Stage contracts¶

Descriptive reference of all workflow stages across Conductor's 6 business lines. Each stage contract describes what a stage requires — not what a compiler enforces. The compiler has been archived to archive/compiler-v1/.

Contract schema¶

Every stage must declare:

Field	Purpose
`id`	Stable machine identifier (e.g. `software.implement`)
`line`	Owning business line
`entry`	Conditions that must hold before the stage is active
`bindings`	Required inventory options that must be resolved
`roles`	Permitted active roles at this stage
`artifacts`	Outputs the stage produces
`evidence`	Proof required for exit and transition
`exit`	Observable completion criteria
`next_stages`	Allowed successor stage IDs
`validation`	Mode (`deterministic` or `judgment`) and checks
`recovery`	Behavior on re-entry or rollback
`on_gap`	Gap identifier emitted when contract is incomplete

Validation modes: - Deterministic — conditions that can be verified mechanically - Judgment — requires Portfolio Manager, President, or human review; cannot be silently waived

Missing contract data produces a named gap. Judgment-led exploration may continue only when gaps are explicit.

Portfolio¶

#	Stage	Purpose	Entry	Bindings	Roles	Exit evidence	Transition	Next
1	`intake`	Capture a spark as an Initiative	Outcome or discovery question exists	`line-routing`	Portfolio Manager	Initiative ID, source, outcome, definition of done	Deterministic	`classify`
2	`classify`	Assign archetype and workstream route	Intake record complete	`estate-intent`	Portfolio Manager	Archetype, estate intent, proposed workstreams, rationale	Judgment (escalate President)	`prioritize`
3	`prioritize`	Set priority and disposition	Classification recorded	`priority-tier`	Portfolio Manager	Priority tier, disposition, comparison rationale	Judgment (escalate President)	`capacity`
4	`capacity`	Confirm WIP policy passes	Continue decision exists	`wip`	Portfolio Manager	WIP counts, applicable caps, available slot	Deterministic; President overrides	`review`
5	`review`	Periodic governance check	Review date or trigger arrives	none	Portfolio Manager	Current outcomes, workstream states, risks, next action	Judgment (escalate President)	loop to `prioritize` or `capacity`

Portfolio is a recurring governance workflow. Review may return to Prioritize or Capacity without resetting line workstreams.

Product¶

#	Stage	Purpose	Entry	Bindings	Roles	Exit evidence	Transition	Next
1	`discover`	Bind venture or bootstrap profile	Portfolio activated Product workstream	`profile`	Product Manager	Problem, audience, desired outcome, known constraints	Judgment	`explore`
2	`explore`	Gather evaluation evidence	Discovery questions and evidence depth selected	`evidence-depth`	Product Manager, Market Researcher	Research sources, interviews, competing explanations	Judgment	`score`
3	`score`	Apply bound scorecard	Scorecard inputs and attributable evidence present	`scorecard`	Product Manager, Scorecard Analyst	Dimension scores, calculations, penalties, source references	Deterministic	`build-gate`
4	`build-gate`	Decide build capacity allocation	Passing score or President exception	`build-vs-buy`	Product Manager	Score result, build-vs-buy choice, WIP availability, approval	Deterministic	`ship-signal`
5	`ship-signal`	Record live use, revenue, or learning	Deliverable or market test produced observable results	none	Product Manager	Usage, revenue, buyer feedback, or validated learning	Judgment	`archive`
6	`archive`	Close or park the Product workstream	Terminal disposition exists	`graduation` (draft)	Product Manager	Disposition, rationale, retained evidence, successor links	Deterministic	none

Gates: - Bootstrap: score ≥ 60, < 6 months to first revenue, ≥ 2 willing buyers - Venture: threshold TBD; judgment gate until defined - Shared WIP cap: 2 active commercial builds across Venture + Bootstrap - No Software implement before build-gate pass for commercial product paths

