PA·co Workflow

March 31, 2026 · View on GitHub

Every product goes through the full 7-phase workflow. No shortcuts. No tiers.

RESEARCH → REFINE → POST-REFINE → CEO GATE → DEVELOP → DEPLOY → EVOLVE

Phase Overview

#	Phase	Purpose	Gatekeeper	Key Output
1	Research	Find PROBLEMS, not solutions	PA·co	SPEC_TEMPLATE
2	Refine	All departments enrich in parallel	PA·co	6 SPEC_MVP files
3	Post-Refine	Audit all specs. Fix or kill.	Argus (Auditor)	Audit report: GO/KILL
4	CEO Gate	CEO approves, rejects, or defers	CEO	GO / NO-GO / DEFER
5	Develop	Build from specs. No improvisation.	Sentinel + Phantom	Working product
6	Deploy	Ship to production. Scan. Verify.	CEO	Live product
7	Evolve	Health reviews, defense, iteration	Argus (biweekly)	Ongoing health

Who: Researcher agent + web search
Input: Problem space, sector catalog
Output: specs/SPEC_TEMPLATE.md — problem definition, market evidence, competitors
Rules:
- Find problems backed by evidence (URLs, data), not opinions
- 3+ competitors must be identified
- Market size estimated (TAM/SAM/SOM)
- No solution design — that's Phase 2

Who: ALL departments, in parallel
Input: SPEC_TEMPLATE from Phase 1
Output: 6 SPEC_MVP files (Engineering, Q&S, Intelligence, Growth, Governance, Design)
Rules:
- Every agent asks minimum 10 questions with mandatory web search
- Engineering defines the SOLUTION (tech stack, architecture, features)
- Q&S defines security plan and test strategy
- Intelligence defines positioning and competitive angles
- Growth defines distribution and content strategy
- Governance defines business model, costs, and legal review

Who: Argus (Auditor)
Input: All 6 SPEC_MVP files
Output: Audit report with GO or KILL verdict
Rules:
- Check for contradictions between department specs
- Verify evidence quality (every claim needs a source)
- Evaluate tech stack justification
- Verify cost projections are realistic
- Security plan must cover OWASP Top 10

Who: CEO (human)
Input: Audit report + all specs + CEO decision checklist
Output: GO (8-10 YES answers) / NO-GO / DEFER
Rules:
- NO product advances without CEO approval
- CEO reviews 10-question checklist
- Only 1 product in phases 1-6 at a time
- If CEO doesn't respond in 48h: auto-approve with enhanced QA

Who: Builder + Designer agents
Input: Approved SPEC_MVP files
Output: Working product matching specs
Rules:
- Build from specs. No improvisation.
- Builder and QA alternate sessions (last_actor tracking)
- Autonomous builds (auto-approved) get Build+QA every session
- TypeScript strict mode, 0 errors
- Auth on every endpoint, RLS on every table

Who: Builder (deploy) + Phantom (security) + Sentinel (verify) + Argus (audit)
Input: Product passing all QA/security checks
Output: Live product at production URL
Rules:
- Post-deploy security scan must pass
- All endpoints return 200
- CEO manual PDF delivered
- CEO must personally verify before moving to Evolve

Who: All departments, ongoing
Cadence: Continuous with biweekly health reviews
Rules:
- Health reviews scored: GROWING / STABLE / STAGNANT / DECLINING
- STAGNANT 2x → evaluate redesign/pivot
- DECLINING 2x → CEO notified, kill evaluation
- P0/P1 bugs always take priority over new product development
- Multiple products can be in Evolve simultaneously

1 product in pipeline (phases 1-6) at a time
N products in Evolve simultaneously
Sprint cycle: Week A = produce (build/ship). Week B = consolidate (position/distribute/improve)
Schedules 4-9 (Refine phases) skip in Week B

Every phase transition requires passing its quality gate. Define gates in quality-gates.md.

Template:

## Phase X → Y: [Name] → [Name]
**Gatekeeper:** [Agent or CEO]
- [ ] [Requirement 1]
- [ ] [Requirement 2]
- [ ] [Requirement 3]

Products track their phase in products/{name}/STATE.md:

phase: DEVELOP          # Current phase
last_actor: "builder"   # Who worked last (for Build↔QA alternation)
last_updated: 2026-03-31

The pipeline is tracked globally in state/PIPELINE.md.