pdlc

Product Development Lifecycle

Orchestrates the full PDLC loop by invoking phase skills in sequence. Each phase consumes the previous phase's artifact and ends in a gate (make-decision) with verdict proceed / pivot / kill. Pass an optional phase name to enter the loop at a specific stage.

PDLC wraps SDLC: it decides whether and what to build, hands the how off to SDLC at define-acceptance, then finishes the loop with launch and measurement.

When to Use /pdlc vs Individual Skills

• Use /pdlc (with an optional phase name) when you want the orchestrator to run multiple phases, manage gates and backtracking, and keep run state. The PDLC phase skills are internal sub-skills bundled under this pdlc skill at skills/pdlc/skills/<name>/SKILL.md. They are not individually discovered as slash commands, so only /pdlc is directly invocable; the orchestrator loads each phase by reading its file (see Load Each Phase Sub-Skill below).

Load Each Phase Sub-Skill (mandatory)

Before performing any work that belongs to a phase, read that phase's sub-skill file at skills/pdlc/skills/<name>/SKILL.md (use the Read tool) so its workflow, gates, and commit rules are in context. Never execute a phase's actions from memory or general knowledge. This applies at every phase transition, on every entry point and fast path. If you reach a phase that commits, pushes, or opens a PR and its sub-skill is not yet read, read it before doing anything else, then follow its workflow.

Loop Overview

The PDLC loop — 6 phases (entry: problem → measure)

  Phase 1 — Discover (divergent: find problems worth solving)
  discover-problems     Synthesize JTBD, interviews, and problem statements
  research-market       Size the market, map trends and segments
  analyze-competition    Map the competitive field and positioning gaps
  frame-opportunities    Build an opportunity-solution tree, scored
          │
          ▼  GATE (make-decision: proceed / pivot / kill)
  Phase 2 — Validate (converge or kill, before any build)
  map-assumptions        List hypotheses, beliefs, and risks ranked by leverage
  design-experiment      Design the cheapest decisive test (fake-door, concierge, prototype, survey)
  run-experiment         Execute, collect data, record a verdict
          │
          ▼  GATE (make-decision: proceed / pivot / kill)
  Phase 3 — Strategy (decide where to focus)
  define-vision          Product vision, target customer, positioning
  set-goals              OKRs, success metrics + guardrail metrics
  build-roadmap          Now/Next/Later, outcome-based
  prioritize             Rank the backlog (RICE / WSJF)
          │
          ▼  GATE (make-decision: proceed / pivot / kill)
  Phase 4 — Define (turn outcome into buildable scope)
  write-prd              Problem, outcomes, success criteria, non-goals
  define-acceptance      Acceptance contract: testable criteria (HANDOFF TO SDLC)
  prototype-ux           Wireframes/prototype + usability findings
          │
          ▼  GATE (make-decision: proceed / pivot / kill)  ──►  SDLC owns the build
  Phase 5 — Launch (go-to-market)
  plan-launch            Readiness checklist, timeline, channels
  craft-messaging        Value prop, messaging house, narratives
  enable-teams           Sales playbook, support runbook
  set-pricing            Pricing model, packaging, tiers
          │
          ▼  GATE (make-decision: proceed / pivot / kill)
  Phase 6 — Measure (close the loop)
  spec-analytics         Events, funnels, dashboards, guardrails
  review-metrics         Actuals vs goals, anomalies, health report
  synthesize-feedback    Aggregate support, sales, NPS, reviews
  run-retrospective      Keep / stop / start
  sunset-product         End-of-life plan (when an initiative is net-negative)
          │
          ▼  GATE (make-decision: double-down / iterate / sunset)  ──► feeds back into Discover

Cross-cutting (invoke at any point)

  make-decision          The gate mechanism — one decision record reused at every transition
  kill-initiative        Explicit sunset-or-pivot: reallocate capacity, notify stakeholders
  brief-stakeholders     Exec summary, status update, stakeholder map
  audit-outcomes         Trace shipped outcomes back to the original problem and metrics (PDLC's reverse trace)
  manage-portfolio       Health across multiple initiatives/products

Setup (run once per project, no dependencies on the loop)

  initialize-pdlc-directory   Bootstrap .pdlc/ structure and populate templates
  sync-pdlc                   Reconcile .pdlc/ with current product reality (calls initialize if absent)