the problem
even when you have a plan, building with ai tools can go sideways fast.
the ai adds features you didn’t ask for. it picks a different framework than the one you agreed on. it skips ahead three tasks and builds something half-baked. you end up spending more time correcting course than actually building.
i needed something that kept the ai on the rails — something that said “here’s the plan, work through it step by step, and don’t freelance.”
what mvp-builder does
mvp-builder is the second repo in the chain. it picks up where project-planner leaves off.
you drop your planning handoff files into the repo — PRD, stack decisions, task list, context file — open it in claude code, codex, or gemini cli, and say /init. the ai reads the plan and says: “here’s what we’re building. sprint 1 has 8 tasks. ready to start with the first one?”
then it works through each task one at a time:
- tells you what it’s about to do
- does it
- tells you what to verify
- marks the task done
- asks if you’re ready for the next one
if something would add scope beyond the prd, it flags it: “this isn’t in the prd. want to add it?” no silent scope creep. no surprise rewrites.
built-in skills
the repo comes with five skills that handle the common pain points:
- task-breakdown — when a task is too big, it breaks it into concrete steps
- code-reviewer — checks generated code against the prd and stack decisions before marking done
- progress-tracker — saves session state so you can pick up exactly where you left off
- inline-planning — quick planning pass if you don’t have a project-planner handoff
- skill-creator — build new skills mid-session when a gap comes up
why this matters
the biggest problem with ai-assisted building isn’t that the ai can’t code. it’s that the ai doesn’t know when to stop. it wants to be helpful, so it adds things. it refactors things you didn’t ask it to refactor. it makes “improvements” that break what was already working.
mvp-builder solves this with two simple rules: follow the plan, and ask before changing scope.
that’s it. no magic. just discipline baked into the orchestrator so you don’t have to enforce it yourself every five minutes.
for solo builders especially, this is huge. when you’re the only one reviewing the work, you need the ai to stay predictable. mvp-builder makes that the default.
the full chain
project-planner → outputs/ → mvp-builder → shipplan first, build second. each repo has one job. the handoff between them is just a folder of markdown files — clean, portable, no lock-in.
try it
it’s a github template. clone it, drop in your plan files, and say /init.