acdl/.ciagent/PROJECT.md

Nova — The New Dawn of DevSecOps

Rebrand complete (milestone v1.15 — Nova, tag v1.15.4). The project was rebranded from ACDL / "Agentic Cloud Delivery Platform" → Nova / "The New Dawn of DevSecOps — security as a seamless enabler of fast deployments." The new tagline is added alongside the existing "North Star" / "consumers declare intent" framing. See .ciagent/REQUIREMENTS.md §v1.15 and .ciagent/ROADMAP.md §v1.15.

Vision / Core Value

Consumers declare intent; the platform delivers safe production deployment through an agentic stack. The platform absorbs two frictions: the cognitive load of getting the infrastructure right, and the operational work of getting the change to production safely.

Source of truth for why: docs/vision.md. Source of truth for how: docs/architecture.md + .ciagent/ARCHITECTURE.md. Where the two conflict, the vision wins.

North Star

A merged change progresses through lower environments end-to-end without a platform engineer joining a thread, approving a ticket, or manually triggering a stage gate. A non-technical consumer ships a production deployment by declaring intent — without authoring a workflow, a configuration file, or a Terraform module. Every production change is traceable to a human attestation and an immutable evidence stream.

Core Tenets (from docs/vision.md)

1. Operations are Declared, Not Executed. Consumers define what they need; the platform reconciles, provisions, and progresses.
2. The Delivery Lifecycle is a Sovereign Boundary. The platform governs infra and delivery; it does not penetrate upstream product/SDLC. Integration is only through validated, published contracts.
3. Lower Environments are Autonomous; Higher Environments are Attested. Dev = zero-touch agentic. QA/prod/dr = deliberate human attestation, not rubber stamps.
4. Safety is Computed, Not Assumed. Every action produces a measurable, explainable confidence signal. The signal is the platform's certified answer to "is this safe to proceed?"
5. Infrastructure is Consumed, Not Maintained. Compute is abstract, containerized, or serverless. No node/OS/bare-metal lifecycle.
6. Two Consumer Surfaces, One Platform. Technical developers (L3A) and non-technical consumers (L3B) converge on the same contract schema, the same policy envelope, and the same evidence stream.

Domain Boundaries

• In scope: environment progression; cloud resource lifecycle; operational security and observability NFRs; policy enforcement; immutable audit lineage; confidence frameworks; two consumer surfaces (developer + agentic).
• Out of scope: application business logic; IDE workflows; product backlog / sprint planning; compute requiring node-level or OS-level management.
• Interface: upstream systems integrate through a strict contract boundary. The platform validates, enriches with operational standards, and reconciles the target state.

Capability Status (Re-Verified 2026-07-27)

Source of truth: .ciagent/CAPABILITY_INVENTORY.md (Phase 54, D-093). Tier: local = runs via emulating adapters (no AWS); live-aws = runs against the live AWS account (581513795199).

Decay disclosure. Capabilities marked complete in v1.1–v1.8 ran successfully at the time of tagging. As of 2026-07-27 they were not reproducible — the v1.7/v1.8 platform simplification introduced 7 adapter defects that prevented terraform init/validate/plan from succeeding against live AWS, and the decks (v1.9.1–v1.9.8) presented the capability as current without disclosing the decay. The v1.10 milestone (Phases 52–55) re-verified every advertised capability and fixed all 7 defects in-sweep (D-090: no cap). The headline E2E now passes at both tiers.

Auto-verified capabilities (16/16 Verified):

ID	Capability	Tier	Status
CAP-001..CAP-012	contract schema, resolver, adapter, interpolation, confidence, outbox, pytest, run_ci, local E2E (microservice + static-assets)	local	Verified
CAP-013	terraform init+validate+plan live AWS (microservice)	live-aws	Verified
CAP-014	terraform init+validate+plan live AWS (static-assets: CloudFront+WAF+S3)	live-aws	Verified
CAP-015	DynamoDB outbox table exists + describable	live-aws	Verified
CAP-016	S3 state bucket exists + readable	live-aws	Verified

IAM-gated cloud resources (6, escalated — not auto-verifiable): CAP-017..CAP-022 (DynamoDB contracts table, Lambda contract-ingestor, ECS service live, CloudFront production stack, uptime-kuma, OIDC role). The acdl-spike-runner IAM user lacks the permissions to verify these (chicken-and-egg: it cannot fix its own IAM). The terraform plan path (CAP-013, CAP-014) proves the code would deploy them; the local emulators (Phase 53) prove the runtime behavior. Re-bootstrap of the OIDC role + IAM re-grant requires an admin principal — escalated, not silently skipped. See CAPABILITY_INVENTORY.md §"Cloud capabilities NOT re-verified".

Regression gate. bash scripts/run_regression.sh re-runs all 16 auto-verifiable capabilities and fails closed on any non-Verified result. The gate runs at milestone completion (D-091).

Objective for Milestone v1.1 (prior — complete, tag v1.2.0)

Finalize the architecture to v1.0 (resolve all 11 open design decisions in docs/architecture.md §13) and prove the locked commitments with one end-to-end v1 implementation spike:

• One L1 module (l1-s3) — engine-agnostic, IR-typed interface.
• One L2 thin-composition (l2-static-assets) — references the L1.
• Terraform adapter — compiles the IR to a real terraform plan against AWS via OIDC (no long-lived credentials, per §12.5).
• One contract submission → contract→IR resolution → terraform plan → PolicyCheckResult (Checkov) → confidence signal → evidence event to the DynamoDB outbox.

The spike validates the architecture's claim that the IR-shaped commitments do not require a polyglot mess (docs/architecture.md §14, step 2).

Status: COMPLETE — all 5 phases shipped (v1.1.1..v1.1.5) + verified; review READY TO SHIP (0 P0); audit CLEAN; milestone tag v1.2.0; Gitea release id 202 published. D-034 closed (root key deactivated by user).

Milestone v1.1 Phases (prior — complete)

Phase	Name	Goal
06	archive-demo-and-reorient	Move the v1.0 demo (modules/, scripts/, evidence-ui/, contracts/, demo workflows) to demo/; establish the new repo layout (platform/, schemas/, adapters/, terraform/, modules-ir/); rewrite README.
07	architecture-v1-finalization	Resolve the 11 open decisions → architecture v1.0. Author IR JSON Schema, PolicyCheckResult schema, contract schema, confidence-signal spec, HITL matrix, outbox/ledger design under schemas/ + platform/.
08	aws-oidc-bootstrap	One-shot use of a temporary long-lived key (waiver D-034) to create an IAM role + OIDC trust policy for the act_runner, an S3 state bucket, and a DynamoDB lock table. Rotate the key. Verify the runner assumes the role via OIDC with no long-lived secret.
09	v1-spike-ir-and-l1-and-adapter	Target Stack IR; one real L1 (l1-s3) with IR-typed interface; L1 registry; Terraform adapter (IR → Terraform var/output + terraform plan) running against AWS via OIDC.
10	v1-spike-l2-and-contract-e2e	One L2 thin-composition (l2-static-assets) referencing l1-s3; contract schema + contract→IR resolution; one end-to-end contract submission → terraform plan → Checkov → confidence signal → evidence event to outbox. Verify the IR commitments hold.

Milestone COMPLETE gate: review → ship v1.2.0 (feature milestone, next minor per ship.md) → audit. DONE.

Objective for Milestone v1.2 (prior — complete)

Platform hardening + first real consumer deployment. The v1.1 spike proved the IR commitments hold on a single dev-only terraform plan for one S3 bucket. v1.2 takes the spike to a real, simpler, better-documented platform that actually delivers a microservice to AWS ECS Fargate end-to-end.

Five scope axes (user-directed, 2026-07-21):

1. Re-evaluate the current state. Confirm go-gitea/gitea#36988 (OIDC for Gitea Actions) is still unmerged (re-checked 2026-07-21: open, last updated 2026-05-27). Extend the D-039 per-run-rotated-key waiver for v1.2; real OIDC is deferred to v1.3+ (D-047).
2. NFR improvements on the existing spike. Least-privilege IAM audit, idempotent bootstrap, proper exit codes / error handling, rotation hygiene, P1-1 / P1-B redaction carried forward from the v1.1 audit.
3. Streamline / simplify the current setup. Consolidate the run_spike_*.sh scripts into one scripts/run_platform.sh; remove dead code and stale paths; one command runs the whole pipeline.
4. README.md fully up to date on how the platform works. The current README still says "v1.1 (active)" — it must reflect v1.1 complete, the actual spike flow, how to run it, the real repo layout, and the v1.2 objective.
5. Bootstrap a consumer repo with a basic microservice deployed to ECS end-to-end. New Gitea repo acdl-consumer-microservice (org continuous-intelligence) holding a tiny HTTP container + Dockerfile; new IR-typed L1s (l1-vpc, l1-ecs-cluster, l1-ecs-service, l1-iam-role, l1-alb, l1-ecr); new l2-microservice thin-composition; one contract submission → terraform apply (dev, autonomous) → a live ECS Fargate service serving HTTP 200 → evidence event to the DynamoDB outbox → acdl-evidence timeline.

The milestone proves the platform delivers real value (a running microservice), not just a plan.

Milestone v1.2 Phases

Phase	Name	Goal
11	v1.2-research-and-readme	Re-eval #36988 (confirm open → extend D-039 as D-047). Audit the v1.1 spike for NFR gaps (least-privilege, idempotency, error handling, rotation hygiene) + simplification opportunities. Rewrite README.md to reflect v1.1 complete + how the platform actually works (spike flow, how to run, repo layout, v1.2 objective). Output: RESEARCH.md v1.2 addendum; updated README.
12	nfr-harden-and-simplify	Apply Phase 11 findings: tighten spike_runner_policy.json (least-privilege audit); make terraform/bootstrap/create_*.py idempotent; consolidate run_spike_*.sh → one scripts/run_platform.sh; proper exit codes / error handling; redact P1-1 AWS key IDs in VERIFY.md; fix any remaining stale platform/ paths. Spike still runs e2e after the refactor.
13	l1-catalog-for-ecs	Author IR-typed L1s for an ECS Fargate microservice: l1-vpc, l1-ecs-cluster, l1-ecs-service, l1-iam-role (task + exec role), l1-alb, l1-ecr. Register all in modules-ir/registry.json. Expand the Terraform adapter TYPE_MAP. Each L1 produces a valid terraform plan fragment.
14	l2-microservice-and-contract-schema	Author l2-microservice thin-composition (references the ECS L1s, depth ≤ 5). Extend schemas/contract.schema.json for microservice inputs (image, port, env, healthcheck). Verify contract→IR resolution yields a complete target stack.
15	consumer-repo-and-terraform-apply	Create consumer repo acdl-consumer-microservice (Gitea org) with a basic microservice (tiny HTTP container + Dockerfile + ECR push). Lift the platform from plan → apply (dev, autonomous per §10). Submit contracts/microservice.yaml → pipeline → IR → plan → apply → a real ECS Fargate service running.
16	v1.2-capstone-e2e	End-to-end verification: consumer commit → pipeline → ECS service live serving HTTP 200 → evidence event to the DynamoDB outbox → acdl-evidence timeline renders it. Verify NFR improvements hold, the setup is simpler (one run_platform.sh), and the README is accurate.

Milestone COMPLETE gate: review → ship v1.3.0 (feature milestone, next minor per ship.md — v1.1 shipped v1.2.0) → audit.

Objective for Milestone v1.4 (active)

Central pipeline contract + shell reproducibility + output streaming. The v1.3 milestone (Phases 17–18) created identical CI/CD pipelines for Gitea and GitHub but they were duplicated copies with no single source of truth. v1.4 makes the pipeline a declarative contract, enables full shell reproducibility, and streams terraform/checkov output so users can see what the platform is doing.

Three scope axes:

1. Central pipeline contract. A JSON Schema (schemas/pipeline.schema.json) + YAML instance (pipelines/ci.yaml) declares the pipeline stages, commands, triggers, and runner. Both .gitea/workflows/ci.yml (Gitea Actions, dev) and .github/workflows/ci.yml (GitHub Actions, production) implement the contract. A test validates conformance.
2. Shell reproducibility. scripts/run_ci.sh mirrors the CI pipeline locally — runs the same 3 stages (lint, test, check-only) in sequence. The pipeline is fully reproducible from the shell, not just in CI.
3. Output streaming. scripts/run_platform.sh streams terraform init/validate/plan output, Checkov compliance results, and PolicyCheckResult records to stdout by default, so the user sees what is happening. A --quiet flag suppresses streaming for log-only mode.

