Dev Testing with `--use-dev`

Just want to customize AIWG for your own use? That's a different (simpler) path — see Make AIWG Yours. The Steward handles it end-to-end. This document is for contributors testing framework changes.

Test local framework changes by pointing the installed `aiwg` CLI at your development repository.

Quick Start

# Switch to dev mode (uses this repo as framework source)
aiwg --use-dev

# Deploy from local source to verify changes
aiwg use all

# Check that dev mode is active
aiwg version

# Switch back to npm-installed package
aiwg --use-stable

How It Works

`--use-dev` sets the channel config to `edge` with the `edgePath` pointing at the local repo root instead of the default `~/.local/share/ai-writing-guide` clone location. The existing `getFrameworkRoot()` function reads `edgePath` and returns it when channel is `edge`, so all framework operations (`aiwg use`, `aiwg list`, etc.) source from local files.

A `devMode: true` flag is also set in the config so `aiwg version` can distinguish dev mode from a regular edge install.

Typical Workflow

1. Make changes to framework source (e.g., add a new skill in `agentic/code/`) 2. Run `aiwg --use-dev` to point at local repo 3. Run `aiwg use all` (or `aiwg use sdlc`, etc.) to deploy 4. Verify artifacts deployed correctly (check `.claude/skills/`, `.claude/agents/`, etc.) 5. Run `aiwg --use-stable` when done testing

Verifying New Artifacts

After `aiwg use all`, check that your new artifacts appear:

# List deployed skills
ls .claude/skills/

# List deployed agents
ls .claude/agents/

# List deployed rules
ls .claude/rules/

# List deployed commands
ls .claude/commands/

Channel Comparison

Flag	Channel	Source	Use Case
`--use-stable`	stable	npm package	Normal usage
`--use-main`	edge	GitHub clone	Bleeding-edge updates
`--use-dev`	edge (dev)	Local repo	Testing local changes