# CORA

Most AI coding tools help you type faster. Cora does the work that happens before typing and help you type faster: understanding the real requirements behind a prompt, making architectural decisions, planning what depends on what, and then executing the build in the correct order.

Cora runs inside your Code Editor as an extension. It has access to your full codebase, can use external tools via MCP servers, and follows project-specific rules, skills, and workflows you define.

***

### What Cora does

Given a prompt like :

`Build a SaaS analytics dashboard with multi-tenant support and real-time charts`  

Cora doesn't start writing files. It first maps the problem including requirements nobody mentioned but everyone will eventually need, like an invitation system, API key management for machine-to-machine auth, and tenant-scoped queries on every database call. Then it picks a stack with explicit reasoning. Then it produces a dependency-ordered task graph. Then it builds, layer by layer, validating each layer before the next.

The output is a complete, architecturally sound codebase not a template with placeholders, not disconnected snippets, not a scaffold that still requires days of wiring.

***

### Modes

Cora operates in five modes. Each one is suited to a different kind of task. You select the mode before sending a message, or let Auto choose for you.

| Mode       | What it does                                                                                                           |
| ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Auto**   | Orchestrator mode. Cora chooses Plan, Ask, Code, or Review based on what the prompt requires, and can switch mid-task. |
| **Plan**   | Produces architecture documents, stack decisions, and task breakdowns without writing code.                            |
| **Ask**    | Answers questions about your codebase, explains decisions, and gives context without making changes.                   |
| **Code**   | Writes, modifies, and refactors code. The primary execution mode.                                                      |
| **Review** | Audits changes for correctness, consistency, and architectural alignment.                                              |

***

### Configuration

Cora's behavior can be shaped with four types of configuration files you add to your project:

| Type        | Format   | Purpose                                                                                                      |
| ----------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Skills      | Markdown | Domain knowledge Cora can call on API patterns, component conventions, testing approaches                    |
| Rules       | Markdown | Hard constraints that apply to every interaction naming conventions, forbidden patterns, required structures |
| Workflows   | Markdown | Step-by-step processes for recurring tasks feature scaffolding, PR prep, database migrations                 |
| MCP servers | JSON     | External tool integrations GitHub, Slack, databases, APIs, custom internal tools                             |


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