01
Specify
Strictly define boundaries, target outcomes, explicit exclusions, and verifiable acceptance criteria before code is written.
MethodologyEngineering Governance
Assurance-Gated Development
A disciplined framework for high-assurance software engineering, bounded work packages, and human-supervised AI development.
The Core Triad: Specify • Authorize • Verify
Modern software development increasingly delegates implementation tasks to autonomous tooling, generative models, and multi-agent pipelines. Without strict governance, autonomous workflows introduce silent regressions, untracked modifications, and unverified assumptions.
Assurance-Gated Development enforces a non-negotiable structural progression across every unit of engineering work:
02
Authorize
Constrain execution to explicitly authorized paths, local tools, and designated branches. No implicit permissions to mutate production.
03
Verify
Demonstrate compliance through repeatable tests, reproducible build artifacts, and non-delegable human release authority.
Key Methodology Principles
- Bounded Work Packages: Tasks are compartmentalized into distinct packages with explicit stop boundaries. Agents do not execute open-ended loops without validation checkpoints.
- Traceable Evidence: Build logs, test outputs, and diagnostic evidence should be preserved as reviewable artifacts independently of conversational memory, with integrity and retention controls defined for each project.
- Non-Delegable Release Authority: AI assistants and automated tools may build and verify, but only human owners retain the authority to merge, publish, or deploy to production.
- Realistic Boundaries: AGD is an explicit development methodology and validation process—not an operating system sandbox or security certification.
Community Edition & Tooling Status
Release Status Notice: The AGD reference implementation and Community Edition documentation are undergoing independent review. Release scope, licensing terms, and publication authorization have not yet been finalized. No public download, license grant, or release date is announced here.
Documentation, Downloads & Licensing
Community Edition installation instructions, reference implementation, and versioned documents may be linked here following independent review and explicit release and licensing authorization. Commercial editions and pricing options may be described on a future dedicated page; no pricing, availability, or entitlement is announced here.