Product Management Lifecycle
xOps uses a 6-phase PM lifecycle anchored to the ADLC framework. The product-owner agent leads each phase; HITL approves scope and ships code.
How to Start: .specify/ Workflow + Product Skills
Two complementary tools work together across the 6 phases:
| .specify/ Workflow | Product Skills & Ceremonies | |
|---|---|---|
| What | 6 sequential commands that produce spec → plan → tasks → code | Discovery skills before spec, ceremony commands after build |
| When | Every sprint — the backbone process | Before /speckit.specify (discovery) and after /speckit.implement (ceremonies) |
| Why | Structured governance prevents scope creep and NATO | Skills surface real problems; ceremonies measure real progress |
CloudOps (runbooks PyPI package)
| Phase | .specify/ Command | Product Skill / Ceremony |
|---|---|---|
| Discover | /product:pr-faq CloudOps-S2 | lean-canvas, competitive-battlecard |
| Specify | /speckit.specify — CLI sync validator spec | opportunity-solution-tree for 3-way sync problem |
| Plan | /speckit.plan — architecture + agent delegation | — |
| Build | /speckit.implement — python-engineer executes | — |
| Measure | — | /metrics:daily-standup, /metrics:sprint-review |
| Iterate | — | /metrics:sprint-retro, /speckit.retrospective |
xOps (F2T2EA operational cycle)
| Phase | .specify/ Command | Product Skill / Ceremony |
|---|---|---|
| Discover | /product:pr-faq xOps-S2 | lean-canvas, customer-journey-map |
| Specify | /speckit.specify — F2T2EA cycle spec | north-star-metric for find-to-fix time |
| Plan | /speckit.plan — 6-layer sovereign stack | — |
| Build | /speckit.implement — multi-agent execution | — |
| Measure | — | /metrics:daily-standup, /metrics:sprint-review |
| Iterate | — | /metrics:sprint-retro, /speckit.retrospective |
Golden path: Run the .specify/ commands top-to-bottom for each sprint. Use product skills in Discover phase, ceremonies in Measure/Iterate phases. See Pillar 1: Product Management for the full component map.
6 Phases
Discover
Who: HITL steers direction, product-owner agent validates business fit
What: Find problems worth solving for 1 Cloud Ops Manager operating a multi-account AWS environment
When: Sprint 0 — before first code sprint
Why: Without discovery, you build solutions nobody needs. F2T2EA was discovered because manual multi-account operations took hours and missed resources across dozens of accounts.
Evidence of Value: 13 INVEST stories validated (PO=84, CA=82, QA=87). Clear north-star for 8-session sprint.
Commands: /product:pr-faq xops, lean-canvas, opportunity-solution-tree
Output: PR/FAQ + 13 INVEST stories + F2T2EA north-star
Specify
Who: product-owner agent drafts, HITL approves scope
What: Define F2T2EA operational cycle — 6 phases, 7 components, governance gates G0–G6
When: Sprint 0 — after discovery validates the domain
Why: Spec-Driven Development makes specs executable. The xOps spec defined 13 stories with acceptance criteria that agents could independently implement.
Evidence of Value: Precise scope — 4 stories in CloudOps-S1, 9 in xOps-S2. Zero scope creep.
Commands: /speckit.specify, /speckit.clarify
Output: spec.md + 13 INVEST stories with acceptance criteria
Plan
Who: cloud-architect agent designs 6-layer architecture, product-owner validates business alignment
What: Design L1 Identity through L6 Interface. Map agents to tasks. Constitution check against 7 ADLC principles.
When: Sprint planning — before first Build sprint
Why: Architecture decisions made here (ECS vs EKS, SQLite vs RDS, Claude API vs Bedrock) shape cost and feasibility for 2026–2030.
Evidence of Value: 6-layer architecture with cost estimates ($110–460/mo). 2 Terraform modules published (M1, M2).
Commands: /speckit.plan, /speckit.tasks
Output: plan.md + tasks.md + 6-layer architecture + agent delegation matrix
Build
Who: AI agents (python-engineer, infrastructure-engineer) build and execute. HITL reviews and ships trusted output.
What: 8-session sprint execution with PDCA quality gates. Specialist agents execute tasks, orchestrator coordinates.
When: CloudOps-S1 sprint (14 days) + xOps-S2 sprint (planned)
Why: Agents prepare, humans decide. Governed execution with evidence prevents drift. Each session produces code, tests, and evidence.
Evidence of Value: 1,430 LOC new code across 10 modules. 98.3% cross-validation accuracy. v1.3.10 published.
Commands: /speckit.implement, specialist agents
Output: Working software + test evidence + PDCA rounds
Ceremony
Who: observability-engineer collects metrics, HITL reads the dashboard and decides what to improve
What: Daily standup, sprint review, retrospective. DORA metrics. Agent consensus scoring (PO+CA+QA).
When: Daily (standup), end of sprint (review + retro)
Why: What gets measured gets managed. Ceremonies create the evidence trail that prevents NATO and ensures continuous improvement.
Evidence of Value: DORA 3/4 GREEN. 100% BV delivered (1472/1472). Sprint health 90/100.
Commands: /metrics:daily-standup, /metrics:sprint-review
Output: DORA dashboard + sprint evidence + ceremony artifacts
Iterate
Who: Full agent team reflects. HITL decides what to change in the process.
What: Retrospective with 4L review. Extract patterns. Update constitution. Improve the golden path itself.
When: End of each sprint + after major incidents
Why: The process that builds products must itself improve continuously. Improvement compounds across sprints.
Evidence of Value: 22 sessions of lessons learned. 64 anti-patterns cataloged. Constitution v2.0.0.
Commands: /metrics:sprint-retro, /speckit.retrospective
Output: Improvement actions + updated constitution + PDCA evidence
Skills Used Per Phase
| Phase | Skills | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery | lean-canvas, opportunity-solution-tree, identify-assumptions-new, pr-faq | 4 |
| Strategy | product-vision, product-strategy, competitive-battlecard, north-star-metric | 4 |
| Execution | /speckit.specify, /speckit.plan, /speckit.tasks, /speckit.implement | 4 |
| Ceremony | /metrics:daily-standup, /metrics:sprint-review, /metrics:sprint-retro | 3 |
DORA Definitions
| Metric | Measures | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy Frequency (DF) | Throughput — merge-to-main deploys per sprint | ≥2/sprint |
| Lead Time (LT) | Speed — time from first commit to merge | <2 days |
| Change Failure Rate (CFR) | Stability — % of deploys causing rollback or hotfix | <5% |
| MTTR | Resilience — time to restore service after failure | <1 hour |