Profile Al Development

AL Development Profile - Full Lifecycle

Version: 2.21.0

Claude Code profile for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central AL development with intelligent complexity routing and proportional planning.

Overview

This profile provides a document-driven development workflow with specialized agents for each phase of AL development: planning, implementation, testing, and support.

Key Features

• Document-Driven Workflow - All agents collaborate via .dev/ markdown files
• Project Memory System - 40-60% faster workflows via .dev/project-context.md
• Smart Complexity Routing - Automatically matches workflow to task complexity
• Proportional Planning - Simple tasks get concise plans, complex tasks get comprehensive docs
• Full Lifecycle Coverage - Requirements → Design → Implementation → Testing
• MCP Integration - BC Intelligence, Microsoft Docs, AL Dependency navigation
• Automated Workflows - Complete development cycles with single commands
• Clean Context - Agents write detailed files, return concise summaries

Quick Start

Enable in Your AL Project

In your AL project's .claude/settings.json:

{
  "extraKnownMarketplaces": {
    "my-configs": {
      "source": {
        "source": "directory",
        "path": "/home/stefan/claude-configs"
      }
    }
  },
  "enabledPlugins": {
    "profile-al-development@my-configs": true
  }
}

Run Full Development Cycle

/dev-cycle "Add customer credit limit validation"

This runs the complete pipeline:

1. Requirements engineering
2. BC solution design
3. Implementation planning
4. Code implementation
5. Code review
6. Diagnostics fixing
7. Test creation
8. Test review

All results in .dev/ directory.

Available Commands

Estimation & Planning

• /estimate "[description]" - Complete estimation workflow (interview → experts → planning → hours)
• /estimate --quick "[description]" - Quick estimate (skip interview)
• /interview - Deep requirements gathering (40+ questions)
• /plan "[description]" - Planning phase only (requirements → design → plan)

Quick Fix (⚡ Fastest)

• /fix "[error or bug]" - Quick bug fix workflow (5 min: locate → fix → verify, no planning)

Full Workflows

• /dev-cycle "[description]" - Complete development cycle
• /develop - Development phase only (implement → review → fix)
• /test - Testing phase only (create tests → review)

On-Demand Support

• /bc-expert "[question]" - Consult BC specialists
• /docs-lookup "[topic]" - Search Microsoft Docs
• /nav-baseapp "[query]" - Explore base app objects

Development Phases

Phase 1: Planning & Design

Agents:

1. requirements-engineer - Extract and document requirements
2. solution-planner - Design BC-integrated solution + create implementation plan

Output:

• .dev/01-requirements.md
• .dev/02-solution-plan.md

Phase 2: Development & Quality

Agents: 3. al-developer - Write AL code 4. code-reviewer - Review code quality 5. diagnostics-fixer - Fix compiler diagnostics

Output:

• .dev/03-code-review.md
• .dev/04-diagnostics.md
• AL source files

Phase 3: Testing & Validation

Agents: 6. test-engineer - Create comprehensive tests 7. test-reviewer - Review test coverage

Output:

• .dev/05-test-plan.md
• .dev/06-test-review.md
• Test codeunits

Support Agents (On-Demand)

Agents: 8. bc-expert - BC specialist consultation 9. docs-lookup - Microsoft Docs search 10. dependency-navigator - Base app exploration

Output:

• .dev/expert-[topic].md
• .dev/docs-[topic].md
• .dev/nav-[topic].md

Note: solution-planner uses BC Intelligence, MS Docs, and AL Dependency MCP tools internally.

Automated Test Execution (v2.20+)

Agents can now automatically compile, publish, and execute tests during TDD workflow:

Requirements

1. bc-publish - Publishes .app files to BC server
2. bc-test - Executes test codeunits via OData API
3. .bcconfig.json - BC server configuration

Setup

Install bc-publish and bc-test utilities (or ensure they're in PATH):

# Create .bcconfig.json in your project root
bc-publish --init

Edit .bcconfig.json:

{
  "server": "http://localhost",
  "port": 7048,
  "instance": "BC",
  "tenant": "default",
  "username": "admin",
  "password": "Admin123!",
  "apiInstance": "BC",
  "apiPassword": "your-web-service-access-key",
  "schemaUpdateMode": "synchronize"
}

TDD Workflow with Automated Testing

When using TDD workflow (/develop with test specifications):

1. RED Phase: Agent writes failing test, compiles, publishes, runs → verifies FAIL → asks user to approve
2. GREEN Phase: Agent implements code, compiles, publishes, runs → verifies PASS → asks user to approve
3. REFACTOR Phase: Agent refactors, compiles, publishes, runs all tests → verifies all PASS → asks user to approve

This automation maintains TDD discipline while eliminating manual deployment steps.

Advanced bc-test Features

Auto-Detection:

• bc-test automatically detects test codeunit range from app.json
• No need to specify codeunit IDs manually

File Output:

• -o file.txt: Write detailed results to file (human-readable)
• -o file.json -f json: Export as JSON for CI/CD integration
• Console shows summary only for clean conversation

Failures-Only Filter:

• --failures-only: Focus on failed tests only
• Smart default: Console output shows failures-only by default

Examples:

# Auto-detect range, show failures only (default)
bc-test

# Save all results to file
bc-test -o .dev/test-results.txt

# Export as JSON for CI/CD
bc-test -o results.json -f json

# Focus on failures
bc-test --failures-only

MCP Server Configuration

This profile uses three MCP servers:

BC Code Intelligence MCP

• BC specialist consultations
• Best practices and patterns
• Architecture guidance

