Ideation Phase -- Stage Reference (1.1-1.7)

Phase Overview

The Ideation phase is the second of five phases in the AI-DLC lifecycle. It establishes the foundation for the entire initiative by capturing intent, validating feasibility, defining scope, and securing approval before any technical work begins. In enterprise and feature it runs stages 1.1 through 1.7 and concludes with a go/no-go gate that controls entry into the Inception phase.

All seven stage bodies run inline (the stage's work happens in the conversation, with no subagent) and follow the standard stage-protocol.md for approval gates, question format, and completion messages. Intent Capture and Rough Mockups also name a reviewer, the Product Lead, which runs as a separate subagent for one advisory pass before the gate unless reviews are set to none. The orchestrator routes through the stages the plan runs, in order.

Key characteristics of the Ideation phase:

• Every stage uses inline execution mode (direct conversation with the user).
• Stages produce artifacts under the intent's record dir at <record>/ideation/<stage-name>/, where <record> is aidlc/spaces/<space>/intents/<YYMMDD>-<label>/ (the audit/ shard dir, the per-stage memory.md, and the verification reports live under the same record dir).
• All stages except Stage 1.1 depend on outputs from earlier stages.
• Stage 1.7 runs a phase boundary verification check before handing off to Inception, in the scopes that run it (enterprise and feature).
• Intent Capture, Scope Definition and Approval & Handoff are ALWAYS stages and the other four are CONDITIONAL. ALWAYS holds within a scope that includes the stage: mvp runs no Approval & Handoff, and poc runs only Intent Capture.

Scope-driven stage inclusion:

The compiled plan for a scope lists its stages in order. For mvp, Ideation ends at Rough Mockups, and its approval, or its skip recorded when it does not apply, hands off to Inception (output trimmed):

$ aidlc engine graph scope mvp
workspace-scaffold
workspace-detection
state-init
intent-capture
feasibility
scope-definition
rough-mockups
reverse-engineering
practices-discovery
requirements-analysis
...

Stage Summary Table

Stage 1.1: Intent Capture & Framing

Metadata

Purpose

Intent Capture is the first stage of every scope that runs Ideation. It captures the business problem, identifies stakeholders, and establishes success metrics; the project type (greenfield or brownfield) was already set by Workspace Detection. The resulting intent statement and stakeholder map become the foundation that all downstream stages build upon.

The person's own description of the work is the seed: the stage reads it with the project-description utility, so it does not ask for the request again.

Inputs

• The authoritative project description from the project-description utility (never rebuilt from $ARGUMENTS or an audit Request), and any document the person named, read through document-input
• Existing <record>/ artifacts from prior sessions (if any)
• Guardrails from aidlc/spaces/<active-space>/memory/

Steps

1. Load Prior Context -- Read the project description from project-description (and a named document through document-input). Check for existing artifacts. Load guardrails.
2. Generate Clarifying Questions -- Create <record>/ideation/intent-capture/intent-capture-questions.md with a ## Sources register for the initial description, workflow-selected scope, and any active-memory rules used. Ask about the business problem, customer, success metrics, initiative trigger, stakeholders, decision authority, communication needs, and what this first version leaves out (the workflow-selected scope is stated as chosen, never asked again). Uses [Answer]: tag format with A-E options plus X (Other). Offers tri-mode question flow.
3. Collect and Analyze Answers -- Confirm all tags filled. Run ambiguity/contradiction analysis.
4. Generate Grounded Artifacts -- Produce the intent statement and stakeholder map. Every substantive paragraph, list item, and table data row carries an inline [desc], [scope], [Q<n>], [memory:<id>], or [assumption] tag. Both files include ## Assumptions & Open Questions.
5. Resolve Assumptions -- If either artifact retains an assumption, ask the user to accept it or convert it into follow-up questions. Acceptance preserves the assumption label; it does not promote the claim to fact.
6. Prepare Completion -- Run Product Lead review, verify both artifacts, and report the gate outcome through aidlc-orchestrate.ts.
7. Present Completion & Request Approval -- Standard 2-option gate.

Outputs

Notes

• First stage of every scope that runs Ideation. No prior artifacts other than the person's input.
• The person's description, read through project-description, is the seed context.
• Unselected options are not exclusions or requirements. Unsupported content is omitted, elicited in a follow-up, or retained only as an explicit assumption.
• The intent statement feeds every subsequent Ideation stage and carries forward into Inception.

Stage 1.2: Market Research & Competitive Analysis

Metadata

Purpose

Validates the initiative against the external competitive landscape. Produces competitive analysis, market trends, build-vs-buy assessment, and differentiation strategy.

Inputs

• Intent statement from Stage 1.1

Outputs

Notes

• Skip condition: internal tools, bug fixes, refactors. In the shipped scopes it runs only in enterprise and feature.
• Feeds into Stage 1.3 Feasibility and Stage 1.7 Approval & Handoff.

