System Context: Standards System

Overview

This document defines the boundaries and integration points for the Standards System.

---

System Boundary

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                         Agent Layer                                 │
│  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐    │
│  │                    Master Agent                             │    │
│  │              (project-init skill creates standards)         │    │
│  └─────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘    │
│                            │                                        │
│  ┌────────────┐  ┌─────────▼────────┐  ┌──────────────────────┐   │
│  │ Inception  │  │  Construction    │  │    Operations        │   │
│  │   Agent    │  │     Agent        │  │      Agent           │   │
│  │            │  │ (reads standards)│  │  (reads standards)   │   │
│  └────────────┘  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────────────┘   │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                                │
                    Reads/Writes│
                                ▼
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      Standards System                               │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                memory-bank/standards/                        │   │
│  │  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌───────────────┐  │   │
│  │  │ tech-stack.md│  │coding-standards.md│  │system-arch.md│  │   │
│  │  └──────────────┘  └──────────────────┘  └───────────────┘  │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                                     │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │               .specsmd/standards-catalog.yaml                │   │
│  │                 (Available standards definitions)            │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                                     │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │               .specsmd/aidlc/templates/standards/                  │   │
│  │                 (Templates for each standard)                │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

---

External Systems

Project Codebase

• **Type**: User's software project
• **Interface**: File system
• **Constraint**: Standards must be compatible with existing project

---

Internal Components

Standards Catalog

• **Location**: `.specsmd/standards-catalog.yaml`
• **Purpose**: Define available standards and their metadata
• **Format**:

standards:
  - id: tech-stack
    name: Technology Stack
    description: Document technology choices
    required: true
  - id: coding-standards
    name: Coding Standards
    description: Code style and quality conventions
    required: true
  - id: system-architecture
    name: System Architecture
    description: Architectural patterns and decisions
    required: true

Standard Files

• **Location**: `memory-bank/standards/`
• **Purpose**: Project-specific standard documentation
• **Format**: Markdown files following templates

Standard Templates

• **Location**: `.specsmd/aidlc/templates/standards/`
• **Purpose**: Boilerplate for creating standard files
• **Examples**: `tech-stack-template.md`, `coding-standards-template.md`

---

Data Flow

Project Initialization

User runs project-init
    │
    ▼
Master Agent reads standards-catalog.yaml
    │
    ▼
For each required standard:
    │
    ├─▶ Read template from .specsmd/aidlc/templates/standards/
    │
    └─▶ Create standard file in memory-bank/standards/
    │
    ▼
Standards ready for agents to consume

Agent Standards Consumption

Construction Agent starts bolt
    │
    ▼
Read memory-bank/standards/tech-stack.md
    │
    ▼
Read memory-bank/standards/coding-standards.md
    │
    ▼
Apply standards during implementation

---

Integration Contracts

Standard File Format

• Markdown with clear sections
• Human-readable and editable
• No required frontmatter (optional YAML frontmatter allowed)

Catalog Format

• YAML format
• Each standard has: id, name, description, required flag
• Templates referenced by convention: `{id}-template.md`

---

Constraints

• Standards must be human-readable
• Standards must be editable by project team
• Standards must be git-safe
• Standards apply project-wide (not per-intent or per-unit)