XP delivery with useful feedback

Start with a usable result

Read the request, current acceptance and work authority. Express the next slice as a consumer-visible result, not a list of layers. The consumer may be a person, API client, worker or library caller. An API-only delivery is legitimate when that API is the agreed product; a UI feature is not complete merely because its API exists.

Resolve nonblocking uncertainty during the task instead of requiring another discovery document. Trade-off or over-engineering doubt -> pragmatic-engineering.

Slice into the tracker item, never into a plan file

When the mission is larger than one slice, cut it before writing code: name the real entry point and observable result of each slice, and keep a learning spike, an implemented slice and the full requested outcome as three distinct states. The map is the repo's one declared tracker item, with native blocked sub-issues when the tracker supports them (operating rules §5); a local plan file or PRD exists only when the user explicitly asks for one, and then it is the deliverable. Update it when learning changes the next decision, not after every keystroke. A clear low-risk edit needs a short execution sequence, not a plan at all.

Build, test and integrate

Drive new behavior through tdd. Prefer extending an existing meaningful test over creating an overlapping suite. Which layers to run belongs to layered-testing-executor.

Collaborate without manufacturing handoffs

Use a specialist when risk, unfamiliarity or independent work justifies the cost. When pairing, name a driver who writes and a navigator who challenges the diff; hand over write ownership explicitly when switching. A reviewer does not take quality responsibility away from the implementer. Do not force a pair, rotation ceremony or approval chain for every task.

Urgency reduces batch size and optional work, not required acceptance. A deployment-ready change and a deployed feature are different states.

Capture real bottlenecks in the existing tracker; add no velocity dashboard, sprint ledger or retrospective ritual by default.

Read XP choices for a concrete trade-off between testing, pairing, integration and cadence. Read the XP & Agile guide for practice tables and story-splitting patterns when a concrete example is needed beyond this skill's principles.

Use the optional slice note only when the existing work item lacks a useful format.