SDLC

How work gets from an idea to running code: the stages every change to devpage goes through and the skill that runs each, the branches that carry a design until the code catches up, the two review bars, and how the box docs are organized. It is a concept page of the Engineering box; Running the flow with skills is the short version, from the operator's keyboard.

flowchart LR
  design["Design"] --> prototype["Prototype"]
  prototype --> plan["Plan"]
  plan --> build["Build"]
  build --> review["Review"]
  review --> release["Release"]
  click design href "./stages/README.md#design" "Design"
  click prototype href "./stages/README.md#prototype" "Prototype"
  click plan href "./stages/README.md#plan" "Plan"
  click build href "./stages/README.md#build" "Build"
  click review href "./stages/README.md#review" "Review"
  click release href "./stages/README.md#release" "Release"

Review findings go back to Build as new tickets; after the merge, the retro reports where the time went. A small change can run the flow inverted, as a hack.

Design — /design: a conversation, then the box docs on design/<name>.
Prototype — /prototype: thirty measured minutes, one end-to-end path.
Plan — /plan: the prototype turned into a story of tickets.
Build — /build: lanes in their own worktrees, merged one at a time.
Review — /review: the task bar per ticket, the drift bar at the end.
Release — The operator's call: cargo publish, the design engine first, and a tag.

Boxes and documentation

How box docs are organized and kept true — one home per subject, constraints one file per rule, docs on main describing the system as it is — is on the system catalog.

Constraints

The SDLC's two rules are listed under Topics, one line each, and reviewed on every change to the process or to box docs. System-wide rules are the general constraints.

Topics

Stages — what each stage does and produces, from design to retro, and the hack.
Branches — design, prototype, ticket and direct branches: how they merge and when they are deleted.
Review bars and CI — the task bar and the drift bar, and what checks them today.

Constraints

On main, the box docs describe the system as it is — anything merged to main leaves the docs an accurate description of the code; a design not yet built waits on its design branch.
Decisions live in box docs, not in a decision log — a decision goes into the owning box's docs or constraints and its reason into the commit message; there is no ADR directory.