Software Factory

Type: Pipeline pattern

Definition

The Software Factory is the Kelly Router's core operating pattern — a structured pipeline for turning product ideas into shipped software. It has two speed paths: a full pipeline for new products and a quick path for features and bug fixes. The full pipeline runs: Intake → Research → Planning → Implementation → Testing → Release. Each stage transition is gated.

Key Stages

  • Intake: Create project directory, write intake.md with classification (new product / feature / bug fix)
  • Research: CIS loop (Context → Information → Synthesis) → READY/NOT-READY gate
  • Planning: product-brief.md, prd.md, architecture.md, ux-design.md → PASS/FAIL gate. The prd.md follows the 9-section BMAD structure (see bmad-method), which can be generated by sharpener before entering the pipeline.
  • Implementation: User-story sized stories, sprint execution, per-story validation
  • Testing: TEA audit (Test, Evaluate, Assess) → PASS / PASS-WITH-FOLLOWUPS / REMEDIATE
  • Release: Operator decision: SHIP or NO-SHIP

Quick Path

The quick path skips the research stage. Used for: features (new capabilities on existing products) and bug fixes (remediation without product changes). Projects using quick-path still go through planning, implementation, testing, and release.

Artifact Structure

Each project contains: research-artifacts/, planning-artifacts/, implementation-artifacts/, test-artifacts/ directories. Each story gets a .md file in the appropriate directory. Planning artifacts follow the 9-section PRD structure defined by bmad-method — see sharpener for a tool that generates this format automatically from a single-sentence idea.