Quick Start: Your First Feature in 5 Minutes

What You'll Build

An ASCII art banner generator. Give it text, get back block letters in your terminal:

$ python -m banner "nWave"

 N   N  W   W   AA   V   V  EEEEE
 NN  N  W   W  A  A  V   V  E
 N N N  W W W  AAAA   V V   EEE
 N  NN  WW WW  A  A   V V   E
 N   N  W   W  A  A    V    EEEEE

Three commands. You review at each step. The machine never runs without your approval.

Step 1: Define What You Want

/nw-discuss "ASCII art banner generator: a pure Python function that takes a string and returns multi-line ASCII block letters. Only uppercase A-Z and spaces. No external dependencies."

The @product-owner agent asks clarifying questions — answer simply. When it finishes, you'll find requirements under:

docs/feature/{feature-id}/discuss/

SSOT model: Product-level documents (journeys, architecture) are in docs/product/. Feature-specific artifacts (user stories, wave decisions) are in docs/feature/{feature-id}/discuss/.

What to check: Open the file. Are the requirements reasonable? Is the scope small? If the agent added too much (colors, fonts, animations), edit the file and remove it. Keep it simple: one function, block letters, A-Z + space.

Expected time: ~1 minute

Step 2: Define "Done"

/nw-distill

The @acceptance-designer creates Given-When-Then test scenarios. You'll find them under tests/.

What to check: You should see 2-4 scenarios like:

• Single letter renders correctly
• Full word renders correctly
• Spaces between words work
• Empty input returns empty output

If there are more than 5 scenarios, ask the agent to consolidate. Fewer scenarios = faster delivery.

Expected time: ~1 minute

Step 3: Build It

/nw-deliver

This is where the magic happens. The @software-crafter implements your feature using Outside-In TDD:

1. Reads your acceptance tests
2. Creates a roadmap (one step per scenario)
3. For each step: writes a failing test → makes it pass → cleans up
4. Commits after each green test

What you'll see: The agent works through each step. This takes 2-3 minutes for a feature this small. You'll see test runs, code being written, and commits being made.

When it's done: All acceptance tests pass. Run them yourself:

pytest tests/ -v

You should see all green.

Try It

Your banner generator is ready. Test it:

python -c "from banner import render; print(render('HI'))"

You should see block letters in your terminal.

What Just Happened

Three commands. Three human checkpoints. One working feature with tests.

You typed          Agent did                    You checked
─────────          ─────────                    ───────────
/nw-discuss        Wrote requirements           ✓ Scope right?
/nw-distill        Created acceptance tests     ✓ Scenarios cover it?
/nw-deliver        TDD implementation           ✓ Tests pass?

The feature is tested, committed, and ready to use.

What's Next

• Bigger feature: See Your First Feature for a multi-phase workflow with architecture design
• Existing codebase: See Jobs To Be Done Guide for adding features to brownfield projects
• Need help?: Type /nw-buddy "what should I do next?" to get contextual guidance from the concierge agent
• All commands: See nWave Commands Reference