ADR-020: 7-Phase to 5-Stage Lifecycle Migration

Field	Value
Status	Accepted
Date	2026-05-02
Decision Makers	HITL, Cloud Architect, Product Owner
Scope	adlc-lean5s3t-standardize-2026-05-02

Context

Three lifecycle models coexisted in the ADLC framework:

Model	Phases	Origin
ADLC 7-phase	Think → Plan → Build → Review → Test → Ship → Reflect	ADR-019 (2026-04-28)
Command Center PM 6-phase	Discover → Specify → Plan → Build → Ceremony → Iterate	product-management.md
CloudOps Infra 6-phase	Discover → Design → Validate → Deploy → Operate → Optimize	cloudops-infrastructure-lifecycle.md

Translation overhead between three models consumed an estimated 12–210 hours per year in CxO meetings and onboarding sessions. Engineers and stakeholders had to mentally map between models when reading framework documentation.

On 2026-05-02, HITL confirmed adoption of the 5-stage canonical (5-canonical-yes) using the Anthropic Claude Code workflow image as the normative SSOT. The 5-stage model aligns with three industry frameworks:

• Anthropic Claude Code: Discover · Design · Build · Deploy · Support & Scale
• McKinsey Rewired (Exhibit 5 Ds): Discover · Define · Design · Develop · Deploy
• ITIL v4: Value chain stages map cleanly to Discover/Design/Build/Deploy/Support

Decision

Adopt the 5-stage canonical lifecycle as the single standard for ADLC documentation, CSV data, and TypeScript types. Replace the 7-phase ADLC canonical as the primary vocabulary. Retain the 7-phase model as a legacy mapping in data-quality-standards.md for historical coordination log compatibility.

Operative 7→5 Mapping Table (canonical SSOT for all migration scripts)

7-phase	5-stage	Sub-step	Autonomy Tier	Rationale
Think	Discover	(single)	[A]	Both = problem understanding and assumption surfacing
Plan	Design	(single)	[A]	Both = solution design, ADR drafting, scope binding
Build	Build	code	[A]	Direct match — implementation
Review	Build	review	[A-gated]	Code review is a Build sub-step (PR review before merge)
Test	Deploy	test	[A-gated]	Test = pre-deploy verification gate
Ship	Deploy	apply/release	[HITL]	Deploy includes the HITL-executed release moment
Reflect	Support & Scale	monitor	[A-readonly]	Both = post-deploy operations, MELT/DORA tracking
Reflect	Support & Scale	remediate	[HITL-decide]	RCA → HITL approves remediation actions

Sub-step autonomy tiers are preserved from ADR-019. The 5-canonical collapses 7 phase labels into 5 stage labels without losing governance granularity — sub-steps within each stage carry the original autonomy tier.

Python Migration Mapping Dict

Used in Wave 2.5+2.6 CSV migration script (scope_id: adlc-lean5s3t-standardize-2026-05-02):

MAPPING = {
    "Think": "Discover", "Plan": "Design",
    "Build": "Build", "Review": "Build",
    "Test": "Deploy", "Ship": "Deploy",
    "Reflect": "Support & Scale",
    "THINK": "Discover", "PLAN": "Design",
    "BUILD": "Build", "REVIEW": "Build",
    "TEST": "Deploy", "SHIP": "Deploy",
    "REFLECT": "Support & Scale",
    "DEPLOY": "Deploy", "Deploy": "Deploy",
    "MONITOR": "Support & Scale", "Monitor": "Support & Scale",
    "OPERATE": "Support & Scale", "Operate": "Support & Scale",
}

Implementation Files (Wave 2.5+2.6)

The following files were updated as part of this ADR's implementation:

File	Change
docs/src/data/projects/types.ts	ADLCPhase union updated to 5-stage
.claude/rules/quality/data-quality-standards.md	Phase canon section replaced (7→5), legacy mapping added
docs/static/data/jira/adlc.csv	adlc_phase column migrated
docs/static/data/jira/security.csv	adlc_phase column migrated
docs/static/data/jira/cloudops-runbooks.csv	adlc_phase column migrated
docs/static/data/jira/devops-terraform.csv	adlc_phase column migrated
docs/static/data/jira/finops-focus.csv	adlc_phase column migrated
docs/static/data/jira/platform-idp.csv	adlc_phase column migrated
docs/static/data/jira/itsm.csv	adlc_phase column migrated
docs/static/data/jira/cloudops.csv	adlc_phase column migrated
docs/docs/getting-started/workflow.md	Phase references aligned to 5-canonical
docs/docs/command-center/product-management.md	6-phase PM → 5-canonical
docs/docs/golden-paths/cloudops-infrastructure-lifecycle.md	6-phase Infra → 5-canonical

Consequences

Positive

• One vocabulary: CxO, engineers, and AI agents share the same 5-stage language. No translation table in meetings.
• Industry alignment: McKinsey Rewired, Anthropic Claude Code, and ITIL v4 all map cleanly. New hires onboard faster.
• CxO speakability: "We are in the Build stage" is boardroom-ready. "We are in the Review phase" required explanation.
• Stakeholder savings: Estimated 12–210 hours per year eliminated from vocabulary translation overhead.
• Sub-step clarity: Review and Test are explicit sub-steps of Build and Deploy respectively — not separate stages. Autonomy tiers are preserved with more precision.

Negative

• One-time migration cost: 9 CSV files + 3 documentation files + TypeScript union updated in this PR.
• Historical coordination logs: 113+ existing logs in tmp/ retain 7-phase tags as immutable evidence. The legacy mapping table in data-quality-standards.md resolves them during rendering.
• Tooling updates: task ssot:validate (XC-319) must be extended to validate against the 5-set canon after this ADR lands.

Alternatives Considered

Option A: Keep 7-phase ADLC canonical, translate in documentation only

Rejected: Translation overhead is the problem. Adding more translation layers compounds it.

Option B: Adopt McKinsey 5 Ds (Discover/Define/Design/Develop/Deploy) directly

Rejected: HITL confirmed Anthropic Claude Code image as SSOT. "Define" and "Develop" are less precise than "Design" and "Build" for an AI-agent engineering context.

Option C: Keep three separate models per domain (PM/Infra/ADLC)

Rejected: Three models = three sets of meeting vocabulary + three CSV phase enums + three documentation structures. Complexity compounds over time.

References

• Anthropic Claude Code workflow image (HITL-supplied 2026-05-02)
• McKinsey Rewired, Exhibit 5 Ds (Digital Factory operating model)
• ITIL v4 Service Value Chain
• Claude Code Documentation
• ADR-019: Autonomy Tier Spectrum — sub-step tier labels preserved in this ADR's mapping table
• data-quality-standards.md v2.0.0 — Phase Canon section updated with 5-set canonical and legacy 7-phase mapping

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Origin: ADLC Framework Wave 2.5+2.6 standardization (scope_id: adlc-lean5s3t-standardize-2026-05-02). Elevated to ADR because this decision governs all lifecycle references across ADLC consumer projects.