Ship a feature with a team

Goal

Add a --version flag to a small Node command-line tool. Running node src/index.js --version must print the version from package.json. Nothing else may change.

The result

At the end, node src/index.js --version prints 1.2.3, only one source file changed, the tests pass, and the run folder holds a verify.md with a pass result — a check you can read, not a claim. Here is the whole run.

The test project has three files. To follow along, create them:

mkdir -p fixture/src fixture/test && cd fixture && git init -q
echo '{"name":"fixture-cli","version":"1.2.3","bin":{"fx":"src/index.js"},"scripts":{"test":"node --test test/"}}' > package.json
printf '#!/usr/bin/env node\nconsole.log(%sfixture%s)\n' "'" "'" > src/index.js
printf '%s\n' "const test = require('node:test')" "const assert = require('node:assert')" "const { execFileSync } = require('node:child_process')" "test('runs', () => assert.match(execFileSync('node', ['src/index.js']).toString(), /fixture/))" > test/smoke.test.js
git add -A && git commit -qm fixture

Commands: one step at a time

In Claude Code, in the project folder:

/guild:init
/guild:ideate add a --version flag to src/index.js. `node src/index.js --version` prints exactly the package.json version and exits 0. Without the flag the output stays "fixture". Change only src/index.js (tests may be added under test/). Non-goals: no other flags. Constraints: node only, no dependencies.
/guild:plan
/guild:build
/guild:qa

Guild Stack stops at each step and asks you to approve. Read what it wrote, then approve.

What Guild Stack produced

• node src/index.js --version prints 1.2.3. Without the flag it still prints fixture.
• src/index.js is the only changed source file.
• .guild/runs/<run-id>/verify.md, with a pass result.
• npm test passes.

The same feature, split between two specialists

Bigger work is split into lanes. This example uses a slightly different test project:

mkdir -p fixture2/src fixture2/test && cd fixture2 && git init -q
echo '{"name":"fixture-cli","version":"1.2.3","bin":{"fx":"src/cli.js"},"scripts":{"test":"node --test"}}' > package.json
printf '%s\n' '#!/usr/bin/env node' "console.log('usage: fx [--help]')" > src/cli.js
printf '%s\n' "const { test } = require('node:test')" "const { execFileSync } = require('node:child_process')" "test('prints usage', () => { if (!execFileSync('node', ['src/cli.js']).toString().includes('usage')) throw new Error('no usage') })" > test/cli.test.js
git add -A && git commit -qm fixture

This brief asks for exactly two lanes, where the second waits for the first:

/guild:guild Add a --version flag to the fixture CLI, as exactly two lanes.
Lane A (developer): create src/version.js exporting getVersion(), which
reads the version from package.json, plus test/version.test.js. Lane A file
allowlist: src/version.js, test/version.test.js.
Lane B (developer, depends-on lane A): make `node src/cli.js --version` print
getVersion() and exit 0, plus a case in test/cli.test.js. Lane B file
allowlist: src/cli.js, test/cli.test.js. Lane B must not edit lane A's files.

What Guild Stack produced:

• A plan in .guild/plan/ where lane B lists lane A under depends-on.
• One receipt per lane in .guild/runs/<run-id>/handoffs/, each with a ## changed_files section.
• Lane B's receipt lists src/cli.js and none of lane A's files.
• review.md and verify.md in the run folder.
• node src/cli.js --version prints 1.2.3 and the tests pass.

Time and cost

The test suite allows up to 45 minutes for the step-by-step run and 20 minutes for the two-lane run, on a tiny project. Token cost is not measured by these scenarios; it grows with the number of lanes and the size of the change.

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