Branch Start Work Plan
Alpha.4 documentation review: This page records design or historical planning. For shipped behavior and current gaps, use the issue #135 implementation review .
This plan turns the v1.0 documentation set into branch-start execution work. Phase 0 and Phase 1 are intentionally concrete; later phases are rougher and should be refined as evidence arrives.
Phase 0 - Branch Foundation
Goal: make the v1.0 branch buildable, testable, and clearly separated
from v0.x maintenance.
Backlog:
- Freeze the branch contract and backport policy in docs.
- Add a visible branch banner or README note explaining that
v1.0is the rebuild line. - Decide the initial source layout for
context/schemas/src/,_generated/, schema renderer tests, and fixture projects. - Add a minimal fixture-project layout for
empty-project,alpha-project,migration-v0-project,adversarial-project, andart-project. - Define the command surface for schema rebuild, validation, MCP smoke, index rebuild, and docs build.
- Establish manual local release-audit commands that do not depend on aibox or GitHub Actions.
- Record any accepted deviations from the RFC before implementation starts.
Exit criteria:
- The branch builds docs.
- The planned source/test directories exist.
- The first schema-generation and fixture-test commands are documented.
Phase 1 - Ontology And Schema Generation
Goal: turn the documented 89-concept ontology into generated schema contracts and prove deterministic generation.
Backlog:
- Create the canonical ontology registry with class, name, description, parent, discriminator, interface, lifecycle, and migration note fields.
- Scaffold
src/context/schemas/src/with T fragments, primitive schemas, discriminator overlays, and composition templates. - Implement the Jinja + YAML renderer.
- Implement merge strategies for
replace,concat, andname-merge. - Commit
_generated/*.yamloutput and golden render fixtures. - Add strict/tolerant validation-mode metadata per kind.
- Add schema contract tests for valid and invalid fixtures.
- Add the
regenerate_schemas(kinds: list | None)MCP shape or a local implementation shim if the MCP server is not ready yet.
Exit criteria:
- Full and partial schema regeneration are deterministic.
- The generated schema tree is committed.
- The alpha ontology subset has generated schemas and validation tests.
Phase 2 - Tooling Parity
Goal: make the generated schemas usable through MCP and local tools.
Backlog:
- Build shared MCP helpers for schema loading, validation, state-machine checks, atomic writes, event emission, and index upsert.
- Port alpha create/read/transition tools to generated schemas.
- Add Python signature to draft-2020-12 JSON Schema consistency tests.
- Expose validation mode through MCP.
- Add state-machine fixtures for valid transitions, invalid transitions, guard failures, and terminal states.
- Keep per-domain tool ownership while allowing gateway aggregation.
- Define a shared remediation descriptor schema for doctor findings.
- Validate every executable remediation against the installed gateway tool catalog and input schema.
- Add a structured policy-exception resolver with scope, fingerprint, decision, and review metadata.
Exit criteria:
- Alpha entity writes happen through MCP helpers.
- Tool signatures and JSON Schemas match.
- State-machine and validation-mode tests pass.
- Every actionable alpha finding has an executable or formally recognized disposition.
Phase 3 - Indexing And Corpus Migration
Goal: migrate representative v0 data and prove that read-side behavior matches the new ontology.
Backlog:
- Extend the SQLite/FTS5 index with schema-declared interfaces.
- Implement
query_by_interfacefor at leastRecordandVersioned. - Index typed Binding edges, provenance, ownership, hierarchy, and event subjects.
- Build v0-to-v1 migration adapters for the alpha corpus.
- Implement declarative migration drafting, planning, and execution with source-hash preconditions and recovery journals.
- Support bounded operations for path moves, field updates, entity renames, reference rewrites, and archival.
- Preserve predecessor/successor links, durable ID aliases, and unknown-field reports without silently rewriting append-only logs.
- Measure field loss and orphan rates.
- Add index drift detection and
reindexrecovery tests.
Exit criteria:
- A representative v0 fixture corpus migrates without manual aibox steps.
- Interface queries return mixed-kind results correctly.
- Migration reports are deterministic and actionable.
- Migration-backed doctor findings can be planned, executed, and rechecked cleanly through the shipped gateway.
Phase 4 - Skills, Agents, And Runtime Surfaces
Goal: make skills and agent-facing instructions use the v1.0 model.
Backlog:
- Update skill metadata and trigger guidance to v1.0 ontology language.
- Remove v0 primitive assumptions from write-side skill instructions.
- Add canned agent scenarios covering work, decisions, risks, gates, roles, skills, artifacts, and migrations.
- Update gateway, per-domain MCP, and harness compatibility docs.
- Add malformed-output measurements for scenario runs.
- Keep aibox as an adapter path, not a core test dependency.
Exit criteria:
- Canned scenarios pass with malformed output below the acceptance threshold.
- Skills use MCP write paths for canonical entities.
- Runtime docs describe gateway and per-domain modes consistently.
Phase 5 - First-ART Validation
Goal: prove the rebuild with a production-shaped ART cycle.
Backlog:
- Model Portfolio, ValueStream, ART, Team, Scope, RoleSlot, and TeamMember structures.
- Run PI planning with objectives, risks, dependencies, capacity, and committed WorkItems.
- Execute the cycle through MCP transitions and gates.
- Capture demo evidence, Measurements, Outcomes, Decisions, and inspect-and-adapt follow-up.
- Record friction, interpretation drift, missing concepts, and missing tool affordances.
- Review the first-ART evidence before rc promotion.
Exit criteria:
- The first-ART pilot completes planning, execution, demo, and inspect-and-adapt.
- pk-doctor reports no blocking errors on the pilot corpus.
- Human reviewers can inspect the same state through files and docs.
Phase 6 - Cutover Preparation
Goal: prepare v1.0.0 without calendar-driven release pressure.
Backlog:
- Verify all strict gate criteria through A5.
- Produce reproducible release artifacts from a clean checkout.
- Publish migration and downstream adoption guidance.
- Finalize v0.x maintenance and LTS policy.
- Record the cutover decision.
- Prepare merge strategy from
v1.0tomain.
Exit criteria:
- No known blocker remains for final
v1.0.0cutover. - The cutover decision is recorded.
- Docs and release artifacts are published and reproducible.
Phase 7 - Post-cutover Stabilisation
Goal: stabilize the v1 line after release.
Backlog:
- Observe the minimum 14-day stabilization window.
- Track and triage critical regressions.
- Exercise downstream migration support.
- Verify release integrity, provenance, docs publication, and package installation.
- Run index rebuild, drift recovery, MCP smoke, sensitive-data, and adversarial pk-doctor fixtures.
- Validate one v0.x LTS slow-adopter scenario if needed.
Exit criteria:
- Stabilization findings are closed, tracked, or accepted.
- Release integrity and adversarial fixture checks pass.
- v1.x becomes the normal development line after cutover.