APEX Tier 1 — Fire and Forget

Execute a well-defined task from start to finish without human intervention. Open a draft PR when done.

When to Use

Use Tier 1 when ALL of these are true:

The task has clear, unambiguous acceptance criteria
Failure is cheap (can be reverted easily)
No architectural decisions are required
The scope is small (one feature, one fix, one file group)

Do NOT use Tier 1 when:

The task requires design decisions → use apex-tier2 or apex-tier3
The task touches critical infrastructure → use apex-tier3
The requirements are vague → clarify first, then decide tier

Workflow

Parse the task into acceptance criteria
Create a working branch
Implement the change
Run the self-correcting loop
Open a draft PR

Step 1: Parse Task into Acceptance Criteria

Convert the task description into a checklist:

Task: "Add unit tests for the UserService class"

Acceptance Criteria:
- [ ] Tests cover all public methods of UserService
- [ ] Tests cover error/edge cases documented in the class
- [ ] All tests pass
- [ ] Coverage does not decrease
- [ ] Lint passes

If you cannot create at least 2 concrete acceptance criteria, the task is too vague for Tier 1. Ask the user to clarify or escalate to Tier 2.

Step 2: Create Working Branch

git checkout -b apex/{task-slug} && git push -u origin apex/{task-slug}

Step 3: Implement the Change

Write the code. Follow project conventions from AGENTS.md. Do not refactor unrelated code. Do not change formatting outside your scope.

Step 4: Self-Correcting Loop

Run validation and iterate until clean:

Linux/Mac:

bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/validate.sh" <target-dir>

Windows:

powershell -File "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/validate.ps1" <target-dir>

Maximum 5 fix cycles. If still failing after 5 attempts, commit what you have, note the failures in the PR description, and flag for human review.

Step 5: Open Draft PR

gh pr create --draft --title "apex: {task description}" --body-file /tmp/apex-pr-body.md

The PR body must include:

Task description
Acceptance criteria checklist (checked/unchecked)
Validation results (lint, types, tests, build)
Any unresolved issues flagged with [NEEDS REVIEW]

Output

A draft PR on a feature branch with all acceptance criteria met and validation passing.

Example PR body:

## apex: Add unit tests for UserService

### Task
Add unit tests for the UserService class

### Acceptance Criteria
- [x] Tests cover all public methods of UserService
- [x] Tests cover error/edge cases documented in the class
- [x] All tests pass
- [x] Coverage does not decrease
- [x] Lint passes

### Validation Results
| Step | Status |
|------|--------|
| Lint | ✅ PASS |
| Types | ✅ PASS |
| Tests | ✅ PASS |
| Build | ✅ PASS |

### Files Changed
- `tests/services/user-service.test.ts` (new, 147 lines)

apex-tier1