Milestone v1.4 Phases

Phase	Name	Goal
19	central-pipeline-contract-and-shell-reproducibility	Create the central pipeline contract (JSON Schema + YAML instance). Create scripts/run_ci.sh for shell reproducibility. Update run_platform.sh to stream terraform/checkov output. Update both workflow YAMLs with contract references (staying byte-identical). Add tests for contract validation, workflow conformance, and streaming.

Milestone COMPLETE gate: review → ship v1.4.1 (feature milestone, next minor per ship.md — v1.3 shipped v1.3.2) → audit.

Objective for Milestone v1.7 (complete)

Production platform + contract ingestion + pipeline maturation. The v1.6 milestone left the platform documented and environments-aware; v1.7 took it to a production-grade platform. 12 user-directed scope axes (2026-07-22):

1. Rename static-assets → static-assets (D-048 — including .ciagent/ historical narrative, overriding the v1.6 preservation precedent). The reconstruction test is updated to expect static-assets.
2. Augment static-assets to a production-ready stack by authoring a new cloudfront primitive + a waf primitive (D-049: S3 + CloudFront OAC + WAF; Route53/ACM are domain-dependent and deferred to documented extension points).
3. DX-friendly deploy outputs (D-050): SSM Parameter Store (KMS-encrypted SecureString) for runtime-injectable values + GitHub PR comment / job summary for human-readable connection strings. No raw secrets in logs.
4. Central deploy pipeline error reporting via the platform Lambda report_error action (D-055): the Lambda creates a GitHub issue on the platform repo. The consumer's onboarding-granted Lambda-invoke permission is the only grant needed — uniform pathway, no separate GitHub issues: write on the consumer side. Gitea is excluded (only the CIAgent uses it).
5. PR comments after every successful stage so developers always know where they stand.
6. Three platform pipelines: (1) platform-test (PR, unit + integration + schema-validation); (2) primitives-plan (PR, plan-only for all L1 primitives); (3) patterns-plan (PR, plan-only for all L2 modules).
7. Release job on merge to main: computes MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH semver, creates the tag, then updates (force-moves) or creates the MAJOR.MINOR + MAJOR floating tags (D-057). Consumers on @v1 or @v1.6 receive updates depending on their pinned version.
8. Platform Lambda for one-way consumer→platform communication (contracts). Onboarding grants the consumer repo's environment the right to trigger the Lambda (cross-account IAM). The Lambda ingests contracts and stores them in a DynamoDB table acdl-contracts (D-051) for historical reference, impact analysis, CMDB-style application-state queries, and pattern detection. The IAM policy reflects cross-account invocation.
9. Tagging standards in policy/compliance checks (D-054): a required-tag set (acdl:owner, acdl:contract, acdl:environment, acdl:cost-center) enforced by a Checkov custom YAML rule. Closes the D-043 deferral (the SKIPPED ACDL_TAG_NAMING placeholder becomes a real check).
10. Wiz adapter for security checks (D-052): a stub + schema path that translates Wiz API issues → PolicyCheckResult records, degrading gracefully when unconfigured. Matches the Checkov adapter pattern.
11. Kyverno adapter for compliance/security checks (D-053): a K8s-native policy adapter that translates Kyverno PolicyReport results → PolicyCheckResult records. Ready but inactive for Terraform-only stacks (the platform emits Terraform, not K8s manifests); it activates when the GitOps reconciler (roadmap) emits K8s manifests.
12. Remove the legacy consumer-repos directory and add validated per-module examples (D-058: modules/<name>/examples/ with simple.yaml + complex.yaml validated in CI) + a new RDS primitive demonstrating multi-engine variation (D-059).

Milestone v1.7 Phases

Phase	Name	Goal
22	rename-and-production-static-assets-stack	Rename static-assets → static-assets everywhere (D-048). Author cloudfront + waf primitives. Augment static-assets to S3 + CloudFront (OAC) + WAF (D-049). Expand adapter. Bump uses: to @v1.6; create floating v1.6 + v1 tags (D-057).
23	tagging-standards-and-security-adapters	Required-tag set + Checkov custom rule (D-054, D-043 closure). Wiz adapter stub (D-052). Kyverno K8s-native adapter (D-053). Schema engine enum updated.
24	platform-lambda-and-contract-ingestion	Platform Lambda + DynamoDB acdl-contracts table (D-051) + cross-account IAM + onboarding grant.
25	deploy-pipeline-dx-outputs-and-error-reporting	SSM SecureString + PR comment outputs (D-050). Lambda report_error → GitHub issue (D-055). Stage comments after each successful stage.
26	platform-pipelines-and-release-automation	3 platform pipelines (platform-test, primitives-plan, patterns-plan). Release job with semver + MAJOR.MINOR/MAJOR tag updates (D-057).
27	remove-legacy-consumer-repos-and-module-documentation-examples	Delete the legacy consumer-repos directory. RDS primitive (D-059). Validated per-module examples (D-058). Docs updates.

Milestone COMPLETE gate: review → ship v1.7.0 (feature milestone, next minor per ship.md — v1.6 shipped v1.6.0) → audit.

Objective for Milestone v1.8 (active)

P1 remediation + uptime monitoring + engineering standards + encryption and deletion-protection by default + decommission alias + documentation. The v1.7 milestone shipped production platform + contract ingestion but left 8 P1 issues flagged for post-hoc review. v1.8 clears all of them AND delivers three user-directed feature/NFR tracks (2026-07-22):

Track 1 — P1 Remediation (Phases 28–30): Clear all 8 pending P1 issues from v1.5/v1.6/v1.7 verify reviews:

• P1-3: SSM uses AWS-managed key silently → fail loud without CMK config
• P1-4: WAF custom rules emit invalid HCL (attribute vs block syntax)
• P1-5: WAF default_action input silently ignored
• P1-6: consumer_invoke_policy.json has placeholder account ID
• P1-7: L2 composition outputs section not implemented in resolver
• P1-8: terraform/spike/*.tf overwritten by run_platform.sh (state contamination)
• P1-9: GitHub API URLs hardcoded in contract_ingestor.py (Gitea fails silently)
• S1: Deploy workflow static-key override not wired (passes ACDL_AWS_* env vars to configure-aws-credentials which reads AWS_*/its own inputs)

Track 2 — Encryption + Deletion Protection by Default (Phases 31–32): All primitives encrypted by default (CMK priority + SSE, managed KMS fallback). Per-stack CMK (one key per L2 deployment, 90-day rotation, no shared keys). Deletion protection on by default for every primitive. L2 modules expose a feature flag to turn off deletion protection. A decommission alias uses a 2-step pipeline (disable deletion protection → zero counts → destroy) with HITL SRE gates and CMDB-validated change request ID.

Track 3 — Uptime + Standards + Docs (Phases 33–36): A new uptime-kuma primitive (ECS Fargate) deployed by default after any L2 module deploy (separate terraform state), with a feature flag to disable. Monitored endpoints passed from L2 outputs. Alert channels (Teams/email/SMS/GitHub issues). The uptime URL published to consumers via PR comments. Engineering standards for L1 + L2 module authoring (scanned from current modules, stored in modules/). READMEs for schemas/, adapters/, pipelines/ paths documenting how to write, wire, and test each.

Milestone v1.8 Phases

Phase	Name	Goal
28	adapter-waf-and-resolver-outputs	Fix WAF HCL emission (nested rules blocks + default_action input) + implement L2 composition outputs in resolver + adapter output blocks. P1-4, P1-5, P1-7.
29	ssm-kms-and-invoke-policy	SSM publisher fails loud without CMK (escape hatch for local) + Terraform-rendered consumer_invoke_policy (no placeholder account ID). P1-3, P1-6.
30	run-platform-isolation-and-api-portability	Adapter output to per-run temp dir (remove committed spike .tf) + forge-agnostic API URLs + deploy.yml static-key override wired. P1-8, P1-9, S1.
31	encryption-by-default-and-per-stack-cmk	KMS-key primitive + per-stack CMK wired in L2 modules + encryption NFRs on all primitives + managed KMS fallback.
32	deletion-protection-by-default-and-l2-feature-flag	Deletion protection NFR on all primitives (default true) + L2 feature flag + contract schema update.
33	uptime-kuma-primitive	Uptime L1 primitive (ECS Fargate, feature flag, monitored endpoints, alert channels) + deploy-uptime pipeline stage (separate state) + URL published via PR comment.
34	decommission-alias-and-cmdb-validation	Decommission mode on deploy pipeline (2-step: disable deletion protection → zero counts, HITL SRE gates) + DynamoDB CMDB validation + consumer guide docs.
35	module-engineering-standards	modules/STANDARDS.md (L1+L2 authoring + review standards scanned from current modules) + catalog index fix + template update + automated standards test.
36	schemas-adapters-pipelines-readmes	schemas/README.md + pipelines/README.md + adapters/README.md (how to write, wire, test, dependencies).
37	verify	4-layer verification of all v1.8 phases.
38	review-audit-complete	Multi-persona review + audit + milestone completion (tag v1.8.0).

Milestone COMPLETE gate: review → ship v1.8.0 (feature milestone, next minor per run.md — v1.7 shipped v1.7.0) → audit.

Objective for Milestone v1.9 (complete, tag v1.9.0)

Production-grade progression: contract interpolation, per-environment promotion without field editing, stub implementation, and P1-1 remediation. The v1.8 milestone shipped encryption/deletion-protection by default, uptime, decommission, and engineering standards but left four gaps that v1.9 closes (user-directed, 2026-07-23):

1. Design doc refresh. core/hitl_matrix_design.md and core/audit_ledger_design.md are stale — both still describe the v1.1 spike scope ("dev-only; HITL not exercised"; "spike scope = hash chain + outbox write; Object Lock + JWS are v1.2"). v1.9 brings them up to date with the shipped v1.8 platform and the v1.9 wiring.
2. Contract interpolation (variable expansion). Contracts cannot reference environment onboarding values today — bucket names, account IDs, regions are hardcoded literals. v1.9 adds ${env.<field>} and ${contract.<field>} expansion in the resolver, sourced from the environment onboarding JSON. Naming patterns like acdl-${env.environment}-${contract.module}-${env.account_id}-${env.region} become expressible. The S3 bucket naming-pattern requirement is the binding example.
3. Per-environment CI jobs (no field editing for promotion). Today a promotion dev → qa requires editing the environment: field in the contract YAML. v1.9 ships a hybrid model: (a) per-environment contract files (.acdl/static-assets.dev.yaml, ...qa.yaml, etc.) and (b) an environment workflow_call input on the reusable deploy workflow that overrides the contract's environment at load time. There is one CI job per environment, each pointing at its respective contract (or the same contract + the env input). Promotion = running the matching job; no field editing.
4. Stub implementation. Identify and implement the stubbed functionality: separation_of_duties.route_halt_artifact (logs only → real SNS + outbox event); HITL qa/prod/dr pre-execution attestation gates (only decommission SRE gates are wired today); the full 8-concern attestation matrix (offline-testable subset implemented; operator-supplied concerns accept signed evidence artifacts); the Wiz adapter (stub → real API client with graceful degrade); the Kyverno adapter (fleshed out translator, still inactive for Terraform-only stacks). The audit-ledger S3 Object Lock + JWS + async worker + DLQ + daily checkpoints build-out is deferred to a future milestone (D-083) — it requires non-offline-testable AWS infra (Object Lock bucket, KMS signing key, SQS DLQ, Lambda worker).
5. Post-hoc requirement from previous milestones. P1-1 from the v1.2 review (adapter ECS/ALB/VPC hardcoded defaults — desired_count = 1, launch_type = "FARGATE", target_type = "ip", load_balancer_type = "application", family = "app", Name = ... — should be parameterized via the L1 interfaces, deferred to v1.3, never implemented) is closed. The adapter becomes a thin translator; the defaults move into interface.json inputs.

The milestone also reconstructs .ciagent/REVIEW.md, which still holds v1.2 review content (v1.3–v1.8 reviews were not persisted). The v1.9 review overwrites it with current milestone content; a note records the historical gap (no git-history rewrite).

