Quick Mode

Skip the planning ceremony. Get working code fast.

Usage

/phx:quick Add pagination to posts
/phx:quick Fix the login redirect bug
/phx:quick Add CSV export to reports

Arguments

$ARGUMENTS

= What to implement

How It Differs

Normal Mode	Quick Mode
Spawn research agents	No agents
Create plan document	Mental model only
Parallel review	Optional single review
Multiple iterations	Single pass

Workflow

1. Understand - Read relevant files (max 3)
2. Implement - Write code directly
3. Verify - Quick compile check
4. Done - No ceremony

Iron Laws

1. NEVER skip verification — run

   mix compile --warnings-as-errors

   after every change, even in quick mode
2. DO NOT touch files outside the stated scope — quick mode means minimal blast radius; if a fix requires changes across multiple domains, escalate to

   /phx:plan

3. NEVER bypass security checks for speed — auth, input validation, and XSS rules apply regardless of change size

Rules in Quick Mode

Still Enforced (Iron Laws)

• ✓ No process without runtime reason
• ✓ No DB in mount
• ✓ Security basics (no SQL injection, etc.)
• ✓ Run

  mix format

Skipped

• ✗ Parallel agent research
• ✗ Written plan document
• ✗ Multiple review passes
• ✗ Documentation updates

When to Use

Good for:

• Bug fixes with clear solution
• Small features (<100 lines)
• Refactoring with tests
• Adding fields/columns
• UI tweaks

Not for:

• New authentication flows
• Payment integration
• Data migrations
• Architectural changes
• Anything touching security

Quick Patterns

Add Field

/quick Add phone field to users

→ Migration + schema + changeset + form field

Fix Bug

/quick Fix: posts not showing for admin users

→ Find issue + fix + verify

Add Endpoint

/quick Add GET /api/health endpoint

→ Route + controller + response

Escape Hatch

If quick mode hits complexity:

This needs more planning. Switching to normal mode.
Run /phx:plan [task] for full analysis.

Verification

After quick implementation:

Run

mix compile --warnings-as-errors

. If you touched Ecto schemas or migrations, run

mix ecto.migrate

. Then run

mix test test/path_test.exs

for affected tests.

Example Session

User: /phx:quick Add archived_at timestamp to posts

Claude:
1. Reading lib/my_app/blog/post.ex...
2. Creating migration...

# priv/repo/migrations/xxx_add_archived_at_to_posts.exs
def change do
  alter table(:posts) do
    add :archived_at, :utc_datetime
  end
end

3. Updating schema...

# lib/my_app/blog/post.ex
field :archived_at, :utc_datetime

4. Adding to changeset...

def changeset(post, attrs) do
  post
  |> cast(attrs, [:title, :body, :archived_at])
  ...
end

5. Verifying...
$ mix compile --warnings-as-errors ✓
$ mix ecto.migrate ✓

Done. Run `mix test` to verify.