Software¶

#	Stage	Purpose	Entry	Bindings	Roles	Exit evidence	Transition	Next
1	`frame`	Define scope and acceptance	Authorized outcome and scope owner	`app-kind`	Engineering Lead	Outcome, users, constraints, definition of done	Judgment	`design`
2	`design`	Material design choices	Frame accepted; design choices identified	`brand`, `arch-checklist`	Engineering Lead	Architecture, data boundaries, interfaces, pattern choice	Judgment	`implement`
3	`implement`	Authorized code changes	Design, exact plan, repository target, authorization current	`blueprint`, `tech-stack`	Engineering Lead, Implementer	Commit diff, dependency changes, implementation notes	Deterministic	`verify`
4	`verify`	Required checks	Implementation complete; verification profile bound	`verify-profile`	Engineering Lead	Test results, static checks, security checks, acceptance evidence	Deterministic	`promote`
5	`promote`	Move reviewed revision to target	Verification passed; promotion target authorized	`promote-target`	Platform Engineer	Source revision, target path, backup or rollback reference	Deterministic	`deploy`
6	`deploy`	Make revision healthy at target	Promoted revision, host/shape bindings, deployment authorization	`host`, `shape`	Platform Engineer	Deployment revision, health checks, URL/service identity, rollback result	Deterministic	`document`
7	`document`	Reproducible setup and recovery	Verified implementation; operational behavior stable	`doc-profile`	Engineering Lead	Setup, architecture, operations, recovery, known limitations	Deterministic	none

Estates: Prototype (local-only, no GitHub remote), Lab (hector-sanchez-eu, catalog after live URL), Portfolio-org (Konstant-Ventures, revenue/commercial).

Patterns: static-web (nginx static), dynamic-web (socket-activated backend + nginx proxy), vercel (Vercel-hosted).

Editorial¶

#	Stage	Purpose	Entry	Bindings	Roles	Exit evidence	Transition	Next
1	`assign`	Assign desk, angle, author	Workstream has audience and intended outcome	`desk`	Editor-in-Chief, Desk Editor	Desk, angle, audience, format, deadline	Judgment	`report`
2	`report`	Gather sources and evidence	Assignment and research depth defined	`research-depth` (draft)	Reporter, Researcher	Sources, notes, data, uncertainties, conflicts	Judgment	`draft`
3	`draft`	Write complete draft	Reporting evidence and structure available	`time-model`	Reporter	Draft body, citations, disclosed assumptions	Judgment	`edit`
4	`edit`	Structure and quality gates	Complete draft and assignment available	none	Copy Editor	Structural edits, copy edits, unresolved queries	Judgment	`fact-check`
5	`fact-check`	Verify claims against sources	Edited draft and source file available	none	Fact-checker	Claim-by-claim source mapping, corrections, unresolved claims	Deterministic	`localize`
6	`localize`	Produce locale editions	Source edition fact-checked; target locales selected	`locales`	Translator	Authored locale files, terminology decisions, locale review	Judgment	`stage`
7	`stage`	Pre-publish readiness	Fact-checked copy, locales complete	none	Copy Editor, Publisher	Rendered preview, metadata, links, assets	Deterministic	`publish`
8	`publish`	Make publicly reachable	Staged release approved for channel and target	`publish`	Publisher	Published URL, revision, timestamp, post-publish checks	Deterministic	`update`
9	`update`	Correction, update, or retire	Correction, expiry trigger, or material new evidence	none	Editor-in-Chief, Publisher	Change rationale, revised sources, before/after revision	Judgment	none

Inventory notes: Desk options: journal, perspective, research, releases. Time model: frozen (one-time artifact) or living (edit in place). Locales: en-es-de or en-only. Publish channel: hectorsanchez.eu via writing-publisher-mcp.