Milestone v1.9 Phases

Phase	Name	Goal
39	design-doc-refresh-and-p1-1-parameterization	Refresh hitl_matrix_design.md + audit_ledger_design.md to current. Move adapter ECS/ALB/VPC hardcoded defaults into L1 interface.json inputs (P1-1 closure).
40	contract-interpolation	${env.<field>} + ${contract.<field>} resolver expansion from environment onboarding JSON. Environment JSON schema. Sample contracts use naming patterns (region + account id + environment).
41	per-environment-ci-jobs	Per-env contract files + environment workflow_call input on the deploy workflow. 1 CI job per environment (dev/qa/prod/dr), each pointing at its respective contract. HITL attestation gate structure wired (qa/prod/dr).
42	stub-implementation	route_halt_artifact real (SNS + outbox). HITL qa/prod/dr attestation gates. 8-concern attestation matrix (offline-testable subset). Wiz real client. Kyverno translator fleshed out.
43	verify-review-audit-complete	4-layer verify. Multi-persona review. Audit. Complete v1.9 (tag v1.9.0, floating tags, uses: bump @v1.6 → @v1.9).

Milestone COMPLETE gate: review → ship v1.9.0 (feature milestone, next minor per run.md — v1.8 shipped v1.8.0) → audit.

Patch v1.9.1 (complete, tag v1.9.1)

Docs-only NFR patch on the v1.9 line. Two leadership-facing presentation decks (How the Platform Works + The Developer Experience) for senior leadership (CTO, Head of Cloud, Head of Infrastructure, Head of DevOps). Each deck has a full markdown source of truth (with speaker notes + mermaid diagrams) and a lean Marp deck (no speaker notes, embedded PNG diagrams). A README documents the 3-step slide creation process (full markdown → Marp synthesis → PPTX export) with conventions, build commands, and maturity framing rules. No code changes; 494 tests pass; run_ci.sh + run_platform.sh --check-only green.

Patch v1.9.2 (complete, tag v1.9.2)

Docs-only NFR patch on the v1.9 line. Applies the S&P Global Energy brand visual identity to both Marp presentation decks. Brand colors extracted from the live spglobal.com compiled Tailwind CSS and SVG logo: red-core #D6002A, grey-90 #1B1B1B, grey-80 #2E2E2E, grey-5 #F0F0F0, Akkurat Pro corporate typeface. Title headers changed to full platform name. Footer changed from 'Confidential · For Senior Leadership' to 'Internal'. Title slide subtitle removed. Last DX slide renamed from 'The Outcome for Leadership' to 'The Desired Outcomes'. Marp theme: default kept as base. No code changes; 494 tests pass; run_ci.sh + run_platform.sh --check-only green.

Patch v1.9.3 (complete, tag v1.9.3)

Docs-only NFR patch on the v1.9 line. Renders both Marp presentation decks to self-contained HTML (committed to docs/presentations/, base64-embedded images, full S&P Global Energy brand theme) and PPTX (uploaded to the Gitea release as downloadable attachments). The HTML files are viewable in any browser and on the git forge — they render the red accent bar, dark title-slide background, red H1 headings, and Akkurat Pro font stack. README updated to document HTML as committed artifacts (re-render when Marp source changes) and PPTX as release attachments (binary, not committed to git). No code changes; 494 tests pass; run_ci.sh + run_platform.sh --check-only green.

Patch v1.9.4 (complete, tag v1.9.4)

Docs-only NFR patch on the v1.9 line. Two categories of changes:

1. Presentation slide updates — title slide redesigned (deck title as H1 slightly bigger, 'Agentic Cloud Delivery Platform' as H3 subtitle on dark background). DX deck: removed Local Reproducibility slide (not beneficial for DX narrative), redesigned Safe Promotion Path with side-by-side HTML table layout for Approaches A and B, 'an agent' → 'an AI agent' on slides 2 and 3, What a Developer Does diagram floated to the right side. Running header simplified to just the deck name.

2. Complete removal of a compliance framework — all references to a specific healthcare compliance framework removed from 25 files across the codebase: presentation source files (Marp + full markdown), all module READMEs (S3, RDS, ECR, ECS, VPC, IAM, KMS, CloudFront, ALB, uptime), top-level README, consumer guide, docs index, module standards. Compliance milestone lists now read: GDPR, SOX, SOC2, DORA. All section references from that framework removed from compliance annotations. Rendered HTML decks re-generated from updated Marp source.

No code changes; 494 tests pass; run_ci.sh + run_platform.sh --check-only green. PPTX files uploaded to Gitea release.

Patch v1.9.5 (complete, tag v1.9.5)

Docs-only NFR patch on the v1.9 line. 9 requirements implemented:

1. DX closing slide strengthened with 'Infrastructure as a utility, not a craft' bullet — conveys the full vision (infrastructure consumed, not maintained; platform compounds value over time).
2. PW Problem slide: 'moving a merged change' → 'promoting a change'.
3. PW Problem slide: added 'Red tape' and 'Scalability without increasing headcount' bullets (4 frictions, not 2).
4. PW Roadmap slide: redesigned with side-by-side HTML table layout (Testing | Planned), 16px font, no overflow.
5. PW deck: new slide 'What This Platform Is — and Isn't' after North Star (sovereign boundary, infrastructure as utility, 4 anti-goals). PW deck now 16 slides.
6. Maturity nomenclature: 'Available today'/'shipped' → 'Testing' across both decks + source markdown. New .testing badge (blue/teal). The platform has 0 consumer adoption — 'shipped' was inaccurate.
7. Global: 'substrate' → 'engine' across entire project (88 matches, 30+ files including .ciagent/, docs/, modules/, adapters/, schemas/, code).
8. Presentation files only: 'forge' → 'VCS' (6 occurrences in 4 files). 'forge' retained in all technical docs and code.
9. New .agentic badge (purple/violet) appended to agentic features in both decks: confidence signal, autonomous dev, pattern recognition, dynamic module creation, citizen developer surface, auto-promotion.

Also: Change Request ID format changed from 'CR-2026-001' to 'CHG0678912' across presentation files, consumer guide, and test fixtures.

No code changes (test fixture strings only); 494 tests pass; run_ci.sh + run_platform.sh --check-only green. PPTX files uploaded to Gitea release.

Patch v1.9.6 (complete, tag v1.9.6)

Docs-only NFR patch on the v1.9 line. Both Marp presentation decks consolidated to 10 high-impact slides each — every slide high-impact, fluff eliminated.

How The Platform Works (16 → 10):

• Merged Problem + North Star + What It Is/Isn't → 1 slide (4 frictions → North Star → 3 success criteria → 2 anti-goals)
• Merged Policy & Security + Secure by Default → 'Security by Construction'
• Merged Immutable Audit + Human-in-the-Loop → 'Accountability & Audit'
• Folded Observability, Platform-Managed Environments, Portability into existing slides as bullets
• Added 'The Vision Realized' closing slide

The Developer Experience (15 → 10):

• Merged What Dev Does + Contract + No Platform Code → 'The Contract — The Entire Consumer Surface'
• Merged Instant Feedback + Deploy Outputs → 'The Developer Feedback Loop'
• Merged Safe Promotion Path + Rising Bar → 1 slide
• Cut Citizen Developer Experience standalone (mentioned on slides 2 + 10)
• Kept Versioned Releases, Friendly Onboarding, Safe Decommission

Also: Removed '5-line YAML' claim from both decks (credibility — complex stacks require more lines). Source markdown files unchanged (remain complete reference with speaker notes for all original slides).

No code changes; 494 tests pass; run_ci.sh + run_platform.sh --check-only green. PPTX files uploaded to Gitea release.

Patch v1.9.7 (complete, tag v1.9.7)

Docs-only NFR patch on the v1.9 line. Created two talking points markdown files — one per deck — distilling the source of truth (speaker notes + content) into presenter-ready cues indexed by the Marp deck's 10-slide structure. Each file has one section per Marp slide with 3-6 talking point bullets (punchy, actionable cues) + a key takeaway per slide. The talking points are the middle layer between the source of truth (full detail) and the Marp deck (what the audience sees). README updated from 3-step to 4-step process (added Step 4: talking points), with updated diagram, directory layout, checklist, and decks table.

No code changes; 494 tests pass; run_ci.sh + run_platform.sh --check-only green.

Patch v1.9.8 (complete, tag v1.9.8)

Docs-only NFR patch on the v1.9 line. Major presentation rework based on leadership feedback. 6 new mermaid diagrams created and rendered to PNG: scope boundary (x2 — one per deck, showing upstream → contract → ACDL → AWS), confidence signal (6 inputs → weighted sum → threshold gate → proceed/halt), attestation flow (deploy → gate → approver → evidence), promotion journey (dev → qa → prod → dr with rising thresholds), and road to the North Star (phased timeline v1.0 → v1.9 → v1.10 → v2.0 → North Star).

Both Marp decks restructured to 10 main + 6 appendix slides (PW: 17 total, DX: 16 total). Key changes:

1. NEW scope slide ("Where ACDL Sits in Your World") clarifying ACDL is infrastructure only. Upstream is anything (IDE, agentic SDLC, citizen dev vibe coding). ACDL provisions and governs AWS resources; application deployment is upstream.
2. Contract examples fixed: image: field removed, replaced with infrastructure inputs (cpu, memory, desired_count, port).
3. Story arc: every slide has an italic story beat line connecting the narrative progression.
4. Confidence signal diagram added (slide 7) showing 6 inputs → score → gate. Clarified: manually tuned weights, observable inputs, auditable breakdown.
5. Attestation flow diagram added (slide 9) showing deploy → gate → approver reviews → attestation recorded → evidence. QA clarification added: QA attests to infrastructure readiness (contract + Terraform plan
   • evidence), not application code.
6. QA attestation reclassified: "Design tested" → "Planned". Dev autonomous = Testing. qa/prod/dr attestation = Planned.
7. DX deck: Two Consumer Surfaces slide replaced by scope boundary slide showing both consumer paths. Promotion journey diagram added.
8. Rising bar table annotated: dev=Testing, qa/prod/dr=Planned.
9. Appendix (6 slides per deck): TOC, detail-heavy slides moved from main deck, Road to the North Star phased timeline (annotated "proposed phasing, not formally planned"), full Testing vs. Planned inventory, glossary.
10. Old two-surfaces diagram replaced by scope boundary diagram.

Source markdown, talking points, and README all updated to mirror the new structure. Also includes scripts/sync_to_gl.sh (GitLab mirror sync utility, unrelated to presentations).

No code changes; 494 tests pass; run_ci.sh + run_platform.sh --check-only green. PPTX files uploaded to Gitea release.

Objective for Milestone v1.18 (active — Citizen Developer & Production-Grade Guidance)

v1.18 advances Nova from a platform that governs infrastructure delivery to one that instructs the citizen developer on production-grade engineering and defines a clear, machine-checkable contract for what is acceptable to start. Five user-directed inputs drive the milestone:

1. S&P Global theme restoration. The v1.17 P5 deck rebuild consolidated two decks into one unified narrative deck but lost the S&P Global Energy brand visual identity (introduced v1.9.2 / P45, commit ae0cb58). The Marp style: block (red-core #D6002A, grey-90 #1B1B1B, Akkurat Pro font, 8px top accent bar) is restored to the unified deck. The mermaid sp-theme.json survived; only the Marp CSS theme was lost.

2. PDLC-upstream scope made explicit. Core Tenet #2 already states the platform "does not penetrate upstream product/SDLC" and Anti-Goal #1 says "Not an upstream development platform." v1.18 promotes this from a buried tenet to a dedicated, unmissable scope statement in PROJECT.md + docs/scope.md + a deck slide: the PDLC (Product Development Lifecycle — product backlog, code authorship, IDE) is upstream of Nova; Nova governs infra + delivery only; integration is through the validated contract boundary.

3. RACI matrix. A three-role responsibility matrix clarifies who owns what: Citizen Developer (Responsible for all Functional Requirements

   • User Acceptance Testing, via their AI coding agent / upstream agentic SDLC / upstream development platform — the source does not matter as all are subject to the same compliance standards), Platform (Responsible for all NFRs + Infrastructure + QA + Production deployments to cloud), Release Management (co-owned: QA + SRE attestations required by the actual release, performed agentically but overseen & triggered by the Citizen Developer). Source of truth in PROJECT.md + docs/raci.md + a deck slide.

