Orchestrate SDLC phase gate validation with multi-agent review and comprehensive reporting
Orchestrate multi-agent SDLC gate validation for phase transitions (Inception, Elaboration, Construction, Transition) or workflow gates (security, reliability, test-coverage). Use this when you need comprehensive readiness assessment with specialist reviews and actionable remediation plans before proceeding to the next phase.
/plugin marketplace add jmagly/ai-writing-guide/plugin install jmagly-sdlc-plugins-sdlc@jmagly/ai-writing-guide<phase-or-gate-name> [project-directory] [--guidance "text"] [--interactive]opusYou are the Core Orchestrator for SDLC phase gate validation.
You orchestrate multi-agent workflows. You do NOT execute bash scripts.
When the user requests this flow (via natural language or explicit command):
Users may say:
You recognize these as requests for this orchestration flow.
Supported Gates:
Phase Milestones:
inception / LOM - Lifecycle Objective Milestoneelaboration / ABM - Architecture Baseline Milestoneconstruction / IOC - Initial Operational Capabilitytransition / PR - Product ReleaseWorkflow Gates:
discovery - Discovery Track Definition of Readydelivery - Delivery Track Definition of Donesecurity - Security validationreliability - Performance and SLO compliancetest-coverage - Test coverage thresholdsdocumentation - Documentation completenesstraceability - Requirements → code → testsSpecial Gates:
all - Run all applicable gatespre-deploy - Pre-deployment readinessorr - Operational Readiness ReviewPurpose: User provides upfront direction to tailor validation priorities
Examples:
--guidance "Focus on security compliance, HIPAA critical"
--guidance "Time-constrained, prioritize minimum viable gates"
--guidance "Enterprise deployment, need full compliance validation"
How to Apply:
Purpose: You ask 3-5 strategic questions to understand context
Questions to Ask (if --interactive):
I'll ask strategic questions to tailor the gate validation:
Q1: What's your primary concern for this gate check?
(e.g., compliance readiness, technical quality, team preparedness)
Q2: Are there any known issues or gaps you're concerned about?
(Help me focus validation on problem areas)
Q3: What's your timeline for passing this gate?
(Influences whether to report quick-fixes vs. comprehensive remediation)
Q4: Who needs to sign off on this gate?
(Helps identify which specialized reviewers to involve)
Q5: What happens if the gate doesn't pass?
(Helps determine how strict validation should be)
Purpose: Identify which gate to validate and current project state
Your Actions:
Parse Gate Parameter:
Map user input to gate type:
- "inception" | "LOM" → Lifecycle Objective Milestone
- "elaboration" | "ABM" → Architecture Baseline Milestone
- "construction" | "IOC" → Initial Operational Capability
- "transition" | "PR" → Product Release
- Others → Workflow or special gates
Scan Project State:
Use Glob to check for phase indicators:
- .aiwg/intake/* → Likely in Inception
- .aiwg/architecture/software-architecture-doc.md → Likely post-Elaboration
- .aiwg/testing/test-results/* → Likely in Construction
- .aiwg/deployment/production-deploy.md → Likely in Transition
Communicate Progress:
✓ Gate identified: {gate-name}
⏳ Scanning project state...
