Compound Knowledge Work (CKW)

A Claude Code plugin for knowledge work. CKW breaks complex projects — RFPs, proposals, SOPs, training materials, strategy docs, client reports — into executable phases, drafts them with consistent quality, and remembers what worked so your next project is faster and better than the last.

What CKW Does

Breaks big projects into executable tasks. Start from a brief, PRD, or blank slate. CKW interviews you about the project, organizes it into phases, and breaks each phase into atomic tasks with context budgets — so nothing gets lost as the work scales.

Maintains quality at scale. Every draft goes through a reviewer agent that classifies issues by severity (P1/P2/P3). High-stakes work gets a stress-test reviewer that attacks from hostile perspectives. A confidence check tells you what's solid vs. what's a guess.

Compounds what works. After each project, CKW captures reusable patterns — what structure worked, what reviewers caught, what the client actually valued. These solutions surface automatically in future projects, so your next one starts ahead of the last.

Handles the logistics. Pause and resume with full handoff context. Import reference documents with token budgets. Export to Word, PowerPoint, or PDF. Search and read from Google Drive. Publish to Proof for collaborative review with AI provenance tracking.

Quick Demo

/ckw:new-project --from-prd brief.pdf    # Scope from a brief or PRD
/ckw:brainstorm                           # Explore approach before committing
/ckw:plan-phase 1                         # Break Phase 1 into tasks
/ckw:execute-phase 1                      # Draft content
/ckw:review-phase 1                       # Quality review
/ckw:compound                             # Capture what worked

Install

Prerequisites

• Claude Code (CLI, desktop app, or IDE extension)
• Node.js 18+
• OS: macOS or Linux fully supported. Windows works for the core markdown workflow; the optional document-conversion and Google Drive scripts assume a Unix-like shell (WSL recommended).

Option A: npx Installer (Recommended)

npx --yes github:RDEL-Group/compound-knowledge-work

The installer sets up everything: commands, agents, skills, hooks, and config. It asks your name, where to install (choose Global for all projects), and optionally connects a shared knowledge repo.

If npx doesn't work, use the fallback:

git clone https://github.com/RDEL-Group/compound-knowledge-work.git /tmp/ckw-install && node /tmp/ckw-install/bin/install.js && rm -rf /tmp/ckw-install

Option B: Plugin Marketplace

/plugin marketplace add RDEL-Group/compound-knowledge-work
/plugin install compound-knowledge-work

One step — this installs commands, agents, skills, and the SessionStart hook (project auto-detection), which ships in the plugin's bundled hooks/hooks.json.

To connect a shared team knowledge repo (optional), add its path to ~/.ckw/config.json under knowledge_repos (see Shared Knowledge Repo), or run the npx installer once to set it up interactively.

Update

Run the same install command again. Your config and project registry are preserved — only the plugin files get updated.

All Commands

Headless / Pipeline Mode

Every command accepts --headless: it runs start to finish without interactive prompts, using sensible defaults. This makes CKW scriptable — chain commands, run them in CI, or schedule overnight jobs. Side-effecting steps fail closed (e.g., /ckw:publish-proof --headless refuses to publish without --confirm-publish, since publication is public and irreversible). Leave the flag off for normal interactive work.

Architecture

CKW is a zero-dependency Claude Code plugin. Everything is markdown and vanilla Node.js:

• 19 slash commands (commands/ckw/) — markdown files that define the command interface
• 7 specialized agents (agents/) — scoper, planner, executor, reviewer, stress-test reviewer, compounder, researcher
• 5 skills (skills/) — import/export, Google Workspace, Proof integration
• 1 hook (hooks/) — SessionStart project auto-detection (bundled via hooks/hooks.json)

No npm dependencies. No build step. Installation is instant.

Optional Integrations

These are not required. CKW works fully without them.

Google Workspace — Requires the gws CLI and python3. Enables /ckw:drive for searching, reading, and uploading Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Also enables --from-drive on /ckw:import-reference and --to-drive on the export skill.

Proof — No setup needed. Works with proofeditor.ai out of the box. Enables /ckw:publish-proof for collaborative review with character-level AI provenance tracking.

Export — Requires pandoc. Enables markdown-to-Word, PowerPoint, and PDF export with optional branded templates.

Shared Knowledge Repo

CKW compounds what works across projects through a shared knowledge repo — a folder (typically on Google Drive for team access) that stores reusable patterns, templates, and playbooks.

A starter template is included at knowledge-repo-template/. Copy it to your shared location and point CKW to it during install, or add the path later in ~/.ckw/config.json:

{
  "knowledge_repos": ["/path/to/shared/knowledge/repo"]
}

When you run /ckw:compound, CKW offers to promote reusable patterns to this shared repo.

Documentation

• /ckw:help inside Claude Code for a grouped command reference with examples
• docs/USER-GUIDE.md for scenario-based guidance
• CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup

Troubleshooting

Commands don't show in the / autocomplete dropdown:
This is a known Claude Code UI caching issue. The commands still work — type them directly (e.g., type /ckw:help and press Enter).

"No CKW project found" error:
Make sure you're in a project directory that has a STATE.md file. Start with /ckw:new-project or /ckw:adopt-project to set one up.

Installer fails with permission error:
Make sure you have write access to ~/.claude/. The installer creates the directory if it doesn't exist.

Something else? Open an issue.

Credits

CKW stands on the shoulders of several open-source projects:

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Author

Richard Marginson / RDEL Group