Developer Documentation

Architecture, protocols, and contribution guidelines for CLEO developers

Developer Documentation

Welcome to the CLEO developer documentation. This section contains technical architecture, internal protocols, and contribution guidelines for those building on or contributing to CLEO.

Quick Navigation

Architecture

System architecture, data flows, and design patterns

Protocols & Specs

Technical specifications and protocol definitions

Contributing

How to contribute code, documentation, and skills

For Contributors

Getting Started

• Contributing Guide - Code style, testing, and PR workflow
• Skill Development - Creating custom CLEO skills
• Dispatch Debugging - Troubleshooting skill dispatch

Architecture Deep Dives

• System Architecture - Overall system design
• Data Flows - How data moves through CLEO
• Backup System - Two-tier backup architecture
• Anti-Hallucination - Validation and safety mechanisms

Protocol Specifications

• Skill Taxonomy - Canonical skill categorization
• Protocol Stack - Multi-tier protocol architecture
• Skill Dispatch Algorithm - How skills are selected and loaded
• Protocol Injection Flow - Runtime protocol loading mechanism

Developer vs Consumer Docs

This Developer tab contains technical content for contributors and those building on CLEO:

• Internal architecture and implementation details
• Protocol specifications and algorithm descriptions
• Code contribution guidelines and testing requirements

For user-facing documentation, see:

• Getting Started - Installation and quickstart
• Guides - Workflow tutorials and best practices
• Commands - CLI command reference
• Skills - Using CLEO skills

Key Concepts for Developers

Two-Tier Architecture

CLEO uses a two-tier subagent system:

• Tier 0: Orchestrator coordinates workflows and resolves tokens
• Tier 1: Universal subagent executes with skill-specific protocols

Schema-Driven Validation

All data operations use JSON Schema validation with atomic write patterns:

1. Write to temporary file
2. Validate against schema
3. Create backup
4. Atomic rename

Protocol Stack

CLEO implements 7 canonical protocols across 3 lifecycle phases:

• RCSD Pipeline: Research → Consensus → Specification → Decomposition
• Execution: Implementation → Contribution → Release

See Protocol Stack Spec for details.

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Key areas:

• Core CLI: Bash scripts and libraries
• Skills: New agent skills for specialized workflows
• Documentation: User guides and technical specs
• Testing: BATS test coverage

See Contributing Guide for detailed instructions.

Support

• GitHub Issues - Bug reports and feature requests
• Discussions - Questions and community support