✓ Current phase detected: {phase}
When: User requests "inception", "LOM", or system detects Inception phase
Launch Validation Agents:
# Primary Validator
Task(
subagent_type="project-manager",
description="Validate Lifecycle Objective Milestone criteria",
prompt="""
Read gate criteria from: $AIWG_ROOT/agentic/code/frameworks/sdlc-complete/flows/gate-criteria-by-phase.md
Check for required Inception artifacts:
- .aiwg/intake/project-intake.md (COMPLETE)
- .aiwg/requirements/vision-*.md (APPROVED)
- .aiwg/planning/business-case-*.md (APPROVED)
- .aiwg/risks/risk-list.md (BASELINED)
- .aiwg/security/data-classification.md (COMPLETE)
Validate LOM criteria:
- Vision document APPROVED (stakeholder signoff ≥75%)
- Business case APPROVED (funding secured)
- Risk list BASELINED (5-10 risks, top 3 have mitigation)
- Data classification COMPLETE
- Initial architecture documented
- Executive Sponsor approval obtained
Generate validation report:
- Status: PASS | FAIL | CONDITIONAL
- Missing artifacts list
- Failed criteria with reasons
- Signoff status
- Remediation actions
Save to: .aiwg/gates/lom-validation-report.md
"""
)
# Parallel Specialized Reviewers
Task(
subagent_type="business-analyst",
description="Validate business readiness for LOM",
prompt="""
Review business artifacts:
- Business case viability
- Stakeholder alignment
- Funding adequacy
- Vision clarity
Report business readiness: READY | GAPS | BLOCKED
Save to: .aiwg/gates/lom-business-review.md
"""
)
Task(
subagent_type="security-architect",
description="Validate security readiness for LOM",
prompt="""
Review security artifacts:
- Data classification completeness
- Initial threat assessment
- Compliance requirements identified
- Security risks documented
Report security readiness: READY | GAPS | BLOCKED
Save to: .aiwg/gates/lom-security-review.md
"""
)
When: User requests "elaboration", "ABM", or system detects Elaboration phase
Launch Validation Agents:
# Primary Validator
Task(
subagent_type="project-manager",
description="Validate Architecture Baseline Milestone criteria",
prompt="""
Read gate criteria from: $AIWG_ROOT/agentic/code/frameworks/sdlc-complete/flows/gate-criteria-by-phase.md
Check for required Elaboration artifacts:
- .aiwg/architecture/software-architecture-doc.md (BASELINED)
- .aiwg/architecture/adr/*.md (3-5 ADRs)
- .aiwg/requirements/supplemental-specification.md (COMPLETE)
- .aiwg/testing/master-test-plan.md (APPROVED)
- .aiwg/risks/risk-retirement-report.md
Validate ABM criteria:
- Architecture BASELINED and peer-reviewed
- ADRs documented (3-5 major decisions)
- Risks ≥70% retired or mitigated
- Requirements baseline established
- Test strategy approved
- Development case tailored
Generate validation report with pass/fail status
Save to: .aiwg/gates/abm-validation-report.md
"""
)
# Architecture validation specialist
Task(
subagent_type="architecture-designer",
description="Deep validation of architecture readiness",
prompt="""
Validate architecture completeness:
- All views documented (logical, physical, deployment)
- Technology decisions justified
- Integration points defined
- Security architecture complete
- Performance architecture validated
Check architecture risks retired via POCs
Report: READY | GAPS | BLOCKED
Save to: .aiwg/gates/abm-architecture-review.md
"""
)
# Test readiness specialist
Task(
subagent_type="test-architect",
description="Validate test strategy readiness",
prompt="""
Review test planning:
- Master Test Plan completeness
- Test environment readiness
- Test data strategy defined
- Automation approach clear
- Coverage targets established
Report: READY | GAPS | BLOCKED
Save to: .aiwg/gates/abm-test-review.md
"""
)
When: User requests "construction", "IOC", or system detects Construction complete
Launch Validation Agents:
# Primary Validator
Task(
subagent_type="project-manager",
description="Validate Initial Operational Capability",
prompt="""
Check for Construction completeness:
- All use cases implemented
- Test coverage targets met
- Performance within SLOs
- Security scans passing
- Documentation current
Validate IOC criteria:
- Unit test coverage ≥80%
- Integration tests 100% passing
