ALDC — AL Development Collection

AI-native framework for Business Central (AL) development with GitHub Copilot — from vibe coding to controlled engineering.

Stop burning tokens on every Copilot request. ALDC 4.2.0 cuts context overhead while adding cited BC reviews.

ALDC Install Toolkit

Why ALDC 4.2.0

⚡ Lower token / AIC cost per interaction

Every GitHub Copilot request injects context. ALDC 4.1.0 reduces that overhead without dropping capabilities:

Trimmed always-on entrypoint (~31% lighter) — less context injected on every request
Narrow instruction globs (applyTo by object type) — only the rules for the file you're editing load
Conductor passes curated context excerpts to subagents instead of whole files
Condensed agents, instructions, and skills — behavior preserved, tokens reduced

📚 Cited reviews & audits with BCQuality (optional)

Agents back findings with a pinned, externally-consumed BC knowledge base (microsoft/BCQuality)
Consumed as a multi-root workspace — not a submodule, not compiled, never blocks your build
Graceful fallback: if BCQuality is not mounted, agents fall back to native A–G checks automatically

Features

5 Public Agents — specialized roles for every phase

@AL Architecture & Design Specialist — solution design, information flows, Mermaid diagrams
@AL Developer — implementation, debugging, quick fixes
@AL Development Conductor — TDD orchestration with human-in-the-loop gates
@AL Pre-Sales Specialist — estimation and scoping

3 TDD Subagents — autonomous specialists inside the Conductor

al-planning-subagent — research and context gathering
al-implement-subagent — tests FIRST (RED → GREEN → REFACTOR)
al-review-subagent — code review against spec + architecture

2 On-Demand Specialists

@AL Triage — reactive diagnosis of issues, read-only on code
@Dredd — independent auditor, read-only on code

16 Composable Skills — domain knowledge loaded on demand

11 Workflows — al-spec.create, al-build, al-pr-prepare, al-context.create, al-memory.create, al-initialize, al-agent.build-instructions, al-agent.create, al-agent.task, al-agent.test, al-agent.instructions

9 Auto-applied AL coding instructions — narrow globs ensure only relevant rules load per file type

Spec & architecture contract templates — structured documentation per requirement in .github/plans/{req_name}/

Install & Quick Start

code --install-extension javierarmestogonzalez.al-development-collection

Open an AL project (with app.json)
Command Palette → AL Collection: Install Toolkit to Workspace
Start designing: @AL Architecture & Design Specialist — or jump to TDD: @AL Development Conductor

Using BCQuality (optional)

BCQuality adds a citable BC knowledge base to reviews and audits. It is opt-in and never required.

Step 1. From your AL project root, run the installer:

bash tools/bcquality/install.sh
# Windows: pwsh -File tools/bcquality/install.ps1

This clones microsoft/BCQuality (pinned) to ../bcquality (override with $BCQUALITY_HOME).

Step 2. Open aldc.code-workspace — a multi-root workspace that adds ../bcquality alongside your extension. BCQuality is not compiled; it is reference material only.

Step 3. Run a review or audit (@AL Development Conductor, @dredd, or @al-triage). Agents cite BCQuality files when mounted, or fall back to native A–G checks when absent.

Full guide: docs/bcquality.md

Development Flow

LOW complexity:
  al-spec.create → @AL Developer

MEDIUM / HIGH complexity:
  @AL Architecture & Design Specialist → al-spec.create → @AL Development Conductor

The Conductor enforces TDD: Planning → RED (tests first) → GREEN (code) → Review → HITL gate → next phase.

Requirements

Visual Studio Code 1.85.0 or higher
GitHub Copilot — required for agents and skills
An AL project with app.json

Author

Javier Armesto González — Microsoft MVP (Business Central & Azure AI Services) LinkedIn · Tech Sphere Dynamics

License

MIT — See LICENSE for details.

Install ALDC and turn Copilot into a disciplined AL engineering workflow.

AL Development Collection

JavierArmestoGonzalez