Agentic Specification-Driven Development
A framework for building software with AI agents — governed by humans, executed by agents, continuously improved by production learning loops.
✦ v5.0 · Agentic Era 2026✦ 10 Specialized Agents✦ 8-Phase Lifecycle✦ Human-First Governance
Why ASDD?
Traditional agile was designed for human-only teams. ASDD is designed for human-AI squads.
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Specification-First
Every feature starts as a machine-interpretable spec. Agents cannot execute on ambiguity — specs eliminate it before a single line of code is written.
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10-Agent Pipeline
Specialized agents handle discovery, validation, design, implementation, QA, security, and learning — each with confidence scoring and human override authority.
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Human-First Governance
Every phase gate requires human sign-off. Agents propose; humans decide. The Dissent Protocol lets any team member formally reject an agent artifact.
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Cumulative Confidence Score
The CCS is the product of all agent confidence scores in a pipeline. If it drops below 0.65, the pipeline halts automatically for human review.
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Production Learning Loop
The Knowledge Agent monitors telemetry, identifies patterns, and proposes steering rule updates — closing the loop between production and your specifications.
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Parallel Wave Execution
Implementation tasks run in parallel waves with context-fresh sub-agents, dramatically reducing cycle time while maintaining architectural integrity.
Start where you are
ASDD documentation is organized by role. Jump to what's relevant to you.
CTOs & Engineering Managers
Business outcomes, team model, adoption roadmap
Tech Leads & Architects
Lifecycle, governance, agent pipeline, security
Engineers & Juniors
Your role, how to work with agents, spec writing
The Human–Agent Agile Manifesto
14 principles for the agentic software era. A deliberate evolution of the 2001 Agile Manifesto — written around AI agents, keeping humans in authority.
Validated intentover over generated code
Human authorityover over agent autonomy
Continuous trust loopsover over periodic reviews
Adaptive executionover over rigid planning