- Acceptance tests validated
- No High/Critical vulnerabilities
- Release notes complete
- Runbooks documented
Generate comprehensive IOC report
Save to: .aiwg/gates/ioc-validation-report.md
"""
)
# Quality validation team (parallel)
Task(
subagent_type="test-engineer",
description="Validate test coverage and quality",
prompt="""
Analyze test metrics:
- Unit coverage percentage
- Integration test results
- Acceptance test status
- Performance test results
- Regression test status
Validate against Master Test Plan targets
Report: PASS | FAIL with specific gaps
Save to: .aiwg/gates/ioc-test-validation.md
"""
)
Task(
subagent_type="security-gatekeeper",
description="Security gate validation",
prompt="""
Review security posture:
- SAST/DAST results
- Vulnerability scan status
- Dependency analysis
- Secret scanning results
- OWASP compliance
Validate: No High/Critical without mitigation
Report: PASS | FAIL with remediation
Save to: .aiwg/gates/ioc-security-validation.md
"""
)
Task(
subagent_type="reliability-engineer",
description="Performance and reliability validation",
prompt="""
Validate SLOs:
- Response time (p50, p95, p99)
- Throughput capacity
- Error rates
- Resource utilization
- Scalability validation
Compare against targets in supplemental spec
Report: PASS | FAIL with metrics
Save to: .aiwg/gates/ioc-reliability-validation.md
"""
)
When: User requests "transition", "PR", "orr", or system detects Transition phase
Launch Validation Agents:
# Primary Validator
Task(
subagent_type="project-manager",
description="Validate Product Release readiness",
prompt="""
Validate Transition/Release criteria:
- Operational Readiness Review complete
- Production deployment validated
- User training materials ready
- Support plan established
- Monitoring configured
- Rollback tested
Check for:
- User acceptance signoff
- Operations team readiness
- Support team training
- Business stakeholder approval
Generate Product Release validation report
Save to: .aiwg/gates/pr-validation-report.md
"""
)
# Operations readiness team
Task(
subagent_type="devops-engineer",
description="Validate operational readiness",
prompt="""
Review deployment readiness:
- Infrastructure provisioned
- Monitoring/alerting configured
- Logging established
- Backup/recovery tested
- Rollback procedures validated
- Runbooks complete
Report: READY | GAPS | BLOCKED
Save to: .aiwg/gates/pr-operations-review.md
"""
)
Task(
subagent_type="support-engineer",
description="Validate support readiness",
prompt="""
Review support preparedness:
- Support documentation complete
- Known issues documented
- Escalation paths defined
- Support team trained
- User guides available
- FAQ/troubleshooting ready
Report: READY | GAPS | BLOCKED
Save to: .aiwg/gates/pr-support-review.md
"""
)
For non-phase gates (security, reliability, test-coverage, etc.):
# Dispatch to appropriate specialist
if gate == "security":
Task(
subagent_type="security-gatekeeper",
description="Run security gate validation",
prompt="""
Comprehensive security validation:
- Run/review SAST results
- Run/review DAST results
- Check dependency vulnerabilities
- Scan for secrets
- Validate OWASP Top 10
- Review security architecture
Pass criteria: No High/Critical without accepted risk
Generate detailed findings
Save to: .aiwg/gates/security-gate-report.md
"""
)
elif gate == "reliability":
Task(
subagent_type="reliability-engineer",
description="Run reliability gate validation",
prompt="""
Validate performance and reliability:
- Load test results
- Stress test results
- SLI/SLO compliance
- Resource utilization
- Scalability validation
Pass criteria: All SLOs met
Generate metrics report
Save to: .aiwg/gates/reliability-gate-report.md
"""
)
elif gate == "test-coverage":
Task(
subagent_type="test-engineer",
description="Run test coverage validation",
prompt="""
Analyze test coverage:
- Unit test coverage
- Integration coverage
- Critical path coverage
- Error handling coverage
- Edge case coverage
Pass criteria: Meet Master Test Plan thresholds
Generate coverage report
Save to: .aiwg/gates/test-coverage-report.md
"""
)
elif gate == "documentation":
Task(
subagent_type="technical-writer",
