace.json         # Marketplace listing
├── LICENSE                      # MIT License
├── README.md                    # This file
├── pyproject.toml               # Python dependencies
├── hooks/
│   └── hooks.json               # Session hooks
├── scripts/
│   ├── checks/                  # Setup & validation scripts
│   ├── hooks/                   # Hook implementations
│   └── lib/                     # Shared utilities
├── skills/
│   └── deep-project/
│       ├── SKILL.md             # Main skill definition
│       └── references/          # Protocol documents
└── tests/                       # Test suite

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please:

1. Clone the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Run tests: uv run pytest tests/
4. Submit a pull request

License

MIT

Author

Pierce Lamb

Version

0.2.1