4. Nova input contract — "what is acceptable to start." A JSON Schema (schemas/submission-readiness.schema.json) defines the acceptable-to-start gate as a superset above contract-schema validity: schema-valid contract + required Nova tags + per-env mandatory metadata (per W3.E) + declared policy preconditions + (for L3B) profile:agentic markers + appSource pointer. A validator (core/submission_readiness.py, invoked as contract_ingestor.py --check-readiness) returns a structured ReadinessResult with reason codes. On fail → citizen-developer-facing error (not a stack trace); on pass → proceeds to existing ingestion.

5. Atelier integration — production-grade guidance + agentic validation. Nova consumes coreci/atelier (a first-principles docs-as-code engineering framework — 8 core principles, 19 domains, 190 P-rules) via two surfaces: skills (markdown files under skills/ keyed to Atelier domain paths, surfaced to the citizen developer's AI agent, extending the BA.A 5-skill catalog) and an MCP server (mcp/atelier/server.py, plugin-registry architecture, stdio transport, vendored Atelier snapshot for audit reproducibility) exposing tools for principle-lookup, domain-listing, matrix-lookup, and agentic validation against the Atelier agent-checklist — validation that goes beyond deterministic scanners (Wiz/Checkmarx/Mend) by catching correctness/clarity/simplicity/ observability gaps.

Deck automation (cross-cutting): any phase modifying docs/presentations/*-marp.md or docs/presentations/assets/ MUST re-render HTML + PPTX, commit the PPTX to git (binary, no LFS), and attach it to the phase's Gitea release. New scripts: scripts/render_deck.sh (HTML + PPTX render) and scripts/attach_release_asset.py (Gitea release asset upload).

Milestone type: Feature (P1 S&P theme restoration + P3 readiness schema/validator + P5 MCP server are new code/features). Tags run on the v1.17.x patch line (previous minor per branch-strategy): v1.17.0 (P0) → v1.17.1..v1.17.6 (P1–P6) → v1.17.7 (P7 final = milestone release).

Phase count: 8 (P0 pre-execution + 6 execution + 1 final).

Hard constraints:

• DO NOT make anything up (NORTH_STAR.md honesty model).
• The submission-readiness schema is a superset gate above contract.schema.json, NOT a duplicate — it references but does not redefine contract fields.
• The MCP server is plugin-registry extensible (future capabilities drop in as new plugin files, no server.py edits).
• Atelier is vendored (pinned tag) for audit reproducibility — an agentic validation result must be replayable against the exact principles that produced it.
• PPTX is a first-class artifact: committed (history) + attached (download) — both always, not optional.

Requirements

v1.0 (Prior milestone — the demo)

Status: complete. Tag v1.1.0. All REQ-01..15 satisfied by the stub-driven executive demo. See REQUIREMENTS.md §v1 and the prior decisions table appendix below. The demo is archived to demo/ in Phase 06.

v1.1 (Prior milestone — architecture finalization + v1 spike, complete)

New requirements REQ-16..REQ-28 — see REQUIREMENTS.md §v1.1. Summary:

• REQ-16: Architecture finalized to v1.0 (11 open decisions resolved).
• REQ-17: Target Stack IR defined as JSON Schema; engine-agnostic.
• REQ-18: PolicyCheckResult normalized schema defined; Checkov adapter.
• REQ-19: Six-input confidence signal specified with per-env thresholds (dev 0.50 / qa 0.75 / prod 0.90 / dr 0.95) and severity→penalty mapping.
• REQ-20: Tiered audit ledger design (S3 Object Lock 7-yr + DynamoDB outbox, RPO=0, JWS detached signatures, prev_event_hash chain).
• REQ-21: Full 8-concern HITL matrix + separation-of-duties design (CODEOWNERS + DynamoDB identity-distinctness).
• REQ-22: Contract schema (JSON Schema draft 2020-12) with per-env mandatory/optional inputs and profile: agentic marker for L3B.
• REQ-23: AWS OIDC bootstrap (IAM role + trust policy for act_runner); the long-lived key is used once then rotated (waiver D-034).
• REQ-24: One real L1 module (l1-s3) with an IR-typed interface.
• REQ-25: One real L2 thin-composition (l2-static-assets) referencing l1-s3.
• REQ-26: Terraform adapter compiles the IR to a real terraform plan against AWS via OIDC; state in S3 + DynamoDB.
• REQ-27: One end-to-end contract submission → contract→IR resolution → terraform plan → Checkov → confidence signal → evidence event to outbox.
• REQ-28: Spike verification proves the IR-shaped commitments hold (no polyglot mess; the adapter is the only engine-specific code).

v1.2 (Prior milestone — platform hardening + first real consumer deployment, complete)

New requirements REQ-29..REQ-35 — see REQUIREMENTS.md §v1.2. Summary:

• REQ-29: README.md fully documents the v1.1-complete platform: spike flow, how to run, repo layout, v1.2 objective.
• REQ-30: NFR hardening — least-privilege IAM audit, idempotent bootstrap, consolidated run_platform.sh, error handling, P1-1/P1-B redaction.
• REQ-31: L1 catalog expanded for ECS — 6 new IR-typed L1s (l1-vpc, l1-ecs-cluster, l1-ecs-service, l1-iam-role, l1-alb, l1-ecr) registered and adapter-compiled.
• REQ-32: l2-microservice thin-composition + contract schema extended for microservice inputs (image, port, env, healthcheck).
• REQ-33: terraform apply (dev, autonomous) — real provisioning, not just plan.
• REQ-34: Consumer repo acdl-consumer-microservice with a basic microservice (ECR image, Dockerfile, contract).
• REQ-35: End-to-end verification — consumer commit → live ECS service (HTTP 200) → evidence event → timeline.

v1.4 (Prior milestone — central pipeline contract + shell reproducibility + streaming)

New requirements REQ-43..REQ-45 — see REQUIREMENTS.md §v1.4. Summary:

• REQ-43: Central pipeline contract — schemas/pipeline.schema.json + pipelines/ci.yaml. Both Gitea and GitHub workflows implement the contract; a test validates conformance.
• REQ-44: scripts/run_ci.sh mirrors the CI pipeline locally (lint → test → check-only), exiting 0 with "CI PIPELINE OK".
• REQ-45: scripts/run_platform.sh streams terraform/checkov output by default (with --quiet for log-only mode). Both workflows byte-identical.

Key Decisions (v1.9)

Resolved at the CLARIFY stage (full autonomy — all within locked constraints or user-directed scope). New v1.9 decisions (numbered D-080+ to avoid collision with v1.8 research decisions D-073..D-077):

ID	Decision	Rationale	Outcome
D-080	New milestone v1.9 (feature); ship tag v1.9.0.	v1.8 is complete (audit PASS, tag v1.8.0). The work (design doc updates + interpolation + per-env CI + stubs + P1-1) is a new feature milestone, not v1.8 post-hoc patching.	5 phases (39–43) in one milestone.
D-081	Interpolation syntax: ${env.<field>} + ${contract.<field>} (dotted paths supported, e.g. ${env.state_backend.bucket}). Expanded by the resolver post-schema-validation, pre-IR-resolution. Fail loud on unresolved tokens (ValueError).	Shell-style syntax is familiar, unambiguous, and has no conflict with YAML or the contract schema. The env context is the loaded environment onboarding JSON; contract is the contract dict.	Phase 40 implements the expansion + environment JSON schema.
D-082	Hybrid per-environment promotion model: (a) per-env contract files AND (b) an environment workflow_call input on the reusable deploy workflow that overrides the contract's environment at load time. One CI job per environment.	User chose to support both shapes. Per-env contracts let env-specific values differ via interpolation; the env input lets a single contract be promoted without editing. Promotion = running the matching job; no environment: field editing.	Phase 41 ships per-env contracts + the env input + caller-workflow docs.
D-083	Audit ledger S3 Object Lock + JWS detached signatures + async worker + DLQ + daily checkpoints deferred to a future milestone.	Requires non-offline-testable AWS infra (Object Lock bucket, KMS signing key, SQS DLQ, Lambda worker). The hash-chain + DynamoDB-outbox path remains the v1.9 production audit record. audit_ledger_design.md marks this clearly.	Phase 39 updates the design doc; no build-out in v1.9.
D-084	8-concern attestation matrix: offline-testable concerns (contract NFRs, schema validity, policy pass) run for real; operator-supplied concerns (k6 load test, DR drill, FinOps forecast) accept signed evidence artifacts validated for freshness + schema, failing loud if missing/expired for prod/dr.	The platform cannot run live load tests / DR drills / FinOps forecasts inline. Accepting signed evidence artifacts with freshness + schema validation is the regulatorily-defensible middle ground.	Phase 42 implements core/attestation_matrix.py.
D-085	P1-1 closure: adapter ECS/ALB/VPC hardcoded defaults (desired_count = 1, launch_type = "FARGATE", target_type = "ip", load_balancer_type = "application", family = "app", Name = ...) move into L1 interface.json inputs with defaults. The adapter reads inputs (falling back to interface defaults) and is a thin translator.	P1-1 was flagged in the v1.2 review (deferred to v1.3, never implemented). Defaults belong in the L1 interface, not the adapter.	Phase 39 closes P1-1.
D-086	.ciagent/REVIEW.md reconstructed at v1.9 complete; v1.3–v1.8 reviews noted as not-persisted (no git-history rewrite).	REVIEW.md still holds v1.2 content — later milestone reviews were not persisted or were overwritten. The v1.9 review overwrites it with current content; a note records the historical gap.	Phase 43 reconstructs REVIEW.md.
D-090	No cap on the v1.1→v1.8 capability re-verification sweep. Fix every advertised capability in-sweep; all must end Verified.	The user rejected a phase cap. Unbounded-risk trade-off accepted for full integrity: decks stay frozen until every advertised capability is Verified. Recorded as a traceable decision, not silent scope creep.	Phase 54 executes the sweep under D-090.
D-091	Add a regression-class VERIFY that re-runs capability checks (not just diff checks), at minimum on milestone completion.	VERIFY is currently diff-scoped (structural defect); 8 NFR-patch phases passed while the platform decayed. Without regression memory the pipeline cannot keep the sweep honest.	Phase 52 implements the regression-class VERIFY.
D-092	Build local emulating adapters (flat-file outbox, local ECS emulator, local S3 state, local Lambda stub) so the platform is fully locally testable without cloud credentials.	Required for the sweep's local tier and for durable regression testing without AWS access. Cloud interactions are emulated with flat files in temp folders + local shell.	Phase 53 builds the local emulating adapters.
D-093	Re-verify every v1.1→v1.8 advertised capability. v1.0 demo excluded as archived/superseded. Headline E2E runs both live-AWS and local-emulator tiers (both must pass); all other capabilities run locally via emulating adapters.	Tiered verification: live for cloud-backed headline, local for the rest. The bar is what an exec could see demonstrated.	Phase 54 executes the re-verification sweep.
D-094	Rewrite PROJECT/ROADMAP/decks to match verified reality; decks unfrozen only after this lands.	Decks were sequenced backwards for 8 phases (polish before re-verify). The honest order is re-verify → rewrite → unfreeze.	Phase 55 rewrites docs/decks to verified reality.

CLARIFY auto-resolved parameters (full autonomy)

Parameter	Value	Rationale
Per-env qa.json/prod.json/dr.json account_id	000000000000 placeholder + stderr warning at load if account_id is 000000000000 and env ≠ dev	Consistent with dev.json; prompts real binding without breaking offline tests.
SNS topic for route_halt_artifact	Defined in terraform/platform/main.tf AND code reads ACDL_SOD_HALT_TOPIC_ARN	Consistent with the existing Lambda/KMS/Secrets pattern (Terraform defines, code reads env).

Constraints

• Forge: Gitea at https://git.cloudinit.dev, org continuous-intelligence.
• CI runtime: act_runner / Gitea Actions (reuses GitHub Actions workflow YAML).
• Cloud: AWS via OIDC federation. Long-lived credentials are forbidden (§12.5). The v1.1 spike uses a temporary long-lived key once to bootstrap OIDC (waiver D-034), then rotates it.
• Angine: Terraform adapter in v1 (the only adapter). L1/L2 are engine-agnostic in shape; the adapter is the only engine-specific code.
• State: S3 (state files) + DynamoDB (locking), single-region in v1.
• Environments: dev (autonomous) → qa (QA HITL) → prod (SRE HITL) → dr (SRE HITL). Staging does not exist (Path A locked).
• Compute: abstract / containerized / serverless. No VMs, bare metal, OS lifecycle.
• Autonomy: Full. Escalation hooks: deploy, delete_data, merge_to_main.