Microsoft Docs MCP

• Official AL documentation
• API references
• Breaking changes information

AL Dependency MCP

• Base app object navigation
• Event discovery
• Dependency analysis

Directory Structure

profile-al-development/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── plugin.json           # Plugin metadata
├── agents/                   # Specialized agents (10 total)
│   ├── requirements-engineer.md
│   ├── solution-planner.md
│   ├── al-developer.md
│   ├── code-reviewer.md
│   ├── diagnostics-fixer.md
│   ├── test-engineer.md
│   ├── test-reviewer.md
│   ├── bc-expert.md
│   ├── docs-lookup.md
│   └── dependency-navigator.md
├── commands/                 # Slash commands
│   ├── dev-cycle.md
│   ├── plan.md
│   ├── develop.md
│   ├── test.md
│   ├── bc-expert.md
│   ├── docs-lookup.md
│   └── nav-baseapp.md
├── CLAUDE.md                 # Main profile instructions
├── .mcp.json                 # MCP server configuration
└── README.md                 # This file

Typical Workflow

Quick Bug Fix (5 minutes)

# Fast track for small bugs
/fix "Email validation fails for john.doe@example.com"

# Reviews:
# - Locates the issue in code
# - Shows proposed fix
# - You approve
# - Runs diagnostics
# - Done! Ready to commit

Starting a New Feature

# 1. Run full development cycle
/dev-cycle "Add field validation for customer emails"

# 2. Review output files
cat .dev/01-requirements.md
cat .dev/02-solution-plan.md

# 3. Implementation, review, diagnostics run automatically

# 4. Review code and test results
cat .dev/03-code-review.md
cat .dev/06-test-review.md

# 5. Done! Code, tests, and documentation all in place

Planning Only

# Create solution plan without coding
/plan "Add dashboard for sales analytics"

# Review plan
cat .dev/02-solution-plan.md

# Later, implement the plan
/develop

Getting BC Expert Help

# Consult BC specialist
/bc-expert "Best practice for extending posting routines?"

# Review consultation
cat .dev/expert-posting-routines.md

Exploring Base App

# Find extension points
/nav-baseapp "Find all Customer table events"

# Review findings
cat .dev/nav-customer-events.md

AL Coding Standards

This profile enforces BC best practices:

• PascalCase naming
• Table extensions over base modifications
• Event subscribers for base app integration
• SetLoadFields for performance
• XML documentation on public procedures
• DataClassification on all fields

See CLAUDE.md for complete standards.

Output Files

All agent work documented in .dev/:

.dev/
├── 01-requirements.md      # What to build
├── 02-solution-plan.md     # Complete solution (design + implementation)
├── 03-code-review.md       # Code quality review
├── 04-diagnostics.md       # Compiler fixes
├── 05-test-plan.md         # Test strategy
├── 06-test-review.md       # Test coverage review
├── session-log.md          # Agent activity log
├── expert-*.md             # BC specialist consultations
├── docs-*.md               # Microsoft Docs lookups
└── nav-*.md                # Base app explorations

Agent Collaboration

Agents read previous outputs to maintain context:

requirements-engineer → 01-requirements.md
                              ↓
solution-planner → 02-solution-plan.md (reads 01, uses MCP tools)
                              ↓
al-developer → AL code (reads 02)
                              ↓
code-reviewer → 03-code-review.md (reads code)
                              ↓
[and so on...]

Benefits

Document-Driven

• Complete audit trail
• Easy to review and iterate
• Persistent context across sessions

Clean Main Conversation

• Agents write to files, not chat
• Concise status updates only
• No context pollution

Full Lifecycle

• Every phase covered
• Nothing falls through cracks
• Consistent quality

MCP Integration

• Official Microsoft documentation
• BC specialist expertise
• Base app understanding

Customization

Project-Specific Settings

In your project's .claude/CLAUDE.md:

# Project-Specific AL Guidelines

## Object Number Range
- Tables: 50100-50199
- Codeunits: 50100-50199
- Pages: 50100-50199

## Custom Prefix
- All objects: `ACME`

@/home/stefan/claude-configs/profile-al-development/CLAUDE.md

The @ import loads the profile, your settings augment it.

Troubleshooting

Plugin Not Loading

# Verify registration
cat ~/.claude/settings.json

# Check plugin valid
cat ~/claude-configs/profile-al-development/.claude-plugin/plugin.json

Agents Not Working

• Ensure MCP servers are configured
• Check .mcp.json paths
• Verify BC Intelligence MCP is running

Clean Slate

# Remove work directory to start fresh
rm -rf .dev/

Recommended Hooks

Desktop notifications for when Claude needs your attention or finishes work. Add to your user or project settings (not in the plugin):

{
  "hooks": {
    "PreToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "AskUserQuestion",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "notify-send -t 7000 'Claude Code' 'Question: Waiting for your answer'"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "Stop": [
      {
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "notify-send -t 5000 'Claude Code' 'Done: Ready for input'"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Note: These hooks go in ~/.claude/settings.json (user) or .claude/settings.json (project), not in the plugin itself. Replace notify-send with your system's notification command if not on Linux.

Requirements

• Claude Code CLI
• AL Language extension
• BC development environment
• MCP servers (optional but recommended):
  • BC Code Intelligence MCP
  • Microsoft Docs MCP
  • AL Dependency MCP

Contributing

Improvements to this profile benefit all your AL projects. After making changes:

cd ~/claude-configs
git add profile-al-development/
git commit -m "Improve [aspect]"
git push

On other computers:

cd ~/claude-configs
git pull

Resources

• AL Language Documentation
• BC Best Practices
• Claude Code Profiles

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Full-lifecycle AL development with intelligent agents and document-driven workflow.