Stage 1.3: Feasibility & Constraint Analysis

Metadata

Purpose

Evaluates technical viability, identifies constraints, and establishes a RAID log (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies). Multi-agent stage: architect leads, then aws-platform and compliance provide input.

Inputs

• Intent statement from Stage 1.1
• Market research from Stage 1.2 (if executed)

Outputs

Notes

• mvp runs it at the scope's Standard depth, like every other mvp stage.
• Multi-agent pattern: orchestrator runs lead agent first, then support agents with lead's output as context.

Stage 1.4: Scope Definition & Prioritization

Metadata

Purpose

Establishes the scope boundary. Produces a prioritized intent backlog (proto-units of work) using MoSCoW, WSJF, or RICE prioritization and a value stream map.

Inputs

• Intent statement from Stage 1.1
• Feasibility assessment and constraint register from Stage 1.3 (if they exist)

Outputs

Notes

• Runs in enterprise, feature and mvp; depth follows the scope.
• The scope document becomes the authoritative boundary for the entire project.

Stage 1.5: Team Formation & Mob Planning

Metadata

Purpose

Assesses team availability, maps skills, identifies gaps, and produces mob composition plan.

Inputs

• Scope document and intent backlog from Stage 1.4
• Feasibility assessment from Stage 1.3 (if exists)

Outputs

Notes

• Skip condition: solo developer or small team projects. In the shipped scopes it runs only in enterprise and feature.
• Feeds into Stage 2.9 Delivery Planning.

Stage 1.6: Rough Mockups & Concept Visualization

Metadata

Purpose

Produces early concept visualizations. For UI: low-fidelity wireframes and user flow diagrams. For non-UI: system context diagrams and interaction flow sketches. All diagrams follow ASCII standards from stage-protocol.md.

Inputs

• Intent statement from Stage 1.1
• Scope document and intent backlog from Stage 1.4

Outputs

Notes

• Skip condition: non-UI, API-only, or infrastructure-only initiatives.
• Feeds into Stage 2.5 Refined Mockups in Inception (if that stage also executes).

Stage 1.7: Initiative Approval & Handoff

Metadata

Purpose

Compiles all Ideation artifacts into a single initiative brief, records all decisions, runs phase boundary verification, and presents a go/no-go gate.

Inputs

All Ideation phase artifacts from stages 1.1-1.6.

Steps

1. Load aidlc-delivery-agent persona and knowledge.
2. Read ALL Ideation phase artifacts.
3. Generate approval questions.
4. Compile initiative brief (one-pager combining all outputs).
5. Phase boundary verification (Intent -> Scope -> Intent Backlog consistency).
6. Verify the handoff and phase-boundary artifacts; do not edit lifecycle state directly.
7. Present the 3-option approval gate. On approval, report the outcome so the engine completes the stage and transitions to Inception atomically.

Outputs

Phase boundary verification:

Approval Gate

Special 3-option gate:

• Approve -- Proceed to Inception phase
• Request Changes -- Provide revision feedback
• Reject Initiative -- End the workflow entirely

Notes

• Phase boundary stage -- runs verification per stage-protocol governance.
• Initiative brief serves as executive summary for the entire Ideation phase.

Phase Summary

Key Outputs

1. Intent Statement (1.1) -- Problem statement, target customer, success metrics, initiative trigger, initial scope signal.
2. Stakeholder Map (1.1) -- Key stakeholders, decision-makers, communication requirements.
3. Competitive Analysis (1.2) -- Market positioning, build-vs-buy (when applicable).
4. Feasibility Assessment and RAID Log (1.3) -- Technical viability, risk register, constraints (when applicable).
5. Scope Document and Intent Backlog (1.4) -- Authoritative scope boundary, prioritized proto-unit list.
6. Team Plan (1.5) -- Skill matrix, mob composition, capacity allocation (when applicable).
7. Concept Mockups (1.6) -- Wireframes/user flows or system context diagrams (when applicable).
8. Initiative Brief (1.7) -- Executive one-pager synthesizing all Ideation outputs.
9. Phase Boundary Verification (1.7) -- Traceability check results.

Handoff to Inception

Upon approval of the last Ideation stage the plan runs (1.7 in enterprise and feature, 1.6 in mvp, whether approved or recorded as skipped, 1.1 in poc), the framework transitions to the Inception phase. Inception begins with Stage 2.1 Reverse Engineering on brownfield work. On greenfield work it begins with Stage 2.2 Practices Discovery in enterprise, feature and mvp, and with Stage 2.3 Requirements Analysis in poc, which runs no Practices Discovery.

Cross-References

• Orchestrator -- routing logic, scope-to-stage mapping
• Stage Protocol -- approval gates, question format, phase boundary verification
• Inception Stages -- next phase
• Initialization Stages -- previous phase