Anti-Goals (from docs/vision.md §7)

• Not an upstream development platform (no product backlogs, IDE, code authorship).
• Not a general-purpose AI (autonomy is narrow, bounded by policy envelopes).
• Not a legacy infrastructure bridge (no VMs/bare metal/OS).
• Not a permissive delivery highway (no escape hatches past confidence or HITL).
• Not a mutable audit log (VCS history ≠ regulatory evidence).

Context

• The acdl repo exists at the org root. acdl-contracts and acdl-evidence exist from the v1.0 demo and continue as the developer surface and the audit-timeline host respectively.
• docs/vision.md and docs/architecture.md (v0.2) are the upstream vision/architecture sources, pulled from origin/main at the start of v1.1.
• The v1.0 demo (tag v1.1.0) is the reference of intent — it proved the shape (L1/L2/contract/confidence/evidence/HITL) on stubs. v1.1 replaces the stubs with the real platform engine.

Key Decisions (v1.1)

Carries forward the still-valid v1.0 decisions (see appendix). New v1.1 decisions:

ID	Decision	Rationale	Outcome
D-034	Temporary long-lived AWS key (waiver) used once in Phase 08 to bootstrap the state backend + IAM user; rotated/deactivated immediately after	§12.5 forbids long-lived creds; the bootstrap needed one aws iam call before the spike user + rotated key could take over	Spike achieves real terraform plan against AWS without violating the locked target after bootstrap. CLOSED 2026-07-21: root key AKIA…ROOT-DEACTIVATED deactivated by the user in the AWS IAM console (verified — InvalidClientTokenId); the spike uses the rotated acdl-spike-runner key per D-039. Key ID redacted in v1.2 Phase 12 (P1-1).
D-035	Milestone version = v1.1 (feature), ship tag v1.2.0	Real platform is a breaking reframing of the demo, but treated as the next incremental milestone per user choice; ship.md: feature milestone → next minor	Tag v1.2.0 on milestone COMPLETE
D-036	Spike picks l1-s3 + l2-static-assets	Simplest real AWS resource (no IAM/network deps); smallest real terraform plan; proves the IR + adapter end-to-end	Spike scope fixed
D-037	Demo archived to demo/ (not deleted)	Preserves the working v1.0 demo as intent reference; new platform layout under platform/, schemas/, adapters/, terraform/, modules-ir/	No churn on demo code; clean separation
D-038	Open decisions resolved in "accept recommendations + decide rest" mode	User-locked mode: accept architecture's stated recommendations (W1.A, W1.B, W2.A, BA.A); lead-developer decides the remaining 8 (W3.D, W3.E, BA.B, BA.C, BA.D, BA.E, BA.F, OpenTofu timing) with rationale	Architecture reaches v1.0 in Phase 07
D-039	Spike-only waiver: per-run-rotated long-lived AWS key. OIDC federation deferred to v1.2, blocked on go-gitea/gitea#36988.	RESEARCH TARGET 1 verdict (conf 0.95): Gitea Actions does NOT support id-token: write / OIDC token issuance as of Gitea 1.27.x / gitea-runner v2.1.0. GitHub's OIDC pattern is not portable. The waiver satisfies §12.5's intent (no persistent long-lived key) for the spike: the key is rotated after each run by scripts/rotate_spike_key.sh. v1.2 implements real OIDC when the Gitea PR merges.	Spike achieves real terraform plan against AWS without a persistently long-lived key; real OIDC is a v1.2 deliverable
D-040	The 6 confidence-signal inputs are: policy (0.30), validation (0.25), freshness (0.10), source (0.15), history (0.10), nfrs (0.10). Weights frozen for v1, tuned in v1.2 alongside thresholds (BA.B).	Architecture §8 locks "six canonical inputs" but does not enumerate them; RESEARCH TARGET 6 chose the platform-computable subset present in every environment (incl. dev).	Confidence signal (Phase 10) has a concrete input enumeration
D-041	Spike audit ledger = v1.0 hash chain + DynamoDB outbox + acdl-evidence mirror. S3 Object Lock (compliance mode, 7-yr) + JWS (platform KMS key, quarterly rotation) + daily checkpoints are v1.2 build-out, authored as design in Phase 07.	REQ-20 is "design authored," not "implemented." The spike proves the outbox write path; the regulatory ledger is v1.2.	Spike scope stays bounded; REQ-20 satisfied by the Phase 07 design doc
D-042	HITL approver identity in Gitea = gitea.actor of the workflow_dispatch run that sets approve_qa=true/approve_prod=true/approve_dr=true. Separation-of-duties reads approver_qa from the DynamoDB outbox and compares to the prod-dispatch gitea.actor.	Gitea has no Environments API (re-confirmed in RESEARCH); gitea.actor is the only approval-identity signal.	SoD design (Phase 07) is concrete for the Gitea forge
D-043	Tag/naming compliance deferred for the spike: the Checkov adapter emits a single SKIPPED PolicyCheckResult (ruleId: ACDL_TAG_NAMING, severity: info) so the confidence policy input is non-empty. Custom Checkov YAML rule lands in v1.2.	Checkov has no built-in tag-presence check; a custom rule in the spike is scope creep.	Spike's policy input is non-empty without a custom-rule dependency
D-044	DynamoDB outbox = PAY_PER_REQUEST; PK contractId, SK eventType#eventTs, TTL expire_at = now + 365d. No separate async worker/DLQ in the spike (RTO = workflow re-run); v1.2 outbox worker + DLQ is a Phase 07 design artifact.	On-demand is zero-cost-at-idle for the spike's single dev submission.	Spike outbox is minimal; v1.2 worker design authored in Phase 07
D-045	Runner tooling: runs-on: ubuntu-latest; install terraform via HashiCorp apt repo (pin 1.9.*), checkov via pip (pin >=3.2,<4, --break-system-packages). Neither is pre-installed on the default runner image.	RESEARCH TARGET 2; pinning avoids mid-spike version drift.	Phase 09/10 workflows have a concrete setup step
D-046	act_runner → gitea-runner rename: Phase 07 updates docs to use the current name gitea-runner (renamed 2026-04 in gitea/runner#850).	RESEARCH TARGET 1 + R-4: naming drift between v1.0 docs and the current runner.	Docs reflect the current binary name
D-047	v1.2 carries forward the D-039 per-run-rotated-key waiver. Real OIDC federation remains deferred to v1.3+, blocked on go-gitea/gitea#36988 (re-checked 2026-07-21: still open, last updated 2026-05-27, not merged).	§12.5 forbids long-lived creds; the Gitea Actions OIDC provider is still not merged. The waiver continues to satisfy §12.5's intent (no persistently long-lived key) for v1.2: scripts/rotate_spike_key.sh rotates the key, and Phase 12 tightens the IAM scoping + rotation hygiene.	v1.2 achieves terraform apply against AWS without a persistently long-lived key; real OIDC is a v1.3+ deliverable.

Key Decisions (v1.8)

Resolved at the CLARIFY stage (full autonomy — all within locked constraints or user-directed scope). New v1.8 decisions:

ID	Decision	Rationale	Outcome
D-061	Fold all 3 new requirements into v1.8 alongside P1 fixes.	User chose single milestone. v1.8 becomes a feature milestone (ship tag v1.8.0, minor bump).	11 phases (28–38) in one milestone.
D-062	P1-3: SSM publisher fails loud (RuntimeError) when ACDL_KMS_KEY_ID unset. ACDL_ALLOW_DEFAULT_KMS=1 escape hatch for local testing.	User chose fail loud. Silent AWS-managed-key use is the security gap; callers must set the env.	Phase 29 implements fail-loud + escape hatch.
D-063	P1-6: consumer_invoke_policy.json rendered via Terraform data.aws_caller_identity + templatestring at apply time.	User chose Terraform-rendered. No committed account ID; no stale placeholder.	Phase 29 converts JSON to TF-rendered template.
D-064	P1-8: Remove committed terraform/spike/*.tf entirely; adapter emits to per-run temp dir.	User chose remove. Cleaner; no stale fixtures.	Phase 30 removes files + changes run_platform.sh target.
D-065	S1: Single conditional configure-aws-credentials step (OIDC when no static key, access-key/secret-key inputs when static key present).	User chose single conditional step. Cleaner workflow YAML.	Phase 30 restructures the deploy workflow step.
D-066	Uptime deployment target: ECS Fargate (reuse existing ecs-cluster + ecs-service + alb primitives).	User chose ECS Fargate. Most consistent with current platform; ALB gives a stable URL.	Phase 33 authors uptime primitive on ECS Fargate.
D-067	Uptime trigger: new deploy-uptime pipeline stage after publish-outputs. Separate terraform state (S3 key prefix uptime/).	User chose pipeline stage. Most integrated with existing flow.	Phase 33 adds the pipeline stage + separate state.
D-068	CMDB = DynamoDB acdl-change-requests table (PK changeRequestId, SK submittedAt).	User chose DynamoDB. Consistent with existing platform Lambda + DynamoDB pattern.	Phase 34 adds the table + validate_change_request Lambda action.
D-069	Encryption key granularity: per-stack CMK (one key per L2 deployment, tagged with acdl:owner + acdl:environment).	User chose per-stack. No shared keys across stacks; 90-day rotation at creation.	Phase 31 authors kms-key primitive + L2 wiring.
D-070	Decommission: new mode on the existing deploy pipeline (mode: decommission). 2-step with HITL SRE gates.	User chose existing pipeline with different behavior. Plan/apply to disable deletion protection (HITL SRE gate) → plan/apply with counts=0 (second HITL SRE gate). Documented in consumer guide.	Phase 34 adds decommission mode + HITL gates.
D-071	uses:/ref: bump from @v1.6 to @v1.8 at milestone COMPLETE.	Consumer-facing version tracks the last released MAJOR.MINOR.	Phase 38 bumps references + creates floating v1.8 + v1 tags.
D-072	Managed KMS fallback for standalone L1 deployments (no L2 CMK): adapter uses alias/aws/<service> with a stderr warning. kms_key_arn input is optional everywhere; encryption_enabled NFR defaults to true.	Requirement says "prioritize CMKs, fallback to managed KMS". Standalone L1s don't have a per-stack CMK.	Phase 31 implements fallback + warning.

