dotbabel

@dotbabel/dotbabel — docs

Last updated: v2.1.0

dotbabel is an opinionated Claude Code toolkit shipped as a portable npm package + Claude Code plugin. It curates a library of skills, slash commands, and cloud/IaC specialists, hardens every Claude Code session via a global rule floor, and adds an optional spec-driven-development governance CLI on top — Node API, umbrella CLI, gold-standard shell settings validator, and a destructive-git PreToolUse hook.

Start here

If you are…	Read
Setting up skills & commands in ~/.claude/	dotfile-quickstart.md — 30 seconds, no npm required
A consumer evaluating the plugin	quickstart.md — 5 minutes from install to first green validator
Integrating the library in CI	cli-reference.md and the --json payload examples
Importing the Node API	api-reference.md
Debugging a validator failure	troubleshooting.md (indexed by ERROR_CODES)
Upgrading or forking	upgrade-guide.md
Contributing	../CONTRIBUTING.md

Deeper references

• architecture.md — layer diagram + PR-time coverage check sequence
• personas.md — consumer vs dotfile user vs contributor entry-point matrix
• handoff-guide.md — cross-CLI, cross-machine session transfer (v0.5.0+)
• adr/ — architectural decision records (one per load-bearing decision)
• specs/dotbabel-core/ — the canonical spec this repo governs itself with

What this package gives you

• Structured-error contract. Every validator emits ValidationError instances with stable .code values (see troubleshooting.md).
• Umbrella CLI + standalone bins. dotbabel validate-specs or dotbabel-validate-specs — both exist, same behavior.
• Universal flags. --help, --version, --json, --verbose, --no-color on every bin.
• Named exit codes. {OK:0, VALIDATION:1, ENV:2, USAGE:64} — 64 mirrors BSD sysexits.h.
• Minimal runtime footprint. Plain Node 20+, no bundler, no TypeScript runtime — three small JSON/YAML utility dependencies (ajv, ajv-formats, js-yaml).

Governance

This package is itself a consumer of its own validators — see ../CLAUDE.md §Protected paths. Every PR touching a protected path either carries Spec ID: dotbabel-core or a ## No-spec rationale section; dogfood.yml enforces this on every push.

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