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6 Stages · Cost↓ · Risk↓ · Time-to-Value↑

6-Stage Product Development Lifecycle

ADLC governs the complete product lifecycle from first idea to retirement. Each stage has one owning command, one agent, and a signed gate artifact. Agents prepare — humans decide at every gate.

Source: lifecycle-ssot/SKILL.md (canonical 5+1 stages per ADR-020 + ADR-021) · Framework command-centre → · PM execution toolkit →

WHAT · Canonical 6-stage lifecycle · Audience: CEO / CFO / CDO / HITL · Part of the ADLC lifecycle docs: WHAT (/sdlc) · WITH-WHAT (/adlc) · HOW (/pm-toolkit)

Get StartedBrowse Commands

6 Stages · One Command Each

Every stage has a single owning command, a named agent, an autonomy tier, and a gate artifact the HITL must sign.

Documentationcross-cutting sub-step in every stage
Datameasurement in Stage 5 · migration in Stage 4
1
Discover
"Gate before any code — kill bad ideas early and cheaply."
Command
/adlc:discover
Agent
product-owner
Autonomy Tier
[A]+[HITL-gate]
Gate Artifact
discovery-brief.md (APPROVE / DEFER / KILL)
2
Design
"Signed spec before first commit — no mid-build redesigns."
Command
/adlc:design
Agent
cloud-architect
Autonomy Tier
[A]+[HITL-gate]
Gate Artifact
feature-spec + lld + tasks (zero open clarifications)
3
Build
"Agents write and review code; humans approve the diff."
Command
/adlc, /speckit.implement
Agent
code-reviewer
Autonomy Tier
[A]/[A-gated]
Gate Artifact
tests green + PR ready + docs updated
4
Deploy
"Human-approved release — nothing ships unreviewed."
Command
/commerce:tf-plan + tf-apply (HITL)
Agent
infrastructure-engineer
Autonomy Tier
[A-gated]→[HITL]
Gate Artifact
plan reviewed + HITL applies + visual-verify passes
5
Support & Scale
"Agents monitor and surface; humans decide every remediation."
Command
/itsm:lifecycle, /ceremony:retro
Agent
observability-engineer
Autonomy Tier
[A-readonly]+[HITL-decide]
Gate Artifact
DORA collected + retro evidence + remediation HITL-approved
6
Deprecate
"Nothing retires without a signed plan and evidence preserved."
Command
/adlc:deprecate
Agent
lifecycle-steward
Autonomy Tier
[A-readonly]+[HITL-decide]+[HITL]
Gate Artifact
signed decommission-plan.md

Engineering Inner Loop — Nested, Not Competing

The constitution defines a 6-phase engineering loop: Plan → Build → Test → Deploy → Monitor → Operate. This is the inner loop nested inside Stage 3 (Build) and Stage 4 (Deploy) — not a separate product lifecycle.

5+1 Product Lifecycle (outer — CxO / boardroom vocabulary)
Discover
→
Design
→
Build
→
Deploy
→
Support & Scale
→
Deprecate
Engineering Inner Loop (inside Build + Deploy — agent-engineering vocabulary)
Plan
→
Build
→
Test
→
Deploy
→
Monitor
→
Operate
Experimentation Loop: Build ↔ Test
Runtime Optimization Loop: Deploy → Monitor → Operate
Source: lifecycle-ssot/SKILL.md §3 · The "Operate" inner-phase retirement activity maps to Stage 6 Deprecate at the product level — consistent, not contradictory. Constitution ref: constitution.md:174

How to Use the Lifecycle End-to-End

Six commands in sequence. Each gate unlocks the next stage. HITL decision points shown in amber — agents cannot bypass them.

1
Run /adlc:discoverHITL signs discovery-brief.md → APPROVE / DEFER / KILL[HITL] gate
2
Run /adlc:designHITL signs feature-spec + tasks — zero open clarifications[HITL] gate
3
Run /adlc or /speckit.implementTests green; PR ready; docs updated — code-reviewer approves diff[A] autonomous
4
Run /commerce:tf-plan → review planHITL runs /commerce:tf-apply — nothing deploys without human apply[HITL] gate
5
Run /itsm:lifecycle + /ceremony:retroDORA + retro evidence collected; HITL approves any remediation[A] autonomous
6
Run /adlc:deprecateHITL signs decommission-plan.md — destroy only after signed plan[HITL] gate

CxO Value at Every Stage

Cost ↓
Kill bad ideas at Discover before any dev spend. Gate artifacts prevent rework in Build.
Risk ↓
HITL gates at Discover, Deploy, and Deprecate ensure no unreviewed changes enter production or retirement.
Time-to-Value ↑
Autonomous Build + structured Design cuts cycle time. Signed specs mean no mid-sprint pivots.
Canonical SSOT: .adlc/.claude/skills/governance/lifecycle-ssot/SKILL.md · ADR-020 (5-stage) + ADR-021 (Stage 6 Deprecate) · Framework command-centre →