ADLC Workflow
Every task follows the same coordination pattern. No exceptions.
The Golden Rule
The coordination chain flows from the human manager through two decision agents and one or more specialists, concluding with evidence artifacts. HITL initiates, Product Owner validates requirements, Cloud Architect designs the technical approach, the Specialist executes, and Evidence is collected in tmp/<project>/.
Skipping Product Owner or Cloud Architect invocation is a STANDALONE_EXECUTION violation — one of the most common ADLC anti-patterns. The coordination overhead is an investment, not waste.
- You (HITL) give a directive
- Product Owner validates requirements and priority
- Cloud Architect designs technical approach
- Specialists execute (infra, QA, security, etc.)
- Evidence collected in
tmp/<project>/
Six-Phase Lifecycle
The six phases split into two groups: PLAN and BUILD run autonomously by agents, while TEST, DEPLOY, MONITOR, and OPERATE all require your explicit approval.
| Phase | You Do | Agents Do |
|---|---|---|
| Plan | Describe what you want | Decompose into stories, create ADRs |
| Build | Review progress | Write code, IaC, tests |
| Test | Approve test plan | Run Tier 1/2/3 tests |
| Deploy | Approve deployment | Execute terraform/cdk apply |
| Monitor | Review dashboards | Set up alerts, SLOs |
| Operate | Handle incidents | Create runbooks, playbooks |
Use /adlc [task] for single stories and /adlc.plan [task] followed by /adlc [plan-file.md] for complex multi-project work. The commands handle coordination log creation and specialist delegation automatically.
Quick Start Examples
New Feature
The New Feature flow shows how a user request travels through the agent hierarchy before evidence lands in tmp/<project>/.
Using /adlc Commands (Recommended)
# Simple task — direct execution
/adlc "Add encrypted S3 bucket for audit logs"
# PO → CA → Specialist → PDCA (all in one session)
# Complex multi-project task — compound workflow
/adlc.plan "Refactor authentication across 3 services"
# Phase 0: PO+CA coordination (creates logs)
# Phase 1: Explore x3 (parallel codebase research)
# Phase 2: Plan agent (synthesize implementation plan)
# Phase 3: Write self-contained plan file
# Phase 4: Present to HITL for review
#
# After HITL approves the plan:
/adlc path/to/plan-file.md
# Step 1.5: Validates plan + reuses PO+CA logs (skips re-coordination)
# Step 4: Delegates to specialists from plan's delegation table
# Step 5: PDCA cross-validation until >=99.5%
Compound Workflow (When to Use)
| Task Type | Command | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Single story, small scope | /adlc [task] | Direct execution is faster |
| Multi-project, 100+ files | /adlc.plan [task] then /adlc [plan] | HITL review gate before execution |
| Destructive operations (archive merge, cleanup) | /adlc.plan [task] then /adlc [plan] | Review file inventory before changes |
| Ambiguous requirements | /adlc.plan [task] then /adlc [plan] | PO+CA+Explore clarify scope first |
The compound workflow separates planning from execution. /adlc.plan writes a self-contained plan file with YAML frontmatter and seven ADLC sections. After HITL review, /adlc [plan-file.md] reuses the existing coordination logs and dispatches directly to specialists.
Using SpecKit Commands
# 1. Define the feature
/speckit.specify "Add encrypted S3 bucket for audit logs"
# 2. Plan the implementation
/speckit.plan
# 3. Generate tasks
/speckit.tasks
# 4. Execute all tasks
/speckit.implement
# 5. Reflect on the session
/speckit.retrospective
Infrastructure Deployment
# Terraform workflow
/terraform:test # Run all test tiers
/terraform:cost # Estimate costs
/terraform:diff # Check for breaking changes
# CDK workflow
/cdk:test # Run all test tiers
/cdk:synth # Validate synthesis
/cdk:diff # Check for breaking changes
Evidence Directory
Every action produces evidence:
tmp/<project>/
├── coordination-logs/ # PO + CA approval records
├── test-results/ # Tier 1/2/3 results
├── screenshots/ # Visual verification
├── terraform-plans/ # IaC plan outputs
└── retrospectives/ # Session reflections
Claiming a task is "done" without artifacts in tmp/ is a NATO_VIOLATION (No Action, Talk Only). The framework hooks detect this pattern and block the session.
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
| Don't | Do Instead |
|---|---|
| Skip PO + CA coordination | Always invoke both first |
| Claim "done" without evidence | Put artifacts in tmp/ |
| Describe what you'll do (NATO) | Show what you did |
| Deploy without testing | Run Tier 1 → 2 → 3 |
| Ignore session learnings | Run /speckit.retrospective |