Developer loop

Unified arka dev workflow — init, test, review, ship, TUI, and PR checks in one surface.

The developer loop is Arka’s daily coding workflow: initialize a scoped project, work in the coding TUI, run tests and review locally, then ship with confidence before you commit or open a PR.

arka dev groups local CI, review, hooks, PR babysitting, and the coding TUI under one entry point. Legacy commands (arka ci, arka review, arka coding-tui) still work as aliases.

Mental model

arka dev init .   → scope writes to this repo
arka dev tui      → plan, edit, test in the TUI
arka dev test     → run changed-only CI gates
arka dev review   → staged review + test-gap hints
arka dev ship     → review + CI before commit

Commands

Command	Description
arka dev init [path]	Initialize a scoped code project (alias: arka code init .)
arka dev status [path]	Code project status + repo dev doctor summary
arka dev test [path]	Run changed-only CI gates (--full, --fix, --json)
arka dev review [path]	Review staged changes (--fail-on-hints, --json)
arka dev ship [path]	Review staged changes + run changed CI
arka dev gaps [path]	List source files without matching tests
arka dev doctor [path]	Repo dev preflight (hooks, ruff, pytest discovery)
arka dev hooks install	Install pre-commit hooks
arka dev pr …	GitHub PR diff, CI, explain, babysit
arka dev tui [path]	Open the coding TUI

Ship before commit

arka dev ship is the pre-commit gate:

1. Prints a staged review (security, test-gap, and docs hints)
2. Runs changed-only CI gates (Ruff + targeted tests)
3. Prints a concise pass/fail summary and suggested next step

git add -A
arka dev ship
# or skip review hints blocking:
arka dev ship --no-review
# or hand CI failures to the goal agent:
arka dev ship --fix

On success, Arka suggests git commit and arka dev pr babysit if you are opening a PR.

Doctor vs dev doctor

Command	Scope
arka doctor	Platform install check (Python, fish, bundled scripts)
arka dev doctor	Repository preflight (git hooks, local CI tooling, project rules)

Coding TUI integration

Inside arka dev tui (or arka coding-tui .):

Slash command	Behavior
/ship	Same as arka dev ship (staged review + changed CI)
/ship --fix	Ship with goal-agent fix on CI failure
/ci	Run changed-only CI gates
/ci preview	Preview gate list without executing
/review	Staged review with test-gap hints
/review --fail	Exit the TUI if review hints are present
/test --max-fixes 2	Up to two auto-fix passes on test failure

See Coding TUI for the full command reference.

Natural language

Arka routes phrases like these to the dev loop:

arka "dev ship"
arka "prepare to commit"
arka "run dev checks"
arka "dev test"
arka "dev review"
arka "open dev tui"

JSON output

Script-friendly output for automation:

arka dev test --json
arka dev review --json
arka dev ship --json
arka dev gaps --json

Review JSON includes a test_gaps array listing changed source files without a matching test file.

Related guides

• How to code with Arka — broader coding workflow
• CLI reference — all top-level commands
• Repo health — generic lint/test detection
• GitHub Actions — CI parity with arka ci