Spec: end-to-end product delivery workstreams beyond gstack

[ganesh47]

Spec: End-to-End Product Delivery Workstreams Beyond gstack

Builds on #1
Related baseline: #2, #3, #4
Informed by docs/research/gstack-codex-interaction-model.md
Extends the forward-looking workstream decomposition in docs/specs/cstack-end-to-end-workstreams-spec.md

Summary

cstack already ships a local-first Codex workflow wrapper with durable artifacts, lineage, bounded delegation, GitHub-aware delivery, and artifact-grounded inspection.

The next product question is not whether to copy gstack.

The next question is which workflow and control-plane capabilities from adjacent systems should extend cstack toward a more seamless end-to-end product delivery loop without breaking its local-first Codex-wrapper identity.

The intended boundary for this issue is:

1. intent
2. planning
3. implementation
4. validation
5. review
6. ship
7. post-ship feedback

This issue does not include GTM execution, broad product operations, or always-on remote agent orchestration.

Why Now

The shipped workflow surface is strong at engineering-complete delivery:

• discover, spec, build, review, ship, deliver
• intent routing and stage lineage
• isolated execution for mutation workflows
• GitHub-aware readiness and mutation policy
• artifact-grounded inspection

What remains weaker is the control plane around that workflow:

• planning lineage across issues, runs, PRs, and releases
• validation intelligence as a first-class delivery surface
• bounded post-ship follow-up capture
• initiative-level grouping across many runs
• explicit capability policy for external research and attached tools

Current cstack Baseline

Shipped baseline remains the active contract in docs/specs/cstack-spec-v0.1.md.

Important current capabilities:

• workflow-first operator model over Codex CLI
• durable local artifacts under .cstack/runs/<run-id>/
• bounded discover-team research and specialist review
• review and ship as first-class workflows
• deliver as umbrella workflow over build, validation, review, and ship
• GitHub-aware engineering delivery with PR, issue, checks, Actions, release, and mutation evidence

This issue should treat #2, #3, and #4 as shipped baseline rather than reopened scope.

External Comparables

The comparison set should stay mixed and decision-oriented rather than turning into a generic competitor list.

For each comparable, capture:

• official URL
• execution posture: local-first, hybrid, or cloud-first
• what is genuinely comparable to cstack
• what is not comparable
• the transferable idea
• whether cstack should adopt, adapt, or reject it

Recommended comparison groups:

Local-first workflow and coding tools

• gstack
• aider
• Goose
• Claude Code workflow patterns

GitHub-centric delivery agents

• GitHub Copilot coding agent
• Sweep, only if the primary source clearly supports issue-to-PR workflow comparison

Broader autonomous engineering systems

• OpenHands
• one additional tool only if the primary source clearly supports planning, execution, review, or artifact lineage comparison

Transferable Patterns And Rejections

The synthesis should answer:

• which issue-to-PR or issue-to-run patterns transfer cleanly
• which artifact and inspection patterns transfer cleanly
• which validation and delivery-control patterns transfer cleanly
• which ideas should be rejected because they depend on cloud-first execution, hidden orchestration, or vague autonomous-company positioning

Default rejection set:

• permanent roleplay agent cast
• hidden orchestration that cannot be reconstructed from artifacts
• broad cloud control planes as the default product posture
• GTM or customer-ops execution inside the cstack workflow contract

Proposed Workstreams

This issue should decompose the next expansion into six independently shippable workstreams:

1. GitHub planning lineage
   docs/specs/cstack-github-planning-lineage-slice.md

2. Validation intelligence
   docs/specs/cstack-deliver-validation-intelligence-slice.md

3. Post-ship feedback
   docs/specs/cstack-post-ship-feedback-slice.md

4. Initiative graph and run control plane
   docs/specs/cstack-initiative-graph-slice.md

5. Delivery checklist and deployment evidence
   docs/specs/cstack-delivery-checklist-deployment-evidence-slice.md

6. Capability-pack governance
   docs/specs/cstack-capability-pack-governance-slice.md

Acceptance Criteria

This issue is complete when:

