Solo Project Lifecycle

A comprehensive, production-tested Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) framework engineered for solo developers, technical founders, and lean engineering teams. It standardizes end-to-end execution from product discovery and commercial scoping to architecture, development, quality assurance, deployment, and post-launch maintenance.

The repository includes a taxonomy of 1,000 systems across 4 scale tiers, 250 industry software archetypes, 14 gate-controlled lifecycle modules, and 150+ operational templates and architectural patterns.

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Architecture & Structure

solo-project-lifecycle/
├── SKILL.md                 # Agent entry point and execution index
├── docs/
│   ├── modules/             # 14 lifecycle modules (M00-M13) + A00-A04 advisory + deep-dives/ + variants/
│   ├── INDEX.json           # Machine-readable file manifest (two-way parity with the filesystem)
│   ├── AUTHORITY.md         # AGENT / HUMAN-DECIDES / HUMAN-ONLY / FORBIDDEN per module
│   ├── QUICKSTART.md        # Rapid onboarding guide
│   └── PACKAGE_VERSION_AUTO_CHECK.md
├── templates/
│   ├── essentials/                # Fast-track LITE templates (Small/MVP path)
│   ├── 00-pre-sales-enterprise/   # RFP responses, POC plans, consulting agreements
│   ├── 01-discovery-commercial/   # Market research, briefs, SOWs, and charters
│   ├── 02-design/                 # Design prompts, sitemaps, component specs
│   ├── 02-legal-commercial/       # NDA, change requests, financial tracking
│   ├── 03-architecture-specs/     # PRD, FSD, and lite specification templates
│   ├── 03-governance/             # ADRs, compliance, incident response, RACI
│   ├── 04-dev-execution/          # Agent harnesses, conventions, stack baselines
│   ├── 05-data-migration/         # Migration plans and data reconciliation
│   ├── 06-qa-uat/                 # Test plans, test cases, and UAT signoff forms
│   ├── 07-release-handover/       # Handover protocols, BAST, credentials vault
│   ├── 08-maintenance-ops/        # SLA/SLO, backup, warranty, runbooks
│   ├── 09-product-growth/         # Analytics, A/B tests, growth experiments
│   └── by-use-case/               # Per-use-case template bundles
├── references/
│   ├── checklists/          # Feasibility criteria, module evaluation checklists
│   ├── taxonomy/            # 1,000 system catalog and 250 software archetypes
│   ├── playbooks/           # Scale workflows, AI-assisted development, design patterns
│   ├── pm/                  # Prioritization, analytics, communication, testing guides
│   ├── pre-sales/           # Discovery call checklists, proposals, quotations
│   ├── solo/                # Solo architecture, patterns, standards, UI/UX guides
│   ├── stacks/              # Framework matrix and stack quickstarts (Next.js, Laravel, Go, Django)
│   ├── technical/           # Deep research, design systems, APM, compliance guides
│   └── team/                # Team collaboration and agency handoff
├── patterns/                # Indonesia-specific & engineering patterns (Payments, UU PDP, i18n/IDR, Offline-first, Solo Architecture Guardrails)
├── scripts/
│   ├── scaffold/            # Project init, TODO generation, and template picker scripts (Bash/PowerShell)
│   ├── gates/               # Lifecycle gate validation automation
│   ├── verify/              # Link, frontmatter, template, and stack version verifiers
│   ├── runtime/             # ETL importer, load-test harness, data migration runner
│   ├── evals/               # Eval scenario runner (run-evals.js)
│   ├── dist/                # Distribution packaging + size calculation scripts
│   └── release/             # Clean release-branch builder (release-exclude.txt)
└── evals/                   # Evaluation scenarios verifying SDLC agent compliance

Note: docs/pm/, docs/specs/, docs/harness-root/, and docs/qa/ are not part of this skill repo — scripts/scaffold/init-project.sh creates them inside your project directory and the gate scripts read the project documents from there.

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14 Lifecycle Modules

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Project Sizing & Workflow Modes

The framework adapts governance overhead across 4 delivery scales:

1. Small / MVP (<4 weeks): Fast-track via the Intake gate then M04-LITE → M05 → M06 → M09-LITE → M10 → M12-LITE, with PROJECT_LITE_TEMPLATE.md, a unified TODO.md, and 2 stop points. M00/M01/M02 are waived on this path (the scale classifier still runs).
2. Medium / Production Core (3-6 weeks): Standard gate controls with separated PRD, FSD, structured QA checkpoints, and milestone validations.
3. Large / Multi-Service (7-12 weeks): Rigorous data migration plans, formal UAT cycles, reconciliation protocols, and security audits.
4. Enterprise / Mission-Critical (12+ weeks): Full enterprise governance including regulatory compliance checks (e.g., UU PDP, GDPR), formal SLA agreements, and audited handover ceremonies.

Supported engagement models:

• Solo SaaS: Self-directed commercial track (waives client SOW/BAST, enforces Solo SaaS Charter and growth metrics).
• Client / Bespoke Delivery: Agency and freelance workflow with contractual milestones, change request tracking, and formal sign-offs.
• Internal / Enterprise: Departmental tooling and intranet systems with audit trails and staging cutovers.

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Automation Scripts

The scripts/ directory provides cross-platform Bash and PowerShell utilities:

• Project Scaffolding:

  # Initialize a structured project workspace
  ./scripts/scaffold/init-project.sh ~/projects/my-app medium
  # Usage: init-project.sh  [small|solo-saas|independent|open-source|medium|bespoke|freelance|large|enterprise] [ARCHETYPE] [DELIVERY]
  
  # Automatically scaffold Sprint TODO.md from FSD and Sitemap specifications
  ./scripts/scaffold/generate-todo.sh TODO.md
  

• Gate Validation:

  # Validate module readiness and required artifact presence
  ./scripts/gates/validate-gate.sh M05
  

• Verification Suite:

  # Verify template links, stack versions, and metadata integrity
  ./scripts/verify/verify-all.sh
  

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Getting Started

1. Consult docs/QUICKSTART.md for a 10-minute setup walkthrough.
2. Read the stack quickstart for Next.js, Laravel, Go, or Django in references/stacks/; for any other stack (FastAPI, Rails, SvelteKit, …) start from templates/04-dev-execution//AGENTS.md and references/stacks/STACK_SUPPORT_MATRIX.md.
3. Review references/taxonomy/SYSTEM_ARCHETYPES_250.md to map standard features for your target system category.
4. Scaffold project governance and harness files using the scripts/scaffold/ utilities.

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AI Agent & Harness Compatibility

The framework is harness-agnostic and operates entirely via native markdown specifications and zero-dependency shell scripts. It natively supports:

• CLI & Autonomous Agents: Claude Code, Hermes Agent, Aider, OpenHands, Codex CLI.
• AI-Native IDEs: Cursor (Composer/Agent mode with Figma MCP support), Windsurf (Cascade), VS Code + GitHub Copilot.
• Generative UI Workflows: v0.dev, Bolt.new, and Lovable.dev (via DESIGN_SPEC.md prompt exports in Module 04).

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License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.