Idea to Ship

The full SDTK pipeline: a raw idea becomes a spec, a design, governed code, and a verified deployment — with a gate at every phase and an artifact behind every claim.

idea → discovery → PM → BA → ARCH → DEV → QA   (SDTK-SPEC)
     → design brief → prototype → review → handoff   (SDTK-DESIGN)
     → start → plan → build → verify → ship   (SDTK-CODE)
     → ops-plan → … → ops-deploy → ops-verify   (SDTK-OPS)

Prerequisite: an initialized project (sdtk init --runtime claude|codex — see Quickstart).

1. Discovery (raw idea → ready requirement)

In your runtime session:

/orchestrator
I want to build a lightweight CRM for solo consultants to track leads.

The orchestrator classifies this as a raw idea and runs discovery, producing docs/discovery/REQUIREMENT_<FEATURE_KEY>.md. Formal delivery starts only when that artifact reaches READY_FOR_PM_INITIATION — half-baked ideas get NEEDS_MORE_DISCOVERY instead of a premature spec.

2. Specify (PM → BA → ARCH → DEV → QA)

Once ready, the pipeline moves through the five role phases without skipping. Scaffold the document set:

sdtk-spec generate --feature-key CRM_LEADS --feature-name "Lead tracking"

Each phase's skill (/pm, /ba, /arch, /dev, /qa) fills its artifacts, and each transition is a gate. Traceability runs from requirement to test case.

3. Design (spec → prototype → handoff)

sdtk-design init
sdtk-design start --from-spec . --profile b2b-commerce
sdtk-design prototype
sdtk-design review --artifact docs/design/prototype/index.html
sdtk-design handoff

Review evidence lands in docs/design/reviews/; DESIGN_HANDOFF.md is the contract the coding phase consumes. To iterate visually first, use the Preview Studio (sdtk-design open) to annotate screens and send scoped feedback.

4. Implement (governed coding)

sdtk-code start --feature-key CRM_LEADS --lane feature
sdtk-code plan
sdtk-code build        # implementation happens in your runtime session
sdtk-code verify --evidence
sdtk-code ship --decision ship

Guardrails bound what the session may touch; verify --evidence collects proof; ship produces the review packet and OPS_HANDOFF. Code review completes before the QA release decision.

5. Operate (deploy with evidence)

In your runtime session, run the ops journeys in order:

ops-plan → ops-infra-plan → ops-container → ops-ci-cd → ops-deploy → ops-monitor → ops-verify

The journey closes only with ops-verify evidence. Deployment credentials and external calls are yours, made explicitly in your session.

Throughout: memory

At any phase, the wiki keeps the project's memory current and queryable:

sdtk-wiki ingest && sdtk-wiki compile --mode safe --apply
sdtk-wiki atlas open

Where to go next

Chain it into one runDrive multi-phase work as a durable SDTK-AGENT DAG with gates.

Workflows & GatesWhy every phase transition is a gate.

SDTK-SPEC guideThe toolkit that opens the pipeline.