asc-new-project

name	asc-new-project
description	Structured greenfield workflow. Prevents building before alignment on what to build.

New Project Workflow

Structured greenfield workflow. Prevents building before alignment on what to build.

Grounded in: Spec-Driven Development (SDD) with scaffolding-spec approach. Specs guide implementation, then the code becomes the source of truth — specs are not maintained as living documents unless the team explicitly opts in.

Gate Mechanism

This workflow nudges the agent to stop at each phase boundary, same enforcement tier as the existing decision ladder — not a hard block. Bypasses are logged to the debt ledger.

Known limitation: Bypass-to-debt-ledger logging is self-reported by the agent, not enforced by the hook. The PostToolUse hook has no MCP access — it nudges the agent to log, but cannot write the debt entry itself.

To track phase, write to workflow-gate.json via the state_write MCP tool. Format:

{
  "workflow": "asc-new-project",
  "phase": "<current_phase>",
  "updatedAt": "<ISO-timestamp>"
}

Phase 1: Define (No Code)

1. Write workflow-gate.json with phase research.
2. Clarify with the user: tech stack, target platform, constraints, non-goals.
3. Propose a directory structure and module boundaries.
4. Output a project brief summarizing decisions.
5. STOP and wait for user approval. Do not write specs or code.

Phase 2: Spec (No Implementation Code)

1. On approval of Phase 1, update workflow-gate.json phase to plan.
2. Write per-feature specs with acceptance criteria and edge cases.
3. Specs are scaffolding — they guide the build, then the code is the source of truth.
4. Output specs for review.
5. STOP and wait for user approval. Do not implement.

Phase 3: Implement

1. On approval of Phase 2, update workflow-gate.json phase to implement.
2. Build against the approved specs. Apply the ASC decision ladder on every file.
3. Run the decision ladder: does this need to exist? Does stdlib cover it? One function or full module?

Phase 4: Validate

1. Run tests. Check each spec's acceptance criteria.
2. Confirm nothing was over-built beyond what the specs required.
3. On completion, clear the state in workflow-gate.json by overwriting it with {}.