Services¶

#	Stage	Purpose	Entry	Bindings	Roles	Exit evidence	Transition	Next
1	`offer`	Define repeatable client outcome	Repeatable outcome or capability identified	`catalog`	Practice Lead	Outcome, scope boundaries, buyer, delivery assumptions	Judgment	`lead`
2	`lead`	Qualify potential client	Potential client and relevant offer known	`lead-status`	BD/Sales	Need, fit, authority, timing, privacy constraints	Judgment	`propose`
3	`propose`	Submit unambiguous proposal	Qualified lead; defined need and decision process	none	BD/Sales, Engagement Manager	Scope, deliverables, timeline, price, assumptions, exclusions	Judgment	`contract`
4	`contract`	Execute agreement	Proposal terms agreed in principle	none	Engagement Manager	Executed agreement, privacy terms, start authorization	Deterministic	`deliver`
5	`deliver`	Produce contracted work	Contract, scope, privacy profile, delivery owner active	`engagement-type`	Delivery Consultant, Engagement Manager	Work products, client feedback, acceptance evidence	Judgment	`invoice`
6	`invoice`	Issue correct invoice	Billable milestone and billing basis exist	none	Billing	Invoice, amount calculation, delivery milestone	Deterministic	`complete`
7	`complete`	Close engagement	Deliverables accepted; billing resolved	none	Engagement Manager	Acceptance, payment status, retained obligations, lessons	Deterministic	`archive`
8	`archive`	Retain or delete records	Engagement complete; retention rules known	none	Engagement Manager	Retention decision, archive location, deletion evidence	Deterministic	none

Lead micro-status: cold → contacted → proposed → negotiating → won | lost | rejected.

Operate¶

#	Stage	Purpose	Entry	Bindings	Roles	Exit evidence	Transition	Next
1	`run`	Service is runnable and recoverable	Deployed service has ownership and ops profile	`ops-profile`	Platform Engineer	Service identity, owner, dependencies, runbook, SLO	Deterministic	`observe`
2	`observe`	Health evidenced; anomalies routed	Running service has defined health and failure signals	none	Platform Engineer, On-call	Metrics, logs, alerts, SLO evaluation	Deterministic	`change`
3	`change`	Bounded operational change	Change and rollback plan authorized	`change-style`	Platform Engineer	Plan, exact targets, prechecks, result, rollback evidence	Deterministic	return to `run` or branch to `incident`
4	`incident`	Restore or contain service	Service-impacting event detected and classified	`severity` (draft)	On-call	Severity, timeline, actions, recovery evidence, impact	Deterministic	return to `run` or branch to `retire`
5	`retire`	Stop service without orphans	Retirement approved; dependencies inventoried	none	Platform Engineer	Dependency clearance, backup decision, shutdown evidence	Deterministic	none

Operate is not a sequential ladder. Change and Incident branch from active runtime (Run/Observe) and return to Run afterward. Retire is terminal.

Stage count summary¶

Line	Stages	Deterministic	Judgment
Portfolio	5	2	3
Product	6	3	3
Software	7	5	2
Editorial	9	3	6
Services	8	4	4
Operate	5	5	0
Total	40	22	18

Gaps in current contracts¶

Several stages have incomplete contracts where the compiler must emit a gap rather than authorize a deterministic transition:

Portfolio: WIP caps for Editorial and Services are stub (null max)
Product: Venture scorecard threshold TBD; graduation inventory is draft
Software: Documentation inventory (doc-profile) has limited options
Editorial: research-depth inventory is draft; exact entry/exit criteria incomplete for some stages
Services: Exact entry criteria and evidence requirements incomplete for some stages
Operate: severity inventory is draft; exact entry criteria for Change/Incident incomplete

When a gap is encountered, the compiler must report it as a named gap in the operating brief. Judgment-led exploration may continue with explicit gaps. Deterministic validation fails on gaps.

Core stage contract rules: corpus/core/stage-contract.yml
Per-line workflow units: corpus/portfolio/workflow.yml, corpus/lines/*/workflows/
Line overview docs: lines/*.md
Compiler specification: reference/contracts/compiler-spec.md