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Extend hardware-lifecycle pipeline with generative stages#194

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Alan-Jowett merged 4 commits intomicrosoft:mainfrom
Alan-Jowett:update-hardware-lifecycle-pipeline
Apr 7, 2026
Merged

Extend hardware-lifecycle pipeline with generative stages#194
Alan-Jowett merged 4 commits intomicrosoft:mainfrom
Alan-Jowett:update-hardware-lifecycle-pipeline

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@Alan-Jowett Alan-Jowett commented Apr 6, 2026

Summary

Extend the hardware-lifecycle pipeline to interleave generative design stages with the existing adversarial audit stages. This is Step 9 of 9 — the final step completing the end-to-end hardware design workflow.

Changes

No new components — this PR only updates the hardware-lifecycle pipeline definition in manifest.yaml.

Before (audit-only)

requirements -> review-schematic -> validate-simulation -> review-bom -> review-layout

After (design + audit interleaved)

requirements -> design-schematic -> review-schematic -> validate-simulation -> review-bom -> design-pcb-layout -> review-layout -> emit-manufacturing-artifacts

The new stages (design-schematic, design-pcb-layout, emit-manufacturing-artifacts) produce the design artifacts that the existing audit stages then review.

Design Decisions

  • Preserves all existing audit stages — no stages removed, only new stages inserted.
  • Design-before-audit ordering — each generative stage precedes its corresponding audit, matching the natural workflow.
  • validate-simulation and review-bom between schematic and layout — simulation and BOM review happen after schematic design but before layout, matching the dependency chain.
  • References hardware-design-workflow — notes that the full workflow can also be run as a single interactive session.

Checklist

  • manifest.yaml updated
  • No files added or removed
  • CI validation passes (python tests/validate-manifest.py)

Update the hardware-lifecycle pipeline to interleave generative
design stages with the existing adversarial audit stages. This is
Step 9 of 9 — the final step in building the end-to-end hardware
design workflow.

The pipeline now flows:
1. author-requirements-doc -> requirements-document
2. design-schematic -> artifact-set (KiCad schematic + BOM)
3. review-schematic -> investigation-report (audit)
4. validate-simulation -> investigation-report (optional audit)
5. review-bom -> investigation-report (audit)
6. design-pcb-layout -> artifact-set (routed PCB + script)
7. review-layout -> investigation-report (audit)
8. emit-manufacturing-artifacts -> artifact-set (Gerbers, BOM, PnP)

Previously the pipeline was audit-only (steps 1, 3, 4, 5, 7).
The new stages (2, 6, 8) produce the design artifacts that the
audit stages then review.

The full workflow can also be run as a single interactive session
using the hardware-design-workflow template (which orchestrates
all stages with user gates and loop-back support).

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings April 6, 2026 23:47
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Pull request overview

Updates the hardware-lifecycle pipeline definition in manifest.yaml to expand it from an audit-only flow into an end-to-end workflow that interleaves generative hardware design stages (schematic, PCB layout, manufacturing artifact emission) with the existing audit stages.

Changes:

  • Updated hardware-lifecycle pipeline description to reflect an interleaved design + audit workflow.
  • Inserted design-schematic, design-pcb-layout, and emit-manufacturing-artifacts stages into the pipeline.
  • Added artifact-set production/consumption contracts for the new design/manufacturing stages.

1. design-schematic had consumes: requirements-document but its
   template has input_contract: null (it does its own requirements
   discovery). Removed the consumes to match the template contract.
   Updated description to note design stages can optionally consume
   requirements or discover their own.

2. Audit stages (review-schematic, validate-simulation, review-bom,
   review-layout) only consumed requirements-document but also need
   the artifact-set produced by the preceding design stage. Updated
   to consumes: [requirements-document, artifact-set].

3. emit-manufacturing-artifacts consumes artifact-set which is
   produced by design-pcb-layout, not by review-layout (which
   produces investigation-report). The ordering is correct (must
   audit before manufacturing) but the contract chain now correctly
   shows artifact-set flowing from design stages through audit
   stages to the next design stage.

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
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Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 1 out of 1 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

1. Pipeline description was misleading about how stages chain.
   Reworded to accurately state that stages consume declared
   artifacts and may be used independently or sequentially.

2. Documented that audit stages provide an independent review pass
   even when the preceding design stage includes a self-audit.
   The redundancy is intentional: design-schematic self-audits for
   quick feedback, review-schematic provides a separate adversarial
   pass.

3. validate-simulation consumed artifact-set but simulation outputs
   (SPICE results, thermal analysis) are user-provided, not produced
   by design-schematic. Changed to consumes: requirements-document
   only, since the user provides simulation data separately.

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
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Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 1 out of 1 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

Regenerated CATALOG.md via generate-catalog.js and updated the
hardware-lifecycle pipeline diagram in README.md to include the
new generative stages (design-schematic, design-pcb-layout,
emit-manufacturing-artifacts) alongside the existing audit stages.

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
@Alan-Jowett Alan-Jowett merged commit 97c1d69 into microsoft:main Apr 7, 2026
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@Alan-Jowett Alan-Jowett deleted the update-hardware-lifecycle-pipeline branch April 7, 2026 00:12
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2 participants