Key Decisions (v1.7)

Resolved at the CLARIFY stage (full autonomy — all within locked constraints or user-directed scope). New v1.7 decisions:

ID	Decision	Rationale	Outcome
D-048	Rename static-assets → static-assets: rewrite all occurrences including verbatim historical phase descriptions in .ciagent/ (ROADMAP, REQUIREMENTS, RESEARCH, decision tables), overriding the v1.6 audit precedent that preserved some historical references.	User chose full rewrite. Maximally consistent; the reconstruction test is updated to expect static-assets throughout.	Phase 22 rewrites every static-assets string to static-assets; no preserved historical tokens remain.
D-049	Production static-assets stack = S3 + CloudFront (OAC) + WAF.	Self-contained, domain-free production edge. Route53/ACM are domain-dependent (consumer-supplied) and deferred to documented extension points / a complex example.	Phase 22 authors cloudfront + waf primitives and augments the module.
D-050	Deploy outputs: SSM Parameter Store (SecureString, KMS-encrypted, namespaced /acdl/{env}/{contractId}/{output_name}) for runtime-injectable values + GitHub PR comment / job summary for human-readable connection strings.	Two canonical mechanisms: SSM for resources that read at runtime; PR comment for developers. No raw secrets in logs.	Phase 25 implements core/output_publisher.py + two new pipeline stages.
D-051	Contract ingestion storage = DynamoDB table acdl-contracts (PK consumerRepo, SK contractId#submittedAt, SSE via customer-managed CMK, point-in-time recovery).	Enables historical queries, impact analysis, CMDB-style application-state queries, and pattern detection via DynamoDB queries. S3 flat-file mirror deferred (DynamoDB is sufficient for v1.7).	Phase 24 defines the table + Lambda.
D-052	Wiz adapter = stub + schema path (no live Wiz tenant in CI).	Matches the Checkov adapter pattern; typed interface, offline-testable, degrades gracefully when unconfigured (emits WIZ_NOT_CONFIGURED SKIPPED record).	Phase 23 authors adapters/wiz/wiz_adapter.py.
D-053	Kyverno adapter = K8s-native policy adapter translating PolicyReport results → PolicyCheckResult. Ready but inactive for Terraform-only stacks.	The platform emits Terraform, not K8s manifests. The adapter activates when the GitOps reconciler (roadmap) emits K8s manifests. Sample policies included as documentation.	Phase 23 authors adapters/kyverno/kyverno_adapter.py + sample policies.
D-054	Tagging standard = required-tag set (acdl:owner, acdl:contract, acdl:environment, acdl:cost-center) enforced by a Checkov custom YAML rule.	Closes the D-043 deferral (the SKIPPED ACDL_TAG_NAMING placeholder becomes a real check). Naming-convention regex deferred (brittle across AWS resource types).	Phase 23 authors schemas/tagging-standard.json + adapters/terraform/policy/custom_rules/acdl_tagging.yaml.
D-055	Error reporting = the platform Lambda report_error action creates a GitHub issue on the platform repo (acdl/acdl). Uniform communication pathway via the Lambda; the consumer's onboarding-granted Lambda-invoke permission is the only grant needed. No separate GitHub issues: write on the consumer side. Gitea is excluded (only the CIAgent uses it; platform engineers and consumers use GitHub).	Unifies requirements 4 + 8 around one mechanism. The Lambda holds a GitHub token (Secrets Manager) scoped to the platform repo. Idempotent (comments on existing open issue rather than duplicating).	Phase 24 prepares the action; Phase 25 implements it + wires the if: failure() workflow step.
D-056	Ship v1.7.0; bump uses:/ref: from @v1.4 to @v1.6.	Consumer-facing version tracks the last released MAJOR.MINOR. Consumers on @v1.4 stay on v1.4 behavior until they bump.	Phase 22 bumps the references.
D-057	The uses:/ref: bump + floating v1.6/v1 tag creation happen in Phase 22 (pointing at v1.6.0), so the reference never points at a non-existent tag. The release job (Phase 26) owns ongoing tag updates.	Sequencing: if Phase 22 bumps uses: to @v1.6 but the tag doesn't exist, the reference is temporarily broken. Creating the tag early (pointing at the last release) fixes this.	Phase 22 creates the floating tags; Phase 26's release job maintains them.
D-058	Module examples = separate validated files in modules/<name>/examples/ (simple.yaml + complex.yaml + variation files), validated against schemas/contract.schema.json in the platform-test pipeline schema-validation stage. Each module's README ## Examples section references + excerpts them.	Examples cannot drift from the schema silently.	Phase 27 authors the example files; Phase 26's platform-test pipeline validates them.
D-059	Add an RDS primitive (modules/l1/rds/) with an engine input (enum: postgres, mysql, etc.) + a multi-engine example demonstrating the variation pattern.	Concrete demonstration of the multi-engine variation the requirement calls out. Adds one primitive + examples.	Phase 27 authors the primitive + adapter expansion + examples.
D-060	(Consolidated into D-058.)	—	—

Open-decision resolutions (Phase 07 deliverable — recorded here for traceability)

ID	Question	Resolution
W1.A	AI-refinement trigger	Accept recommendation. Joint condition: N ≥ 50 consecutive changes with zero rollbacks AND no L1/L2 incident in last 6 months AND Infra & Ops unilateral override.
W1.B	Multi-stack edge case rule	Accept recommendation. Permitted only for (a) DR-region mirror, (b) time-boxed experimental stack with TTL ≤ 30d, (c) explicit Infra & Ops approval with multiStack.justification.
W2.A	Tag mutability for prod	Accept recommendation (Path B). Tag for dev/qa, SHA for prod. Platform CLI resolves tag→SHA for prod-bound workflows. Justified by the "Audit truth lives outside the repository" bet.
BA.A	Initial L3B skill catalog	Accept recommendation. 5 skills: web API, worker, scheduled job, static asset, basic observability bootstrap. Addition criteria: (a) reviewable for sensitive data, (b) expressible as a single contract submission, (c) documented use case.
W3.D	L1/L2 standard versioning	Decided. Semver: interface → MAJOR, behavior → MINOR, lifecycle → PATCH (same as the v1.0 demo D-rule, lifted to the real platform). Pin model: L2 contracts pin L1 by name@semver; the resolver picks the highest compatible. Evolution: MAJOR bumps require a new registry entry (immutable publication); old entry enters a 12-month deprecation window.
W3.E	Schema mandatory vs optional inputs	Decided. Per-env mandatory table: dev requires stack + environment; qa adds validation.e2eSuite + validation.loadTest; prod adds runbook + dashboard + oncall; dr adds drDrillRef. inputs map is always optional. profile: agentic fields (naturalLanguageIntent, confidenceAtSubmission, agentTrace) optional everywhere.
BA.B	Confidence threshold tuning	Decided. Starting thresholds frozen for v1. Tuning begins in v1.2: track FP/FN per environment quarterly; override authority = Infra & Ops + SRE joint sign-off; any override is itself a confidence-event in the audit stream.
BA.C	On-call / operational ownership	Decided. Platform on-call = Infra & Ops rotation. Escalation: L3A/L3B halt → platform on-call pager (Sev2); consumer-visible outage → consumer on-call (Sev1) with platform on-call support. Consumer on-call relationship is contractual, defined at onboarding (BA.E).
BA.D	Cost / capacity governance	Decided. Cloud cost owner = Infra & Ops FinOps. Per-contract consumption reported monthly. Runaway spend: hard halt at 120% of contract-declared budget envelope via the confidence signal (cost is one of the 6 inputs); override = FinOps + SRE joint sign-off.
BA.E	Consumer onboarding	Decided. Two paths: developer (L3A) — getting-started walks through contract schema + central pipeline template; citizen developer (L3B) — onboarding grants a scoped agent + skill catalog, no workflow authoring. Both end in a sandbox dev submission that must pass the confidence gate before the consumer is promoted.
BA.F	Cross-platform evolution	Decided. The contract schema, IR, PolicyCheckResult, confidence signal, and audit stream are portable (engine- and forge-agnostic). Forge-specific code: workflow YAML, OIDC trust, CODEOWNERS, Environments. A second forge (e.g., GitLab) requires a forge adapter + a workflow-template translator; no change to L1/L2/IR/confidence/audit.
Q1.3	OpenTofu timing	Decided (deferred). Not in v1 or v1.1. The engine abstraction (§12) makes OpenTofu a future adapter, not an architecture change. Revisit when an OpenTofu adapter is requested; no version committed.

Appendix — Prior milestone (v1.0 demo) decisions

The v1.0 demo (tag v1.1.0) carried decisions D-001..D-033. They governed the stub-driven executive demo and remain valid for the archived demo under demo/. They are superseded by the v1.1 decisions above for the real platform. Full text preserved in git history at tag v1.1.0.

Operational parameters (CLARIFY auto-resolution, full autonomy)

Resolved at the CLARIFY stage to unblock planning. None require user sign-off (autonomy = full; all within locked constraints).

Parameter	Value	Rationale
AWS region	us-east-1	Default; matches v1.0 demo references; single-region in v1 (§12.3)
Terraform state bucket	acdl-tfstate-<account-id>-us-east-1	Namespaced by account id to avoid collision; region-suffixed
Terraform lock table	acdl-tflock	DynamoDB; single-region v1
OIDC IAM role	acdl-act-runner-role	Assumed by the act_runner via web-identity
OIDC trust subject	repo:continuous-intelligence/acdl:ref:refs/heads/main (+ phase branches)	Least-privilege; refined in Phase 08
Spike L1 (l1-s3) inputs	bucket_name: string, region: string	Minimal S3 interface per §2
Spike L2 (l2-static-assets)	thin-composition referencing l1-s3 only; depth 1	Smallest real plan per D-036
Spike contract	contracts/spike.yaml: stack: l2-static-assets, environment: dev, inputs: { bucket_name: acdl-spike-bucket, region: us-east-1 }	One end-to-end submission (REQ-27)
Spike terraform command	plan only	apply is out of scope (Out of Scope table); HITL-gated in v1.2
Checkov ruleset (spike)	the 4 L2 checks (secrets-in-plaintext, public ingress, IAM wildcard, KMS key reference) + tag/naming	§3 + §12.4; Kyverno/OPA deferred
v1.0 tags preserved	v1.0.1..v1.0.5, v1.1.0 retained	Immutability; demo archive does not rewrite history
Next ship tag	v1.3.0	Feature milestone → next minor per ship.md (v1.1 shipped v1.2.0; v1.2 ships v1.3.0)

Items deferred to RESEARCH (not clarifications)

• Gitea/act_runner OIDC support — does act_runner emit an OIDC id-token? Determines whether real-AWS plan is achievable in this environment or whether a spike-only waiver is needed. Highest-priority research target.
• Terraform + Checkov availability on the runner image — install in the workflow if missing.
• actions/configure-aws-credentials action on act_runner — if unavailable, fall back to aws sts assume-role-with-web-identity from a step.

Objective for Milestone v1.14 (active — NFR Refinement)

Bug fixes, security posture improvements, stub/missing-functionality identification + implementation, and documentation + NFR refinement across the entire codebase. No new features. This is an NFR milestone — the final phase's patch IS the deliverable (no separate milestone tag).

The v1.13 line shipped the presentation polish + config.json schema migration + badge cleanup. The v1.11/v1.12 multi-persona reviews left a backlog of P1/P2 findings (5 P1 + 4 P2 open in REVIEW.md), the codebase has 6+ swallowed-error sites and 15+ hardcoded account-ID references, 7 scripts have no test coverage, the regression gate's CAP-017..022 evidence is an offline proxy, ARCHITECTURE.md has no v1.11–v1.13 addendum, and consumer-facing docs reference stale @v1.6–@v1.9 workflow tags. v1.14 clears all of it in a 20-phase sweep.

Scope axes (user-directed, 2026-07-29):

1. Bug fixes — clear all open P1/P2 findings from the v1.11 review (adapter dedup silent drop, static-assets unwired inputs, lifecycle script vestigial args, regression-gate offline-proxy evidence, ALB name_prefix, missing unit tests).
2. Security posture — narrow 6 swallowed-except sites; externalize the hardcoded account ID; scope 6 Resource: "*" IAM statements to acdl-* ARNs; harden contract-ingestor identity validation; add additionalProperties: false + format validation to schemas; add credential-pattern catch-all to .gitignore.
3. Stub / missing functionality — resolve the discarded --kube-version flag in the Kyverno adapter; clean up orphan bytecode
   • dead config.
4. Documentation + NFR refinement — ARCHITECTURE.md v1.11–v1.14 addenda; bump stale @v1.6–1.9 → @v1.13 across 12+ sites; sync decks/COST.md/GRILL G-005+G-008/IAM_POLICY.md; reconcile modules/STANDARDS.md; record the D-083 audit-ledger deferral explicitly.
5. Test coverage — add unit tests for 7 untested scripts + the adapter dedup/remote-state-key behaviors.

Out of scope (v1.14):

• New features (feat phases). v1.14 is NFR-only.
• D-083 audit ledger build-out (S3 Object Lock + JWS + SQS DLQ + async worker) — remains deferred; documented explicitly in ARCHITECTURE.md.
• Real OIDC federation (blocked on go-gitea/gitea#36988).
• Per-phase regression hardening (G-007, unchanged).
• Boto3 post-deploy verification probes (deferred to a future QA milestone).

Milestone type: NFR (all phases are fix/test/docs/chore/refactor). Ship tag: final phase patch on the v1.13.x line IS the release.

Milestone v1.14 Phases

Phase	Name	Goal
0	pre-execution	SPECIFY → CLARIFY → RESEARCH → IDEATE → PLAN → GRILL. Establish v1.14 milestone shell; ideate finds the concrete requirements; plan decomposes into 20 execution phases.
1–20	execution	20 phases of bug fixes, security hardening, stub resolution, test coverage, docs sync (wave-ordered). See ROADMAP.md §v1.14 for the phase list.
21	final-review-ship	Multi-persona review + audit + milestone ship (merge to main, tag final patch = release).

