aichaku (愛着)

Adaptive developer support for Claude Code that blends selected methodologies, standards, and principles based on how
you naturally work

⚡ Quick Start

Step 1: Install aichaku

# Install the CLI from JSR
deno install -g -A -n aichaku jsr:@rick/aichaku/cli

Step 2: Global Setup (one-time)

# Initialize aichaku globally
aichaku init --global

Step 3: Project Setup

# Navigate to your project
cd /path/to/your-project

# Initialize aichaku for this project
aichaku init

# Select a methodology when prompted (e.g., shape-up for solo dev)
# Add standards that match your project
aichaku standards --add tdd,clean-arch

# Add principles you follow
aichaku principles --add dry,kiss

# Generate CLAUDE.md with your selections
aichaku integrate

Step 4: Start Coding!

Now Claude Code understands your workflow:

Say "let's shape up a feature" → Shape Up mode
Say "write tests first" → TDD approach
Say "keep it simple" → KISS principle applied

What is aichaku?

Aichaku (愛着 - "affection/attachment") helps Claude Code understand your development workflow.

Install once globally - Works across all your projects
Natural language aware - Claude responds to your language within your selected methodologies
Context-efficient - Load only what you need, reducing from 50K+ tokens (traditional Markdown docs) to ~4K
Methodology blending - Mix multiple approaches when needed
Current version: 0.40.1

Key Features

Select methodologies (Shape Up, Scrum, Kanban), standards (OWASP, TDD), principles (DRY, KISS)
Specialized agents for security, API design, documentation, code exploration
YAML configuration system prevents context bloat
MCP server integration for advanced project analysis

🔧 Essential Commands

# Core workflow
aichaku init --global        # One-time setup
aichaku init                 # Add to project
aichaku standards --add tdd,owasp-web,clean-arch
aichaku principles --add dry,kiss
aichaku integrate           # Merge into CLAUDE.md

# Management
aichaku upgrade --global    # Update methodologies
aichaku hooks --install essential  # Auto session summaries
aichaku mcp --install      # Advanced project analysis

🔄 Upgrading aichaku

To upgrade to the latest version of aichaku, you need to refresh Deno's cache and reinstall:

# Refresh cache and force reinstall
deno cache --reload jsr:@rick/aichaku/cli && deno install -g -A -n aichaku --force jsr:@rick/aichaku/cli

# Verify the upgrade
aichaku --version

# Update your global installation's content
aichaku upgrade --global

Why the cache reload? Deno aggressively caches modules. Without --reload, you might get the old version even with
--force.

🏗️ What You Get

Methodologies: Shape Up, Scrum, Kanban, XP, Lean, Scrumban Standards: OWASP, TDD, Clean Architecture, Google
Style, NIST-CSF Principles: DRY, KISS, YAGNI, SOLID, Unix Philosophy Agents: Security, API, Documentation, Code
Explorer, Methodology Coach

📖 Documentation

API Docs - Complete TypeScript reference
GitHub - Full documentation and guides
JSR Package - Package registry

🚀 How It Works

Aichaku works by loading your selected methodologies, then Claude responds naturally to your language:

# With Shape Up loaded:
You: "Let's shape up this feature"
Claude: [Uses Shape Up methodology]

# With Scrum loaded:
You: "Time for our sprint planning"
Claude: [Uses Scrum practices]

# With multiple methodologies:
You: "Show me our kanban board" 
Claude: [Uses Kanban if loaded, or suggests adding it]

The key difference from early versions: You explicitly choose which methodologies to load (keeping context lean),
then Claude naturally responds to your language within those loaded frameworks.

The key: You select what you want to use. Claude works within your selections, not through magic detection.

3-Mode System:

Planning - "let's plan" → methodology-specific planning
Execution - "let's build" → development with appropriate constraints
Improvement - "retrospective" → process improvement

⚙️ Advanced Usage

Programmatic API

import { init, integrate } from "jsr:@rick/aichaku";

await init({ global: true });
await integrate({ projectPath: "./my-project" });

MCP Server Setup

aichaku mcp --install
claude mcp add -s user aichaku-reviewer ~/.aichaku/mcp-servers/aichaku-code-reviewer

🧩 Why aichaku?

Traditional problems:

50KB+ CLAUDE.md files with repetitive content
Manual updates across multiple projects
Context overload from loading everything

Aichaku solution:

96% size reduction vs verbose Markdown - YAML-based config instead of repetitive explanations
One-command updates - Global installation, project references
Smart selection - Choose what you need, blend when necessary

🔄 Development

git clone https://github.com/RickCogley/aichaku.git
cd aichaku
deno task test

📜 License

愛着 - Bringing affection to your development workflow