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Don't trust the prompt. Trust the workflow.

The open-source, spec-driven framework for AI coding agents that have to be right, not just fast.

Works with Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini, Codex, Windsurf, Junie, Continue, Antigravity, Aider, and JetBrains AI Assistant.

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A prompt is the most error-prone part of AI development. paqad-ai replaces "hope the prompt works" with something a team can stand behind. Your specs, rules, and workflows become version-controlled context that every AI agent has to follow, and every change is proven by automatic checks instead of by another AI guessing. One command sets up all your agents at once, and the whole thing runs on your machine, so your code never has to leave the building.

Install in 30 seconds

npm install -g paqad-ai
cd your-project
paqad-ai onboard

paqad-ai reads your lockfiles, detects your stack, asks you to confirm, then sets everything up:

✓ Detected:  laravel + react (inertia, tailwind, pest, docker)
✓ Generated: CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, GEMINI.md, .cursor/rules, copilot-instructions, .windsurfrules
✓ Generated: docs/instructions/rules/* and stack-specific tool guides
✓ Wrote:     .paqad/project-profile.yaml, onboarding-manifest.json, detection-report.json
✓ Configured: entry files and MCP settings for every tool you picked

Ready. Your AI agents now understand your project, and your rules.

No account, no API key, no subscription. Prefer not to install anything? Run npx paqad-ai onboard.

Install in Claude Code (plugin)

Inside Claude Code you can install paqad as a plugin, with no npm package and no separate setup:

/plugin marketplace add Eliyce/paqad-claude-plugin
/plugin install paqad@eliyce

Then use it:

• /paqad:onboard if you are setting the project up for your team (the lead).
• /paqad:join if the project is already onboarded and you are setting up your own machine.

A few things worth knowing:

• This is Claude Code only. If you also use Codex, Gemini, Cursor, or another tool on the same project, keep the npm package (npm install -g paqad-ai) so those tools stay wired. Removing npm is fine when Claude Code is the only tool you use here. When both are installed, only one of them runs its hooks in a session, so nothing runs twice.
• The plugin keeps itself current. Claude Code updates it through /plugin, so you do not run an update command by hand.
• Onboarding from the plugin writes no paqad hooks into the project's .claude/settings.json, because the plugin brings its own. The plugin keeps a copy of itself in its data folder (~/.claude/plugins/data/paqad-eliyce/runtime) and points ~/.paqad-ai/current there, so the framework link keeps working when Claude Code cleans up an old plugin version.
• The optional RAG engine installs on first use, in the background, only if you turn RAG on. If you turn RAG on during /paqad:onboard, RAG stays on, onboarding says "search index is installing in the background; text search until it is ready", and the index is built once the engine is in. Until then search falls back to plain text, and paqad-ai doctor shows not ready: installing. If the index cannot be built for another reason, onboarding turns RAG off and tells you why. To remove the engine later, delete ~/.paqad/ (the shared model and engine cache).
• To open the dashboard, run paqad-ai dashboard from a terminal in the project. The plugin puts paqad-ai on your shell path inside a Claude Code session.
• The plugin shows where the change stands in a band above the prompt. To hide it, set hud_view=false in .paqad/.config (just you) or in .paqad/configs/.config.app (the team), or set PAQAD_HUD_VIEW=false. Its pane has tabs for the High Table, Cost, Trust, Ships and Record, and /paqad receipt draws the receipt as a card. For a short chime when the verdict lands, set hud_chime=true (or PAQAD_HUD_CHIME=true); it is off by default and never speaks.
• Already on the npm setup? paqad can move you to the plugin automatically in the background, with nothing to do on your side. The npm package stays installed as a fallback, so paqad is never off at any point. It is off by default today; plugin_migration=on or claude_install_mode=plugin turns it on, paqad-ai plugin rollback moves a machine back to the npm setup and removes the plugin, and claude_install_mode=settings in your team config keeps a project on npm.
  • paqad checks your organization's managed policy first. If it blocks the plugin or paqad's hooks, paqad stays on npm and writes nothing.
  • If the Desktop app already synced the plugin from claude.ai, the move is simply marked done. If the plugin is already installed some other way, paqad turns it on in your own Claude settings and then waits for it to run, like any other install.
  • When claude is on your path, paqad runs claude plugin marketplace add Eliyce/paqad-claude-plugin and claude plugin install paqad@eliyce --scope user,…