A CLAUDE.md for the seven-stage Magnum Opus engineering workflow — Calcination, Dissolution, Separation, Conjunction, Fermentation, Distillation, Coagulation. Alchemy applied to software.
A single
CLAUDE.mdfor the seven-stage Magnum Opus engineering workflow. Alchemy applied to software project transformation.
"Solve et coagula." — Dissolve and coagulate.
| # | Stage | Operation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calcination 🜂 | Burn what doesn't serve |
| 2 | Dissolution 🜄 | Let understanding flow |
| 3 | Separation 🜁 | Gold from dross |
| 4 | Conjunction ☌ | Unite opposites |
| 5 | Fermentation 🜅 | Trial by failure |
| 6 | Distillation ⊚ | Refine to wisdom |
| 7 | Coagulation 🜍 | Crystallize into form |
The pipeline alternates dissolving (1-3: tear apart the existing form) and coagulating (4-7: build the new form).
Full content: CLAUDE.md.
- Project transformation (substantial change in direction)
- Codebase that has accumulated 12+ months of accretion
- Post-acquisition integration
- Major version cuts (v1 → v2 with real changes)
- Strategic pivots that change the project's purpose
- Feature work
- Bug fixes
- Routine refactoring
Use individual standalone stages instead. The full pipeline is a transformation discipline, not a maintenance one.
Each stage is also a standalone repo with its own focused CLAUDE.md:
calcinate-skills— Stage 1
The other six stages (dissolve, separate, conjoin, ferment, distill, coagulate) currently live as Claude Code skills in ~/.claude/skills/ and as the existing slash commands. Future repos may package them individually.
curl -o CLAUDE.md https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HermeticOrmus/magnum-opus-skills/main/CLAUDE.mdOr as a Claude Code skill or Cursor rule.
The seven stages aren't mystical decoration. They're a tested decomposition of fundamental transformation, refined over centuries of alchemical practice. The framework holds because it describes real properties of transformation, regardless of the source.
If you want the philosophical foundation: hermetic-laws-skills.
calcinate-skills— Stage 1 standalonehermetic-laws-skills— the seven Hermetic Principlesriper-workflow-skills— a tactical workflow (within stages)six-day-cycle-skills— shipping cadence
MIT.
This repository is part of a growing family of open-source toolkits for Claude Code.
- LibreUIUX-Claude-Code — UI/UX development (152 agents, 70 plugins, 76 commands, 74 skills)
- LibreArch-Claude-Code — Software architecture and system design
- LibreCopy-Claude-Code — Technical writing and documentation engineering
- LibreDevOps-Claude-Code — DevOps engineering and infrastructure automation
- LibreEmbed-Claude-Code — Embedded systems, firmware, and IoT development
- LibreFinTech-Claude-Code — Financial technology development
- LibreGEO-Claude-Code — AI-search optimization (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews)
- LibreGameDev-Claude-Code — Game development across Godot, Unity, Unreal
- LibreMLOps-Claude-Code — ML engineering and AI operations
- LibreMobileDev-Claude-Code — Mobile app development (Flutter, React Native, native iOS, native Android)
- LibreSecOps-Claude-Code — Security operations
- LibreSessionFlow-Claude-Code — Session lifecycle: handoff, pickup, absorb, explore, close
- vibe-engineer-skills — Direct AI codegen well: hypothesis before help, scoped prompts, validate before accepting
- markdown-discipline-skills — Strip AI-slop from markdown (no em dashes, no marketing fluff)
- shell-safety-skills —
set -euo pipefaildiscipline plus 15 failure-mode examples - commit-standard-skills — Ormus Commit Standard v1.0 plus commit-msg hook and commitlint
- unwoke-skills — Strip AI theater (ten sins to eliminate, symmetric engagement)
- python-conventions-skills — Modern Python 3.11+ (types, pathlib, async, ruff, mypy, uv)
- typescript-conventions-skills — TypeScript strict mode, discriminated unions, Result types
- hermetic-laws-skills — Seven Hermetic Principles applied to engineering
- riper-workflow-skills — Research / Innovate / Plan / Execute / Review systematic dev
- six-day-cycle-skills — Sustainable shipping cadence with mandatory rest
- token-optimization-skills — Claude Code token and context optimization
- osint-skills — OSINT research methodology (multi-wave investigative spiral)
- calcinate-skills — Stage 1 of the Magnum Opus (burn project bloat)
- claude-md-overhaul-skills — Audit CLAUDE.md and MEMORY.md against caps
- session-handoff-skills — Session handoff and pickup discipline
- naming-skills — Product naming methodology (mine the brand's vocabulary)
- mem-search-skills — Search claude-mem cross-session memory: search, filter, fetch
- hypothesis-debugging-skills — Hypothesis-driven debugging: reproduce, isolate, test, fix
- vibe-proof-skills — Security hardening for vibe-coded full-stack apps
- tdd-skills — Test-driven development (Red-Green-Refactor) for JS/TS and Python
- mars-skills — Production-readiness audit: the five mortal sins of vibe-coded MVPs
- git-workflow-skills — Clean git workflow: branch, atomic commits, reviewable PRs
- code-review-skills — Domain-aware code review: classify the code, then focus
- code-comprehension-skills — Understand an unfamiliar codebase fast
- dx-audit-skills — Audit developer experience: docs, onboarding, tooling friction
- setup-env-skills — Set up a project's development environment
- automate-skills — Turn repetitive tasks into reliable automation scripts
- quick-fix-skills — Fast troubleshooting for common issues
- prime-context-skills — Prime project context at the start of a session
- auto-docs-skills — Generate and maintain project documentation
- learning-skills — Learn any technology: roadmaps, explanations, practice, cheatsheets, comparisons
- linux-sysadmin-skills — Linux system administration: security, performance, diagnostics, monitoring, maintenance
- andrej-karpathy-skills — the canonical single-file CLAUDE.md pattern (fork of jiayuan_jy's original)
Star the family, not just one — that's how the suite stays coherent.