PARA-Programming Plugin for Claude Code

Official Claude Code plugin for the PARA-Programming methodology

Structured context management, persistent memory, and intelligent execution for AI-assisted development.

---

🚀 Quick Start

Installation

# Add the PARA-Programming marketplace
/plugin marketplace add brian-lai/para-programming-plugin

# Install the plugin
/plugin install para-program@brian-lai/para-programming-plugin

# Initialize in your project
cd your-project
claude
/para-program:init

First Task

# Start your first PARA task
/para-program:plan "implement user authentication"

# Review the plan (human approval step)

# Execute the plan
/para-program:execute

# Work through to-dos...

# Summarize when complete
/para-program:summarize

---

📋 What This Plugin Provides

Slash Commands

• /para-program:init - Initialize PARA structure in project
• /para-program:plan - Create structured plan for task
• /para-program:execute - Start execution with branch and to-dos
• /para-program:summarize - Generate summary from completed work
• /para-program:archive - Archive context and reset
• /para-program:status - Show current workflow state
• /para-program:check - Decision helper for workflow
• /para-program:help - Comprehensive PARA guide

Templates

• Plan template with Objective, Approach, Risks
• Summary template for documenting results
• Context template for session state
• Project CLAUDE.md templates (basic and full)

Hooks

• Session start notifications
• Workflow guidance

Resources

• Global CLAUDE.md methodology file
• Example workflows
• Documentation

---

🔁 The PARA Workflow

   (Plan)    →   (Review)   →   (Execute)    →    (Summarize)     →    (Archive)
      ↓             ↑              ↓                   ↓                   ↓
/para-program:plan Human /para-program:execute /para-program:summarize /para-program:archive

When to Use

✅ ALWAYS for:

• Code changes (features, bugs, refactoring)
• Architecture decisions
• Configuration changes
• Database modifications

❌ SKIP for:

• Informational queries
• Code explanations
• Navigation

---

📁 Directory Structure After Installation

your-project/
├── context/
│   ├── context.md              # Active session state
│   ├── data/                   # Input files, datasets
│   ├── plans/                  # Pre-work planning docs
│   ├── summaries/              # Post-work reports
│   ├── archives/               # Historical snapshots
│   └── servers/                # MCP tool wrappers
├── CLAUDE.md                   # Project-specific context
└── [your project files...]

---

💡 Complete Workflow Example

# 1. Start Claude Code in your project
claude

# 2. Initialize PARA (first time only)
/para-program:init

# 3. Check current status
/para-program:status

# 4. Create a plan
/para-program:plan "add dark mode support"

# [Claude creates context/plans/2025-12-22-add-dark-mode-support.md]
# [Human reviews and approves]

# 5. Start execution
/para-program:execute

# [Creates branch: para/add-dark-mode-support]
# [Updates context.md with to-do list]
# [Commits: "chore: Initialize execution context"]

# 6. Work through to-dos
# [Complete each item, commit as you go]
# [Mark items [x] in context.md]

# 7. Generate summary
/para-program:summarize

# [Claude analyzes git diff and creates summary]

# 8. Archive and prepare for next task
/para-program:archive

---

📚 Documentation

• Main Documentation - Full PARA-Programming guide
• INSTALL.md - Detailed installation instructions
• CHANGELOG.md - Version history
• UPGRADING.md - Migration and upgrade guides

---

🛠 Plugin Structure

para-programming-plugin/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── plugin.json          # Plugin manifest
├── commands/                # Slash commands
│   ├── init.md
│   ├── plan.md
│   ├── execute.md
│   ├── summarize.md
│   ├── archive.md
│   ├── status.md
│   ├── check.md
│   └── help.md
├── hooks/                   # Event handlers
│   ├── hooks.json
│   └── para-session-start.sh
├── templates/               # File templates
│   ├── plan-template.md
│   ├── summary-template.md
│   ├── context-template.md
│   ├── claude-basic-template.md
│   └── claude-full-template.md
├── resources/               # Global methodology
│   └── CLAUDE.md
├── examples/                # Usage examples
├── scripts/                 # Installation scripts
└── docs/                    # Additional documentation

---

🎯 Key Features

Structured Planning

Every task starts with a plan that includes:

• Clear objective
• Step-by-step approach
• Risk analysis
• Success criteria

Persistent Context

Context persists across sessions:

• Active plans tracked in context/context.md
• Summaries document what was done
• Archives preserve historical state

Git Integration

PARA workflow integrates with git:

• Creates feature branches automatically
• Tracks to-dos as commits
• Generates summaries from diffs

Token Efficiency

Minimizes token usage through:

• Structured context files
• MCP preprocessing (optional)
• Selective loading of relevant context

---

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Areas for improvement:

• Additional commands
• MCP tools
• Templates for different tech stacks
• Documentation improvements
• Bug fixes

See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

---

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

---

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Tiago Forte - For the PARA method
• Anthropic - For Claude and Claude Code
• The community - For feedback and contributions

---

📞 Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Documentation: Main PARA Guide

---

Build better software with structured AI collaboration! 🚀