A universal, tech-agnostic development process framework. One Markdown file. Any project. Any language. Any stack. Any team size.
v3.3.0 MIT License Open Source
Download mastery.md Download compact GitHub
MASTERY.md is a complete development process framework distributed as Markdown files. Copy them into your project's docs/ folder and follow the lifecycle. Every feature starts as a discussion, gets designed, becomes a plan, and ships as clean, tested code.
It works for both humans and AI agents. The built-in AI Agent Protocol gives AI models structured context, clear autonomy boundaries, and a disciplined process to follow.
| Variant | Tokens | Use When |
|---|---|---|
| mastery.md (full) | ~25k | You want the complete framework with all 16 templates — solid, thorough development |
| mastery-compact.md | ~5k | You want to save tokens and still get awesome development — all rules, no templates |
AI agents load the compact variant by default and pull templates from the full file only when needed. 80% token savings on every context load.
Every feature follows the same disciplined path from idea to production. No shortcuts. No skipped steps.
git clone https://github.com/raiworks/mastery.md.git
cp MASTERY.md/mastery.md your-project/docs/
cp MASTERY.md/mastery-compact.md your-project/docs/Then create your project docs:
docs/project-discussion.md - Capture WHY the project existsdocs/project-context.md - Formalize WHAT the project isdocs/project-roadmap.md - Plan WHERE you're goingStart your first feature: docs/features/01-feature-name/discussion.md
MASTERY.md works just as well on existing codebases as on new ones. You don't need to rewrite anything or pause development. The mid-project adoption flow preserves your existing work while bringing structure going forward.
docs/_archive/ — preserved, never deletedsummary.md files — no need to create full lifecycle docs for past workYour project gets structured docs, AI-readable context, and a clear roadmap — without disrupting anything that's already working.
Works with any language, any framework, any stack. From Go to Python to Rust to JavaScript.
Built-in AI Agent Protocol. AI agents load context, follow autonomy boundaries, and hand off sessions cleanly.
One Markdown file defines the entire process. No tools to install, no SaaS to sign up for, no vendor lock-in.
Solo developer or 100-person team. The framework scales without changing the process.
From discussion to deployment. Includes templates, git strategy, commit conventions, and hotfix workflows.
MIT licensed. Free forever. Use it, modify it, share it. The framework belongs to the community.
The mastery-mcp-server gives AI agents native access to your Mastery docs through the Model Context Protocol. 14 tools and 11 resources for reading context, tasks, roadmaps, test plans, and more — including the compact variant.
{
"mcpServers": {
"mastery": {
"command": "mastery-mcp-server",
"args": ["--project-dir", "."]
}
}
}