Key Decisions (v1.14)

Resolved at the CLARIFY stage (full autonomy — all within locked constraints or user-directed scope). New v1.14 decisions (numbered D-095+ to continue from v1.10's D-094):

ID	Decision	Rationale	Outcome
D-095	v1.14 is an NFR milestone (no feat phases); final patch IS the release.	User directed: "No new features, only bug fixes, security posture improvements, identifying stub and implement missing/lacking functionality, refine all documentation + NFRs." NFR model per branch-strategy.md:181 — progressive patches, final patch = deliverable, no separate milestone tag.	20 execution phases (P1–P20) + 1 final (P21). Tags v1.13.3 → v1.13.24.
D-096	D-083 (audit ledger JWS + S3 Object Lock + SQS DLQ + async worker) remains deferred; documented explicitly in ARCHITECTURE.md (P19), not implemented.	User chose "Skip — keep D-083 deferred." Requires non-offline-testable AWS infra (Object Lock bucket, KMS signing key, SQS). The hash-chain + DynamoDB outbox remains the v1.14 audit record.	P14 (originally JWS) replaced with orphan-artifact-and-dead-config-cleanup. D-083 deferral recorded in P19.
D-097	20 execution phases is the target (not consolidated to ~10).	User chose "20 phases as planned." Finer ship granularity; longer milestone. G-007 (per-phase regression) accepted — regression gate runs at milestone COMPLETE.	20 phases + 1 final = 21-phase milestone.
D-098	Wave ordering: W1 (P1–P6 bug fixes), W2 (P7–P12 security), W3 (P13–P17 stub/test/CI/hygiene), W4 (P18–P20 standards/docs/VPC).	Prerequisite chains: P2 depends on P1 (composition needs correct dedup); P9 depends on P8 (IAM ARNs reference externalized account ID); P15 depends on P7 (script tests benefit from hardened errors); P17 depends on P14 (both touch config.json); P19 lands last (reflects all prior phases).	4 sequential waves; phases within a wave are independent (parallelizable when parallelization.enabled=true).
D-099	--ideate flag: run the IDEATE stage between RESEARCH and PLAN (per ideate.md:218). The ideation tiers mine the 50 partial: + 16 lessons: + 3 escalation: + 16 decisions: git-native signals to validate/enrich the 20-phase scope.	User invoked with --ideate. The v1.14 scope is already user-directed (20 phases defined), so IDEATE acts as validation + enrichment, not scope discovery. Accepted ideas become IDEATE-NN IDs appended to REQUIREMENTS.md.	IDEATE stage runs; interactive validation gate (accept/skip/modify).
D-100	Accept all 20 ideation findings as the v1.14 requirement set (REQ-135..REQ-154).	User accepted all 20 at the interactive validation gate. Mechanical + backend-enriched tiers confirmed the user-directed scope.	20 REQs locked; PLAN.md formalizes the task decomposition.
D-101	E-001 (P8 state-bucket continuity residual risk) auto-resolved at full autonomy: accept the residual risk. G-102's binding mitigation (fallback bound to live account ID + workflow env wiring) is the control. The lifecycle pipeline defaults to plan-only (REQ-134) — full-mode runs are workflow_dispatch only, reducing the accident surface.	Grill escalation E-001 (confidence 0.55) re-exposes the v1.11 4-VPC root cause. At full autonomy, auto-decide with assumption logging. The residual risk (misconfigured env at live-run time) is runtime-dependent, not plan-resolvable. If the user prefers zero residual risk, direct that P8 exclude the state-bucket name from externalization entirely.	E-001 resolved; G-102 binding decision enforced in PLAN.md P8.

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Milestone v1.15 — Nova (Rebrand)

Active milestone. A full rebrand from ACDL → Nova across docs, decks, code, configs, CI, env var prefixes, the consumer contract path, SSM parameter paths, AWS tag keys, and AWS resource names — with a staged infrastructure migration to avoid breakage.

Milestone type: Major (breaking — consumer-facing path, env var prefixes, SSM path, AWS tag keys, and AWS resource names all change). Tags run on the v1.15.x minor line: v1.15.0 (P0) → v1.15.4 (P5 final = milestone release). (G-104 binding: Major milestones tag on their own minor line, not the previous minor's patch line.)

In scope (v1.15):

• Prose/decks/mermaid/pyproject/release-title rebrand (P1).
• Code identifiers, env var prefixes (ACDL_*→NOVA_* dual-read), consumer path (.acdl/→.nova/) (P2).
• SSM path (/acdl/→/nova/) + AWS tag keys (acdl:*→nova:* ABAC) (P3).
• AWS resource names (acdl-*→nova-*) with migration (P4).
• Final review + audit + remove dual-read fallback + milestone ship (P5).

Out of scope (v1.15):

• Renaming the real Gitea org/repo or GitHub org acdl (config stays acdl; doc URLs updated to nova for prose only).
• Renaming the S&P Global Energy visual theme (sp-theme.json) — client branding.
• Past Gitea release titles — only future releases use Nova vX.Y.Z.
• Git branch/tag naming — no brand name present.

Milestone type: Major (breaking). Ship tag: final phase patch on the v1.15.x minor line IS the release (v1.15.4).

Milestone v1.15 Phases

Phase	Name	Goal
0	pre-execution	SPECIFY → CLARIFY → RESEARCH → IDEATE → PLAN → GRILL. Establish v1.15-Nova milestone shell; ideation finds the 10 Nova requirements (REQ-155..164); plan decomposes into 4 execution phases.
1	docs-decks-prose	Rebrand all prose/decks/mermaid/pyproject/release-titles ACDL→Nova; add Nova tagline; ship consumer migration guide.
2	code-envvars-consumer-path	Rename acdl_tagging.py→nova_tagging.py; ACDL_→NOVA_ dual-read; .acdl/→.nova/ contract path.
3	ssm-tagkeys	SSM /acdl/→/nova/ + AWS tag keys acdl:→nova: with parallel-tag ABAC migration.
4	aws-resource-migration	Rename all acdl-* AWS resources → nova-* with staged migration + runbook.
5	final-review-ship	Multi-persona review + audit + remove dual-read fallback + milestone ship (merge to main, tag final patch = release).

Key Decisions (v1.15)

Resolved at the CLARIFY stage (full autonomy — all within locked constraints or user-directed scope). New v1.15 decisions (numbered D-102+ to continue from v1.14's D-101). The high-judgment scope decisions (D-102..D-107) were locked in by the user during the planning conversation before execution; D-108..D-112 resolved at CLARIFY.

ID	Decision	Rationale	Outcome
D-102	AWS resource names: full rename with migration.	User chose "Full rename with migration." All acdl-* AWS resources → nova-* including state bucket migration, DynamoDB data migration, IAM re-bootstrap, ECR re-push. Accepts downtime + multi-phase migration.	P4 implements the staged migration + rollback runbook.
D-103	Env var prefixes: full rename to NOVA_*.	User chose "Full rename to NOVA_*." All 21 ACDL_* prefixes → NOVA_* including .env.secrets (key names only, values stay) + Gitea secrets.	P2 renames + implements dual-read fallback; P5 removes fallback.
D-104	Tag keys + SSM path + consumer path: full rename all three.	User chose "Full rename all three." AWS tag keys acdl:*→nova:* (ABAC re-scope), SSM path /acdl/→/nova/ (param migration), consumer path .acdl/→.nova/.	P2 (consumer path) + P3 (SSM + tag keys) implement.
D-105	External URLs: illustrative — update them.	User chose "URLs are illustrative — update them." Doc URLs (github.com/acdl/..., git.cloudinit.dev/.../acdl*) → nova for prose consistency. Real Gitea repo name (release.gitea.repo) stays acdl.	P1 updates doc URLs; config.json unchanged.
D-106	Nova tagline: add alongside existing North Star.	User chose "Add Nova tagline alongside existing North Star." Tagline "The New Dawn of DevSecOps — security as a seamless enabler of fast deployments" added to README header, deck title slides, docs/vision.md. Existing "consumers declare intent" framing retained.	P1 adds tagline; no prose removed.
D-107	S&P visual theme: leave untouched.	User chose "Leave S&P theme untouched." sp-theme.json (#D6002A red, Akkurat Pro) is client branding, not the Nova product brand. Only product-brand text (ACDL→Nova) changes in decks.	P1 edits deck text only; theme/CSS unchanged.
D-108	Dual-read fallback centralized in a new core/env.py helper.	No centralized env loader exists today (env vars read via scattered os.environ.get("ACDL_*")). A new core/env.py get_env(name) helper reads NOVA_X then falls back to ACDL_X, returning None if neither. All call sites migrate to the helper in P2; P5 removes the fallback.	P2 creates core/env.py + migrates call sites; P5 removes fallback.
D-109	Checkov custom rule nova_tagging.py warns during P2, hard-fails from P3.	During P2 (before tag-key migration), existing resources still carry acdl:* tags — a hard fail would break the regression gate. P2 rule warns on acdl:*; P3 (after parallel-tag + ABAC swap) hard-fails on acdl:* and enforces nova:*.	P2: warn mode; P3: hard mode.
D-110	Schema $id URLs (https://acdl.cloudinit.dev/schemas/...) → https://nova.cloudinit.dev/schemas/....	These are illustrative schema identifiers (no real DNS resolution required for JSON-schema validation). Renamed for brand consistency in P1. Existing $id values in test fixtures updated.	P1 renames schema $id + fixture references.
D-111	Lambda env-var defaults (CONTRACTS_TABLE default "acdl-contracts", etc.) → nova-contracts.	core/lambda/contract_ingestor.py has hardcoded acdl-* default table names. These become nova-* in P4 (resource migration). P2 changes the env-var name (ACDL_*→NOVA_*); P4 changes the default values to nova-*.	P4 updates Lambda defaults.
D-112	nova slug: no project: prefix on branches (single-project mode).	config.json has projects[] with one entry (slug acdl) but git.branching_strategy is flat and the established convention since v1.0 is flat branches (no <slug>/ prefix). Nova rebrand does NOT change the branch prefix convention. Commit ---ci--- blocks use project: acdl (the config slug, unchanged).	Branches stay milestone/v1.15-nova, phase/NN-*; no acdl/ or nova/ prefix.

Objective for Milestone v1.16 (complete — NFR Simplification, tag v1.15.26)

A 20-phase NFR sweep (no new features) themed around five axes the user directed during ideation: Simplify without regressions, Security, Maintainability, User/Developer Experience, and No Humans Onboarding Flow. The v1.15 rebrand left a fresh layer of residual debt (stale brand strings, a state-bucket drift, a Kyverno policy that contradicts the Nova tagging standard, dead code) that this milestone clears, alongside genuine simplification (dedup helpers, a workflow generator, file splits) and the first self-service onboarding request path (request-path only; real AWS account provisioning stays a future feature).

Milestone type: NFR (all phases fix/chore/docs/refactor/test). The final phase's patch IS the deliverable — no separate milestone tag. Tags run on the v1.15.x line: v1.15.5 (P0) → v1.15.6..v1.15.25 (P1–P20) → v1.15.26 (P21 final = milestone release).

Wave ordering:

• Wave 1 (P1–P4): correctness + brand regression fixes — P1 first (state-bucket drift + Kyverno label contradiction are the highest- severity findings, both correctness regressions left by the rebrand).
• Wave 2 (P5–P9): simplify without regressions — P5 before P6/P9 (regression-verify dedup is independent); P8 changes the workflow test.
• Wave 3 (P10–P14): security + maintainability — P10 before P11 (identity enforcement before payload validation); P12/P13 independent splits.
• Wave 4 (P15–P17): developer experience — independent; P17 last (reflects the consolidated path).
• Wave 5 (P18–P20): no-humans onboarding — P18 (schema+Lambda action) before P19 (env-file autogen consumes the schema) before P20 (cross- account role, offline-proven).

Verification gates: the regression gate (D-091) runs after Wave 2 (P9) and at P21 — all 22 capabilities must stay Verified (no regressions from simplification). A mid-milestone checkpoint runs after Wave 3 (P14), offline.

