sdlc-studio

SDLC Studio

Manage project specifications and test artifacts. Supports the full pipeline from PRD creation through Epic decomposition, User Story generation, and streamlined test automation.

Critical Philosophy (Read This First)

Two modes for every artifact type:

| Mode | Purpose | When to Use | | --- | --- | --- | | create | Author new specifications from user input | Greenfield projects, new features | | generate | Extract specifications from existing code | Brownfield projects, documentation gaps |

New to Create vs Generate? Read reference-philosophy.md - it explains why these modes exist and how they differ fundamentally.

Using generate mode? You MUST read reference-philosophy.md#generate-mode first - generated specs must be validated by tests.

Generate mode is NOT documentation. It produces a migration blueprint - a specification detailed enough that another team could rebuild the system in a different technology stack. Generated specs MUST be validated by running tests against the existing implementation.

Quick Start

/sdlc-studio help                    # Show command reference
/sdlc-studio status                  # Check pipeline state and next steps
/sdlc-studio review                  # Unified PRD/TRD/TSD review
/sdlc-studio reconcile               # Fix all status drift in one pass
/sdlc-studio upgrade --dry-run       # Preview schema upgrade
/sdlc-studio prd generate            # Create PRD from codebase
/sdlc-studio trd generate            # Create TRD from codebase
/sdlc-studio epic                    # Generate Epics from PRD
/sdlc-studio story                   # Generate Stories from Epics
/sdlc-studio bug                     # Create or list bugs
/sdlc-studio cr                      # Manage change requests
/sdlc-studio code plan               # Plan implementation for story
/sdlc-studio code implement          # Execute implementation plan
/sdlc-studio code test               # Run tests with traceability
/sdlc-studio code verify             # Verify code against AC
/sdlc-studio code check              # Run linters and checks
/sdlc-studio tsd                      # Create test strategy document
/sdlc-studio test-spec               # Generate test specifications
/sdlc-studio test-automation         # Generate executable tests
/sdlc-studio story plan              # Create plan + test-spec, then review
/sdlc-studio story implement         # Execute story workflow (all phases)
/sdlc-studio epic plan               # Preview epic workflow (all stories)
/sdlc-studio epic implement          # Execute epic workflow (all stories)
/sdlc-studio project plan            # Preview project execution plan
/sdlc-studio project implement       # Execute all epics in dependency order

Get Help for Any Type

/sdlc-studio {type} help             # Show help for specific type

Examples:

/sdlc-studio prd help                # PRD commands and options
/sdlc-studio epic help               # Epic generation help
/sdlc-studio bug help                # Bug tracking help
/sdlc-studio code help               # Code plan/test/verify/check help
/sdlc-studio test-spec help          # Test specification help
/sdlc-studio test-automation help    # Test automation help

Each help page shows:

• Available actions and what they do
• Prerequisites
• Output format and location
• Examples
• Next steps

When to Use

Use when asked about: PRD, TRD, epics, stories, personas, bugs, code planning, implementation, testing, test specs, test automation, project status, or any /sdlc-studio command.

Instructions

When invoked with /sdlc-studio [type] [action]:

1. Parse Command: Extract type and action from arguments
2. Load Help File: Read help/{type}.md for command-specific guidance
3. Check Philosophy: If generate mode, load reference-philosophy.md#generate-mode FIRST
4. Follow Progressive Loading:
5. Load reference files only for multi-step workflows
6. Load templates only when creating artifacts
7. Load decision files when choosing approaches (TDD, Ready status)
8. Execute Workflow: Follow step-by-step procedure in reference file
9. Update Status: Modify artifact status markers per reference-outputs.md
10. Validate: Check Ready criteria in reference-decisions.md before proceeding

Note: Version checks run on hint and status commands only (see those help files).

See "Progressive Loading Guide" below for detailed file loading patterns.

Progressive Loading Guide

Claude loads files progressively based on task needs:

| Task Type | Primary Load | Secondary Load | Decision Load | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Understanding command | help/{type}.md | - | - | | Create mode workflow | help/{type}.md | reference-{domain}.md | reference-philosophy.md#create-mode | | Generate mode workflow | reference-philosophy.md#generate-mode | help/{type}.md | reference-{domain}.md | | Creating artifacts | templates/core/{type}.md | reference-outputs.md | - | | Loading modules | templates/modules/{domain}/*.md | - | - | | Planning code | reference-code.md#code-plan-workflow | reference-decisions.md#story-ready | best-practices/{language}.md | | Choosing TDD/Test-After | reference-decisions.md#tdd-decision-tree | reference-test-best-practices.md | - | | Validating Ready status | reference-decisions.md#{type}-ready | reference-outputs.md | - | | Document review | reference-review.md | reference-{doc}.md | - | | Schema upgrade | reference-upgrade.md | reference-config.md | - | | Project orchestration | reference-project.md | reference-epic.md | reference-config.md | | Agentic execution | reference-agentic-lessons.md | reference-epic.md | - | | Change request workflow | help/cr.md | reference-cr.md | reference-outputs.md |

Template structure:

| Path | Purpose | | --- | --- | | templates/core/.md | Streamlined core templates (v2) | | templates/indexes/.md | Index file templates | | templates/modules/trd/.md | Optional TRD modules (diagrams, containers, ADR) | | templates/modules/tsd/.md | Optional TSD modules (contract, perf, security) | | templates/modules/epic/*.md | Optional Epic perspective modules | | templates/config-defaults.yaml | Skill default configuration |

Module loading flags:

| Flag | Modules Loaded | | --- | --- | | trd create --with-diagrams | modules/trd/c4-diagrams.md | | trd create --with-containers | modules/trd/container-design.md | | trd create --full | All TRD modules | | epic --perspective engineering | modules/epic/engineering-view.md | | epic --perspective product | modules/epic/product-view.md | | epic --perspective test | modules/epic/test-view.md |

Reference file mapping:

Reference files follow the pattern reference-{domain}.md. When executing a workflow, load the reference file matching the artifact type being created or modified. Cross-domain files (reference-decisions.md, reference-outputs.md, reference-philosophy.md) load as needed for validation, status updates, and approach decisions.

Arguments

| Argument | Description | Default | | --- | --- | --- | | type | See Type Reference below | Required | | action | create, generate, review, plan, verify, check, list, fix, close, help | varies | | --output | Output path (file or directory) | varies by type | | --prd | PRD file path (for epic) | sdlc-studio/prd.md | | --epic | Specific epic ID | all epics | | --perspective | Epic breakdown focus (engineering, product, test) | balanced | | --story | Specific story ID | auto-select | | --bug | Specific bug ID | auto-select | | --cr | Specific change request ID | auto-select | | --severity | Bug severity filter (critical, high, medium, low) | all | | --spec | Specific test spec ID (for test-automation) | all specs | | --type | Test type filter (unit, integration, api, e2e) | all types | | --framework | Override framework detection | auto-de