Incremental Implementation

---
name: incremental-implementation
description: Delivers changes incrementally. Use when implementing any feature or change that touches more than one file. Use when you're about to write a large amount of code at once, or when a task feels too big to land in one step.
---

# Incremental Implementation

## Overview

Build in thin vertical slices — implement one piece, test it, verify it, then expand. Avoid implementing an entire feature in one pass. Each increment should leave the system in a working, testable state. This is the execution discipline that makes large features manageable.

## When to Use

- Implementing any multi-file change
- Building a new feature from a task breakdown
- Refactoring existing code
- Any time you're tempted to write more than ~100 lines before testing

**When NOT to use:** Single-file, single-function changes where the scope is already minimal.

## The Increment Cycle

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