neural-nexus-claude-project/workflow/daily-routine.md

Daily Development Workflow

Morning Routine (5 minutes)

Session Startup Checklist

• Pull latest changes from both repositories
• Review yesterday's session end notes
• Check current sprint priorities
• Open development environment (browser, devtools, editor)
• Quick game test to confirm current state

Session Start Prompt

Use this prompt in Claude Projects to begin each session:

Neural Nexus development check-in:

**SESSION FOCUS:**
- What game feature are we working on today?
- Any performance issues or player feedback from last session?
- Which devices should we test the latest changes on?
- Priority focus: gameplay mechanics, visual polish, or technical optimization?

**QUICK STATUS:**
- Current build status and any blockers?
- Recent player testing feedback or observations?
- Performance metrics from last session?

**TODAY'S GOALS:**
- Primary objective for this session?
- Secondary tasks if time permits?
- Any experimental features to explore?

Keep response concise and action-oriented to start productive development.

During Development

Code Quality Habits

• Test Early, Test Often: Check changes on multiple devices every 30 minutes
• Small Commits: Commit working features individually with clear messages
• Performance Monitoring: Watch frame rate in DevTools during development
• User Experience: Consider player perspective with every change

Documentation While Coding

• Decision Tracking: Note why you chose specific approaches
• Pattern Recording: Document reusable code patterns in knowledge base
• Issue Logging: Record any bugs or odd behaviors for later investigation
• Performance Notes: Track frame rate impacts of new features

End of Session (5 minutes - CRITICAL)

Session End Prompt

NEVER skip this step - Use the session end prompt from templates:

Neural Nexus session wrap-up:

**ACCOMPLISHED TODAY:**
- [Specific features implemented or bugs fixed]
- [Performance improvements or optimizations made]
- [User experience enhancements added]

**GAME DESIGN DECISIONS:**
- [Difficulty balancing choices and reasoning]
- [Visual or audio design decisions made]
- [Technical architecture choices and trade-offs]

**NEXT SESSION PRIORITY:**
- [Most important game feature or improvement to work on]
- [Specific technical goal or gameplay element]

**GAME HEALTH:** [Green/Yellow/Red]
- Performance: [60fps achieved/needs optimization/concerning issues]
- Fun factor: [highly engaging/needs refinement/major issues]
- Technical debt: [clean code/manageable/needs refactoring]

**TESTING NOTES:**
- [Devices and browsers tested on]
- [Player feedback or usability observations]
- [Performance metrics and frame rate data]

**KNOWLEDGE BASE UPDATES NEEDED:**
- [New patterns or techniques to document]
- [Design decisions to capture]
- [Performance findings to record]

Post-Session Tasks

• Commit all changes with descriptive messages
• Update feature roadmap if priorities shifted
• Add any new patterns to knowledge base
• Test final state on at least 2 different devices
• Push changes to repository

Weekly Routine (Fridays, 15 minutes)

Weekly Review Process

1. Run weekly review prompt (see templates/weekly-review-prompt.md)
2. Update project documentation based on week's learnings
3. Assess roadmap progress and adjust if needed
4. Archive completed features and plan next week
5. Clean up knowledge base - remove outdated information

Git Maintenance

# Weekly repository maintenance
git fetch origin
git status
git log --oneline --since="1 week ago"

# Tag weekly milestones
git tag -a week-$(date +%Y%m%d) -m "Weekly milestone: [summary of accomplishments]"
git push --tags

# Clean up branches if using feature branches
git branch --merged | grep -v main | xargs -n 1 git branch -d

Emergency Procedures

When Things Go Wrong

Game Broken After Changes

1. Don't panic - check browser console for errors
2. Revert last commit if needed: git reset --hard HEAD~1
3. Use browser DevTools to debug step by step
4. Test in incognito mode to rule out cache issues
5. Ask Claude for help with specific error messages

Lost Context in Claude Project

1. Use emergency recovery prompt from templates
2. Re-upload key documentation from knowledge base
3. Run project status reconstruction
4. Continue with current session goals

Performance Suddenly Degraded

1. Profile in browser DevTools to identify bottleneck
2. Check recent commits for performance-impacting changes
3. Test on different devices to isolate issue
4. Use performance monitoring tools from knowledge base

Productivity Tips

Focus Techniques

• Pomodoro Method: 25 min focused work, 5 min break
• Feature Boxing: Complete one small feature before starting another
• Device Rotation: Test on different devices throughout day
• Player Perspective: Regularly play your own game as a user

Avoiding Common Pitfalls

• Feature Creep: Stick to current sprint goals
• Perfect Code Syndrome: Prototype first, optimize later
• Testing Neglect: Test immediately after each change
• Documentation Debt: Update docs as you code, not later

Energy Management

• Morning: Complex features and architecture decisions
• Afternoon: Testing, optimization, and polish
• Evening: Documentation and planning
• When Tired: Testing on devices, organizing knowledge base

Success Metrics

Daily Success Indicators

• ✅ Clear progress on current sprint goal
• ✅ No performance regressions introduced
• ✅ All changes tested on mobile and desktop
• ✅ Session properly documented and consolidated
• ✅ Next session has clear starting point

Weekly Success Indicators

• ✅ Sprint goals on track or completed
• ✅ Technical debt managed (not growing)
• ✅ Knowledge base updated with new learnings
• ✅ Performance targets maintained
• ✅ Player experience improving measurably

Warning Signs

• 🚨 Repeating same tasks (may indicate unclear goals)
• 🚨 Frame rate declining (performance debt accumulating)
• 🚨 Unclear next steps (need better planning)
• 🚨 Skipping session consolidation (context will be lost)
• 🚨 Not testing on devices (mobile issues building up)

Tools and Setup

Essential Browser DevTools

• Console: Error monitoring and debug logging
• Performance: Frame rate and memory profiling
• Network: Asset loading analysis
• Device Toolbar: Mobile testing and responsive design
• Lighthouse: Performance auditing

Development Environment

# Essential tools for productive development
brew install --cask google-chrome  # Primary testing browser
brew install --cask firefox        # Cross-browser testing
brew install python                # Local server (python -m http.server)
brew install git                   # Version control

# Optional but recommended
brew install --cask visual-studio-code  # Code editor
brew install node                       # For future build tools

Git Workflow

# Daily workflow
git status                    # Check current state
git add .                     # Stage changes
git commit -m "feat: add X"   # Commit with clear message
git push origin main          # Push to repository

# Branch workflow (for larger features)
git checkout -b feature/audio-system
# ... work on feature ...
git checkout main
git merge feature/audio-system
git branch -d feature/audio-system

Remember: Consistency in daily workflow creates compound improvements over time. The small overhead of proper documentation and testing pays huge dividends in development velocity and code quality.