Milestone v1.16 Phases

Phase	Name	Goal
01	state-bucket-and-kyverno-rebrand-fix	adapter.py:117 acdl-tfstate→nova-tfstate; Kyverno require-resource-labels.yml acdl:*→nova:* labels. Regression-risk fix.
02	user-facing-acdl-to-nova-sweep	Onboarding msg, alert title/body, PR comments, CI banner, module docstrings → Nova.
03	dead-code-and-stale-prefix-cleanup	Dead ACDL_ENVIRONMENT_OVERRIDE export; stale dual-read comments; acdl_* temp prefixes → nova_*.
04	migrate-ssm-except-narrowing	migrate_ssm_paths.py except Exception→ParameterNotFound.
05	regression-verify-dedup	Extract shared live-plan/resolver/lifecycle-resolve helpers (~70 lines saved).
06	run-platform-deadcode-and-hitl-fn	Remove dead export; extract run_hitl_gate() shell fn; drop hardcoded UUID/v18 stamp.
07	contract-resolver-envloader-and-kind	Import env loader from environment_check; add kind field to registry; replace is_l2 heuristic.
08	workflow-generator-dedup	scripts/sync_workflows.py (one source → both dirs); replace byte-identity test with generator-output test.
09	run-platform-split	Extract decommission + uptime blocks into scripts/run_decommission.sh + scripts/run_uptime.sh.
10	contract-ingestor-defense-in-depth	Fail closed on missing IAM identity; derive env enum from core/environments/ dir.
11	contract-ingestor-payload-validation	Contract blob size cap + schema validation; consistent error/stackTrace caps.
12	split-contract-resolver	638 lines → resolve / decommission-transform / cli modules.
13	split-regression-verify	670 lines → capability checks / live-plan helpers / cli modules.
14	schema-driven-outputs-and-cache	SAFE_OUTPUT_NAMES from interface.json; cache loaded schemas in resolver.
15	run-platform-help-and-flags-doc	Real --help; document --deploy-uptime; surface --local in README.
16	workflows-readme-catalog	.github/workflows/README.md — triggers, inputs, secrets, reusable-workflow contracts.
17	getting-started-consolidation	Single getting-started section: offline happy path first, AWS path second.
18	onboarding-schema-and-lambda-action	schemas/onboarding.schema.json + onboard_consumer action → CMDB row pending grant.
19	onboarding-envfile-autogen	core/onboarding.py generates <env>.json from a request + emits a PR; rebrand onboarding message.
20	cross-account-role-automation-offline	Terraform for consumer deploy-role + nova:owner ABAC tag (offline-proven only).
21	final-review-ship	Review + audit + milestone ship v1.15.26 + merge to main.

Milestone COMPLETE gate: review → ship v1.15.26 (NFR milestone; final patch IS the release) → audit.

Key Decisions (v1.16)

Resolved at the CLARIFY stage (full autonomy — all within locked constraints or user-directed scope). New v1.16 decisions numbered D-113+ to continue from v1.15's D-112. The four high-judgment scope decisions (D-113..D-116) were locked in by the user during the ideation planning conversation; D-117..D-119 resolved at CLARIFY.

ID	Decision	Rationale	Outcome
D-113	Onboarding scope = request-path only (NFR-shaped).	User chose "Request-path only." Full self-service AWS account/network/state provisioning is a feature (creates real cloud resources), not an NFR. v1.16 removes the human handoff from the request step (schema + Lambda action + env-file autogen + ABAC grant hook); real AWS account creation stays a future feature milestone.	P18–P20 implement the request path; real provisioning deferred.
D-114	Cross-account Terraform = offline-proven only.	User chose "Offline-proven only." P20 Terraform for the consumer deploy-role + ABAC tag is authored + terraform validate + --check-only only; no live apply (consistent with NOVA_LIFECYCLE_MODE=plan default). No new AWS resources created in this NFR milestone.	P20 validates offline; live apply deferred.
D-115	Workflow dedup = generator (not status quo).	User chose "Generator." scripts/sync_workflows.py writes one source → both .gitea/+.github/ dirs; the byte-identity test in test_pipeline_contract.py is replaced with a "generated outputs match committed files" test. Removes ~20 KB manual-sync risk.	P8 implements the generator + test swap.
D-116	Drift fixes = P1 of v1.16 (not a hotfix to main).	User chose "P1 of v1.16." The state-bucket drift (adapter.py:117) and Kyverno label contradiction are correctness regressions but latent in plan-only mode (no live apply in the default path), so they are not an active outage. Fixing them as P1 keeps the milestone self-contained.	P1 fixes both; no hotfix to main.
D-117	v1.14 NFR categories are NOT re-proposed.	v1.14 already swept over-broad excepts (REQ-141), hardcoded account-ID (REQ-142), IAM Resource:"*" scoping (REQ-143), contractId/env validation (REQ-144), .gitignore catch-all (REQ-146), --kube-version removal (REQ-147), orphan cleanup (REQ-148), set -euo pipefail parity (REQ-150). v1.16 finds NEW residual signals (the v1.15 rebrand left a fresh debt layer) and does not duplicate completed work.	Wave 1–5 target only fresh debt.
D-118	Regression gate (D-091) gates Wave 2 completion and P21.	"Simplify without regressions" is only credible if the regression gate runs after the simplification wave. The gate runs after P9 (Wave 2 done) and at P21 (milestone complete); any non-Verified capability halts W3. Mid-milestone checkpoint after P14 (offline).	P9 + P21 run the gate; P14 checkpoint.
D-119	onboard_consumer action stores a CMDB row pending grant (not auto-provisions).	The request-path-only scope (D-113) means the Lambda accepts an onboarding request and writes a pending row to nova-contracts (or a new nova-onboarding partition key); the platform automation that grants the ABAC role is the P20 Terraform (offline-proven). No AWS resources are created by the Lambda action itself.	P18 writes the pending row; P20 proves the grant Terraform offline.

Objective for Milestone v1.17 (active — Strategic Direction, Leadership Metrics & Unified Story)

Milestone type: Feature (P1–P3 feat; P4 docs; P5 docs+test; P6 test; P7 review+audit+ship). Tags on the v1.16.x line: v1.16.0 (P0) → v1.16.1..v1.16.7 (P1–P7) → v1.16.8 (P8 final = milestone release).

Three pillars:

• Pillar A — Strategic Direction. A durable, PO-authored .ciagent/NORTH_STAR.md encodes the platform's vision, 4 strategic objectives, 5 anti-goals, v1.17 non-goals, 12–18mo targets (with a grounding column), and success criteria. CIAgent reads it in every future /ci-run so the direction survives across milestones. The attestation clarification is reflected: human attestation required at stage gates (QA for production, SRE for operational readiness); autonomy in operations, not in accountability.

• Pillar B — Leadership Metrics + PowerBI. Instrument Nova to collect, aggregate, and surface leadership-grade metrics that prove the "no-humans" autonomous-infrastructure value proposition. Nova-native minimal tech (CloudEvents 1.0 envelope, JSONL event log, SQLite cold store, hash-chained Decision Ledger via outbox_writer.py extension)

  • Infracost for pre-apply cost estimates. Hybrid model: existing file-based signals (REGRESSION_REPORT.json, pcr.json, signal.json, junit XML) are sources the collector reads and projects into events; new emitters emit CloudEvents directly. PowerBI export = CSV/JSON views (fact + dimension tables + 8 empty placeholder views for deferred metrics). Hard constraint: DO NOT make anything up. Every metric is grounded (cites source file + schema), derived (documented formula), or deferred (cites decision ID — D-096/D-083/ D-113/D-114/D-119). The 8 deferred metrics: drift detection, GreenOps/ carbon, predictive/reactive, live CUR reconciliation, multi-cloud, red-team MTTR, self-healing velocity, SLA/downtime.

• Pillar C — Unified Narrative Deck. Merge the two existing decks (how-the-platform-works + the-developer-experience) into one unified narrative deck "Nova — The No-Humans Infrastructure Platform" with a single arc: Problem → Vision/Direction (NORTH_STAR) → How it works → Proof (metrics) → Roadmap/Ask. The "tell them x3" structure applies at deck level AND per slide (each slide opens with what it covers, delivers, closes with an explicit "benefit of this stage" callout). Fluid transitions between slides. Both old decks retired.

Key decisions resolved in the planning conversation (D-120+):

ID	Decision	Rationale	Outcome
D-120	Tech stack = Nova-native + Infracost, drift deferred.	The PO's technical-direction document specifies Kafka/Prometheus/ClickHouse/QLDB/OTel — none exist in Nova today. Adopt the PRINCIPLES (events as source of truth, CloudEvents envelope, decision ledger, definition-of-success docs, dashboards-as-projections) but implement with Nova-native minimal tech (JSONL + SQLite + hash-chained ledger). No Kafka/Prometheus/ClickHouse/QLDB. Infracost adopted (runs offline on plan JSON). Drift detection deferred (D-096 + no scheduler).	P1–P3 use Nova-native tech; Infracost in P1; drift deferred.
D-121	Decision Ledger = extend outbox_writer.py → SQLite append-only hash chain.	The direction's #1 priority is the Decision Ledger. Nova already has a hash-chained outbox (outbox_writer.py). Extend it to a SQLite append-only table with hash chain; add ai.decision.made + attestation.recorded events. Honors D-083 (no S3 Object Lock/JWS).	P1 extends outbox_writer; ledger is SQLite hash-chain.
D-122	AI Planner framing = map Nova's real decision points.	The direction assumes an "AI Planner/Reasoner" (planner-v3.2). Nova's actual decision path is confidence_signal + HITL gate. Model ai.decision.made from confidence_signal (decision_id=run_id, chosen_action=band, confidence=score, alternatives=perInput, human_override=HITL block). LLM planner marked future/aspirational.	P1 emits honest decision events; no fabricated LLM.
D-123	Deferred metrics = all 8 (drift, GreenOps, predictive/reactive, live CUR, multi-cloud, red-team MTTR, self-healing, SLA/downtime).	These require live AWS (D-096) or new external systems. Ship as empty PowerBI placeholder views with documented schemas.	P3 ships 8 placeholder views; METRICS.md marks them deferred.
D-124	NORTH_STAR = strategy; tech direction = engineering input.	The PO's technical-direction document is engineering architecture, not strategy. NORTH_STAR.md captures strategic vision/objectives/anti-goals (PO-authored). The tech direction becomes the telemetry reference architecture section in RESEARCH.md/ARCHITECTURE.md, cited by NORTH_STAR's engineering objectives.	P0 writes NORTH_STAR; RESEARCH writes the telemetry reference.
D-125	Events vs files = hybrid.	Existing file-based signals (REGRESSION_REPORT.json, pcr.json, signal.json, junit) stay as files; the collector reads them and emits normalized CloudEvents into JSONL + SQLite. New emitters emit CloudEvents directly.	P2 collector reads files + events.
D-126	Hot/cold split = cold-only SQLite (hot path deferred).	Nova has no live ops dashboard (no live AWS, D-096). The SQLite store is cold-only (batch/historical). The hot path is documented as deferred.	P2 SQLite is cold-only.
D-127	Definition-of-success = per-KPI docs.	The direction's §11 requires a definition-of-success doc for every executive KPI. Adopt this standard; docs live in docs/metrics/.	P4 writes per-KPI docs.
D-128	Storage location = metrics/ at repo root.	metrics/runs/ (per-run manifests), metrics/nova_metrics.db (SQLite), metrics/events.jsonl (event log), metrics/powerbi/ (export).	P1–P3 use metrics/ at repo root.
D-129	PowerBI delivery = CSV/JSON files, folder connector.	Nova is offline-first; no live connector to a running service. PowerBI ingests via the folder connector.	P3 emits CSV/JSON to metrics/powerbi/.
D-130	Deck arc = Problem → Vision → How → Proof → Roadmap.	The unified narrative deck's 5-act structure. x3 arc at deck + slide level. Per-slide benefit callouts. Fluid transitions. Both old decks retired.	P5 builds the unified deck; old decks deleted.
D-131	MTTR scope = platform-run MTTR.	The <60s MTTR target refers to platform-run failures (apply.failed → successful retry), not infra-incident MTTR (no incident detection system). Infra-incident MTTR deferred.	P4 grounds platform-run MTTR.
D-132	Attestation instrumentation = emit attestation.recorded events.	The attestation system (hitl_gates.py + attestation_matrix.py + separation_of_duties.py) already exists. Instrument it: emit attestation.recorded events into the Decision Ledger + PowerBI. Attestation Coverage = 100% target grounded from outbox approver_* attributes.	P1 emits attestation events; P4 grounds Attestation Coverage.