• the comparison catalog covers at least five real comparables grounded in primary sources
• each comparable clearly distinguishes transferable versus non-transferable patterns
• every proposed cstack expansion maps to a real current gap
• each workstream has its own artifact boundary, inspector impact, acceptance criteria, and release boundary
• the issue clearly separates shipped baseline from forward-looking scope
• follow-on implementation issues can be opened from the workstream slices without redefining the whole strategy

Non-Goals

This issue should not:

• rewrite the active shipped spec as if these slices already exist
• reopen shipped closure work from #2, #3, or #4
• collapse all six workstreams into one synchronized release
• redefine cstack as a generic autonomous platform

Follow-On Issues

Each workstream should eventually become its own follow-on implementation issue or slice:

• issue-linked run metadata and issue synthesis
• deliver validation expansion
• post-ship feedback artifacts and follow-up generation
• initiative graph and grouped ledger views
• readiness policy and deployment evidence references
• capability-pack policy and capability visibility

[ganesh47]

Execution kickoff: the umbrella workstream issue has now been decomposed into independent child threads #33 through #38. Parallel codebase-mapping agents are producing implementation-ready kickoff notes for each slice so autonomous work can begin without a synchronized cross-team planning phase.

[ganesh47]

Opened independent execution threads for each workstream:

• Spec slice: GitHub planning lineage #33 GitHub planning lineage
• Spec slice: Validation intelligence #34 Validation intelligence
• Spec slice: Post-ship feedback #35 Post-ship feedback
• Spec slice: Initiative graph and run control plane #36 Initiative graph and run control plane
• Spec slice: Delivery checklist and deployment evidence #37 Delivery checklist and deployment evidence
• Spec slice: Capability-pack governance #38 Capability-pack governance

Repo-local tracker: docs/research/cstack-end-to-end-workstream-tracker.md

Next step is to turn each issue into a first independently shippable implementation slice with explicit artifact, inspector, and test boundaries.

[ganesh47]

Execution update: the workstream threads now have concrete kickoff mapping in docs/research/cstack-workstream-kickoff-tracker.md, including current code touchpoints, first independently shippable slices, and test targets for #33 through #38. This keeps the workstreams independently executable from the current repo state without waiting for cross-team planning.

[ganesh47]

Execution kickoff is live.

Child workstream issues opened:

• Spec slice: GitHub planning lineage #33 GitHub planning lineage
• Spec slice: Validation intelligence #34 Validation intelligence
• Spec slice: Post-ship feedback #35 Post-ship feedback
• Spec slice: Initiative graph and run control plane #36 Initiative graph and run control plane
• Spec slice: Delivery checklist and deployment evidence #37 Delivery checklist and deployment evidence
• Spec slice: Capability-pack governance #38 Capability-pack governance

Repo-local tracker with code touchpoints, first slices, risks, and tests:

• docs/research/cstack-workstream-kickoff-tracker.md

Each child issue now has an autonomous kickoff comment pointing at the first independently shippable slice.

[ganesh47]

Execution status: all six end-to-end workstreams are now implemented on current branch and covered by tests.

Progress update:

• Spec slice: GitHub planning lineage #33 GitHub planning lineage: implemented (issue/lineage metadata + issue-draft artifacts + inspect support).
• Spec slice: Validation intelligence #34 Validation intelligence: implemented (validation stage surfaces, repo profiles, failure separation, validation artifact set).
• Spec slice: Post-ship feedback #35 Post-ship feedback: implemented (post-ship evidence + follow-up artifacts and inspect rendering).
• Spec slice: Initiative graph and run control plane #36 Initiative graph/control plane: implemented (initiative metadata + initiative-graph artifacts + initiative-aware runs/inspect).
• Spec slice: Delivery checklist and deployment evidence #37 Delivery checklist and deployment evidence: implemented (readiness-policy + deployment-evidence contracts + blocker taxonomy).
• Spec slice: Capability-pack governance #38 Capability-pack governance: implemented (workflow capability policy and run-level capability artifact visibility).

Verification command: npm run typecheck && npm test (all suites passing).

[ganesh47]

All child workstreams #33 through #38 were completed by PR #46, which was merged into main on March 28, 2026 as commit 8c115d3.