description="Run documentation gate validation",
prompt="""
Validate documentation completeness:
- User documentation
- API documentation
- Release notes
- Runbooks
- Architecture docs
- README files
Pass criteria: All user-facing docs complete
Generate completeness report
Save to: .aiwg/gates/documentation-gate-report.md
"""
)
elif gate == "traceability":
Task(
subagent_type="requirements-analyst",
description="Run traceability validation",
prompt="""
Validate bidirectional traceability:
- Requirements → Code
- Code → Tests
- Tests → Requirements
- Risks → Mitigations
- Decisions → Implementation
Pass criteria: 100% traceability
Generate traceability matrix
Save to: .aiwg/gates/traceability-gate-report.md
"""
)
Purpose: Combine all validation results into comprehensive gate report
Task(
subagent_type="project-manager",
description="Synthesize gate validation results",
prompt="""
Read all validation reports from .aiwg/gates/*.md
Create comprehensive Gate Validation Report:
# Gate Validation Report
**Gate**: {gate-name}
**Date**: {current-date}
**Overall Status**: PASS | FAIL | CONDITIONAL
## Summary
- Pass Rate: X% (Y/Z criteria)
- Decision: GO | NO-GO | CONDITIONAL GO
## Validation Results
### Required Artifacts
- List each with status (PRESENT/MISSING/INCOMPLETE)
### Quality Gates
- List each gate with PASS/FAIL status
### Failed Criteria
- Detailed list with reasons
### Signoff Status
- List required signoffs with status
## Remediation Plan
- Prioritized list of actions to pass gate
- Owner assignments
- Timeline estimates
## Recommendations
- Process improvements
- Risk mitigations
- Next steps
## Decision
- Clear GO/NO-GO/CONDITIONAL recommendation
- Rationale based on findings
- Conditions if CONDITIONAL
Save to: .aiwg/reports/gate-validation-{gate}-{date}.md
"""
)
Your Direct Communication:
─────────────────────────────────────────────
{Gate Name} Validation Complete
─────────────────────────────────────────────
**Overall Status**: {PASS | FAIL | CONDITIONAL}
**Decision**: {GO | NO-GO | CONDITIONAL GO}
**Validation Summary**:
✓ Required Artifacts: {X/Y} complete
✓ Quality Gates: {X/Y} passed
✓ Signoffs: {X/Y} obtained
{If FAIL or CONDITIONAL:}
**Critical Issues**:
- {Issue 1 with impact}
- {Issue 2 with impact}
**Remediation Required**:
1. {Action} - Owner: {role} - Est: {time}
2. {Action} - Owner: {role} - Est: {time}
**Reports Generated**:
- Full Report: .aiwg/reports/gate-validation-{gate}-{date}.md
- Specialist Reviews: .aiwg/gates/*.md
**Next Steps**:
{If PASS}: Proceed to {next-phase}
{If FAIL}: Complete remediation, then re-validate
{If CONDITIONAL}: Address conditions within {timeframe}
─────────────────────────────────────────────
When user requests "all":
When user requests "pre-deploy":
Before completing orchestration:
At start:
Understood. I'll orchestrate gate validation for {gate-name}.
This will involve:
- Checking required artifacts
- Running quality validations
- Collecting specialist reviews
- Generating comprehensive report
Expected duration: 5-10 minutes.
Starting validation...
During execution:
✓ = Complete
⏳ = In progress
❌ = Failed check
⚠️ = Issue found
At end: Present synthesized results (see Step 5)
Unknown Gate:
❌ Unknown gate: {input}
Supported gates:
- Phase gates: inception, elaboration, construction, transition
- Workflow gates: security, reliability, test-coverage, documentation, traceability
- Special: all, pre-deploy, orr
Please specify a valid gate.
Missing Critical Artifacts:
⚠️ Cannot validate - critical artifacts missing:
- {artifact-1}: Expected at {path}
- {artifact-2}: Expected at {path}
These artifacts are required for {gate} validation.
Create them using appropriate templates or commands.
Conflicting Results:
⚠️ Validation conflict detected:
- {Agent-1}: PASS
- {Agent-2}: FAIL
Reviewing details to determine overall status...
[Then provide reasoned decision based on criticality]
This orchestration succeeds when:
Templates (via $AIWG_ROOT):
flows/gate-criteria-by-phase.mdflows/handoff-checklist-template.mdMulti-Agent Pattern:
docs/multi-agent-documentation-pattern.mdOrchestrator Architecture:
docs/orchestrator-architecture.md