TDD, Code Review, and Debugging: The Built-In Quality Stack

The most expensive bugs are the ones that ship. The most expensive technical debt is the kind that accumulates silently while everyone focuses on features. Every professional development team knows this. The question is not whether you need quality processes. It is whether they are enforced consistently.

Leopoldo plugins include a built-in quality stack: a set of interconnected capabilities that enforce professional development standards automatically. These aren't suggestions or guidelines. They are active components (agents, orchestrators, and hooks) that run as part of every workflow.

Test-Driven Development

Every Leopoldo plugin enforces a test-first approach. When you're building with a plugin, the workflow starts with tests.

How It Works

The plugin's orchestration system guides Claude Code through a structured TDD cycle:

1. **Define the expected behavior**: What should this code do? What are the edge cases? 2. **Write failing tests**: Tests are written before implementation, capturing requirements as executable specifications. 3. **Implement to pass**: Code is written with a clear target: make the tests pass. 4. **Refactor with confidence**: With passing tests as a safety net, refactoring becomes safe rather than risky.

This isn't just a prompt that says "write tests first." The plugin's hooks actively verify that tests exist before implementation proceeds. Skip the tests, and the workflow pauses.

Systematic Debugging

When something breaks, the quality stack enforces a structured debugging methodology instead of the typical trial-and-error approach.

The Methodology

**Reproduce:** Before anything else, confirm the bug exists and capture the exact conditions that trigger it. No guessing, no assumptions.

**Isolate:** Narrow down the cause systematically. Binary search through the codebase, eliminate variables, identify the specific component responsible.

**Fix:** With the root cause identified, implement a targeted fix. Not a workaround, not a band-aid. A fix that addresses the actual problem.

**Verify:** Confirm the fix resolves the original issue, write a regression test to prevent recurrence, and verify no new issues were introduced.

This four-step process is enforced by the plugin's orchestration system. Jump straight to "fix" without reproducing and isolating first, and the workflow redirects you back.

Automated Code Review

Every piece of code produced through a Leopoldo plugin workflow goes through automated review against coding standards.

What Gets Checked

• **Coding standards compliance**: Consistent formatting, naming conventions, and structural patterns.
• **Common anti-patterns**: Known problematic patterns are flagged before they enter the codebase.
• **Complexity analysis**: Overly complex functions and deeply nested logic are identified for simplification.
• **Documentation coverage**: Public interfaces and complex logic require appropriate documentation.

The review runs automatically as part of the workflow. There's no separate step to remember, no manual trigger to invoke.

Verification Before Completion

The quality stack's final layer is verification: no task is marked complete without evidence that it works.

Evidence Over Assertions

The plugin requires concrete proof before declaring success. "It should work" isn't accepted. "Tests pass, linter clean, review complete" is. This means:

• All tests pass (including new tests written during the task)
• No linting errors or warnings introduced
• Code review checks satisfied
• Build succeeds

This evidence-based approach eliminates the "it works on my machine" problem and catches issues before they reach production.

How the Quality Stack Works Together

These capabilities aren't isolated features. They form an integrated system:

TDD ensures tests exist before code is written. Systematic debugging provides a structured approach when tests reveal issues. Automated code review catches quality problems that tests don't cover. Verification ensures everything works together before the task completes.

Each layer reinforces the others. Tests make debugging easier. Debugging methodology prevents sloppy fixes that would fail review. Review catches issues that verification confirms are resolved.

Explore the full plugin catalog at leopoldo.ai and see how the built-in quality stack transforms your development workflow.