QUAD Project Lifecycle
From Client Call to Deliverable Stories
Part of QUAD™ (Quick Unified Agentic Development) Methodology © 2025 Suman Addanke / A2 Vibe Creators LLC
Table of Contents
The Problem We're Solving
Real-World Scenario
Manager: "We have problems. Slow delivery. Quality issues. Team burnout."
Why? Let's trace it back:
SLOW DELIVERY ← Because of rework
QUALITY ISSUES ← Because building wrong things
TEAM BURNOUT ← Because requirements keep changing
TECHNICAL DEBT ← Because of quick fixes under pressure
ROOT CAUSE ← VAGUE REQUIREMENTS The Pain Points
The Vicious Cycle
┌─────────────────┐
│ VAGUE REQS │
│ from client │
└────────┬────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ WRONG BUILD │
│ devs guess │
└────────┬────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ REWORK │
│ "not what I │
│ wanted!" │
└────────┬────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ DEADLINE │
│ PRESSURE │
└────────┬────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ QUICK FIXES │
│ skip tests │
└────────┬────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ TECH DEBT │
│ accumulates │
└────────┬────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ TEAM BURNOUT │
│ best leave │
└────────┬────────┘
│
│
┌──────────────┴──────────────┐
│ CYCLE REPEATS │
│ New project, same problems │
└─────────────────────────────┘QUAD Solution Overview
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ QUAD PROJECT LIFECYCLE │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Phase 0 Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 │
│ ──────── ──────── ──────── ──────── │
│ │
│ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ │
│ │ CLIENT │ │ RAW │ │ STORY │ │ REFINED│ │
│ │ CALL │ ──▶ │ DOCS │ ──▶ │ AGENT │ ──▶ │ STORIES│ │
│ └────────┘ └────────┘ └────────┘ └────────┘ │
│ │
│ Budget: $400K "20% off AI generates Complete with │
│ Scope: API, seasonal base stories acceptance │
│ Web, iOS, promo, with questions criteria, │
│ Android, Batch lottery..." labels, est. │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Phase 0: Client Engagement
What Happens
Example Scenario
CLIENT: "We want to reach customers faster. Here's our plan:
- 20% seasonal discount (Jan 15 - Feb 15)
- Lottery giveaway (random gifts)
- New customer onboarding flow
- Push notifications for deals"
US: "Got it. Let's document this and generate stories."
Output: Raw Requirement Document
The client provides whatever they have:
Phase 1: Requirement Intake
Document Processing
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ REQUIREMENT INTAKE │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ INPUT OUTPUT │
│ ───── ────── │
│ │
│ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────────┐ │
│ │ Email Thread │ │ Structured │ │
│ │ "20% off..." │ │ Requirements │ │
│ └──────┬───────┘ │ Document │ │
│ │ │ │ │
│ ┌──────▼───────┐ │ - Business Goals │ │
│ │ Meeting Notes│ ────▶ │ - User Personas │ │
│ │ "lottery..." │ │ - Feature List │ │
│ └──────┬───────┘ │ - Constraints │ │
│ │ │ - Questions │ │
│ ┌──────▼───────┐ └──────────────────┘ │
│ │ Verbal Notes │ │
│ │ "fast app" │ │
│ └──────────────┘ │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Structured Output
<h1 class="text-3xl font-bold text-white mb-8">requirement_intake.yaml</h1>
project:
name: "Customer Rewards Platform"
budget: 400000
timeline: "Q1 2025"
platforms:
- api
- batch
- web
- ios
- android
business_goals:
- "Increase customer acquisition by 30%"
- "Reduce cart abandonment by 20%"
- "Launch seasonal promotion campaign"
features_mentioned:
- "20% seasonal discount"
- "Lottery/giveaway system"
- "Push notifications"
- "Customer onboarding"
constraints:
- "Must launch before Jan 15"
- "Budget cap: $400K"
- "PCI compliance required for payments"
open_questions:
- "What happens if discount conflicts with existing promo?"
- "Who picks lottery winners? Manual or automatic?"
- "What's the notification frequency limit?"
Phase 2: Story Generation
Story Agent Activation
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ STORY AGENT FLOW │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ ┌─────────────┐ │
│ │ BA │ │
│ │ (Human) │ │
│ └──────┬──────┘ │
│ │ │
│ │ 1. Writes requirement │
│ │ "read @project_xyz sample" │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ STORY AGENT │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ Inputs: │ │
│ │ ├── Project context (@project_xyz) │ │
│ │ ├── Requirement document │ │
│ │ └── BA's question/request │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ Processing: │ │
│ │ ├── Parse business requirements │ │
│ │ ├── Identify user personas │ │
│ │ ├── Break into user stories │ │
│ │ ├── Generate acceptance criteria │ │
│ │ └── Flag ambiguities │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ Outputs: │ │
│ │ ├── Base stories (STORY-001 to STORY-nnn) │ │
│ │ ├── Clarifying questions for BA │ │
│ │ └── Suggested labels │ │
│ │ │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Sample Generated Stories
STORY-001: Seasonal Discount Applicationstory_id: STORY-001
title: "Apply 20% Seasonal Discount at Checkout"
type: FEATURE
priority: P0
circle: 2 # Development
platform: [API, WEB, IOS, ANDROID]
as_a: "Customer"
i_want: "to see and apply the 20% seasonal discount at checkout"
so_that: "I can save money during the promotion period"
acceptance_criteria:
- GIVEN promotion period is active (Jan 15 - Feb 15)
WHEN customer views cart
THEN 20% discount is automatically applied
- GIVEN discount is applied
WHEN customer views order summary
THEN original price, discount amount, and final price are shown
- GIVEN promotion period has ended
WHEN customer views cart
THEN no discount is applied and no error is shown
questions_for_ba:
- "Does discount apply to all products or specific categories?"
- "Can discount stack with existing promo codes?"
- "Is there a minimum cart value for discount eligibility?"
suggested_labels:
- priority/P0
- type/FEATURE
- circle/2-development
- platform/API
- platform/WEB
- platform/IOS
- platform/ANDROID
- complexity/CUBE
estimated_complexity: CUBE # 6 points - Multi-platform, business logic
story_id: STORY-002
title: "Enter Customer Into Lottery After Purchase"
type: FEATURE
priority: P1
circle: 2 # Development
platform: [API, BATCH]
as_a: "Customer"
i_want: "to be automatically entered into the gift lottery after purchase"
so_that: "I have a chance to win prizes"
acceptance_criteria:
- GIVEN customer completes a purchase during promo period
WHEN order is confirmed
THEN customer is automatically entered into lottery
- GIVEN customer is entered into lottery
WHEN entry is recorded
THEN customer receives confirmation notification
- GIVEN lottery drawing occurs
WHEN winners are selected
THEN winning customers are notified via email and push
questions_for_ba:
- "One entry per purchase or per customer?"
- "When and how often are drawings?"
- "What are the prizes? Need to display them?"
- "Manual or automatic winner selection?"
suggested_labels:
- priority/P1
- type/FEATURE
- circle/2-development
- platform/API
- platform/BATCH
- complexity/OCTAHEDRON
estimated_complexity: OCTAHEDRON # 8 points - Async, notifications
Phase 3: Story Refinement
BA Review Cycle
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ STORY REFINEMENT LOOP │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ │
│ │ STORY │ │ BA │ │ STORY │ │
│ │ AGENT │ ───▶ │ REVIEW │ ───▶ │ AGENT │ │
│ │ (Draft) │ │ (Clarify) │ │ (Refine) │ │
│ └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ │
│ ▼ ▼ │
│ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ │
│ │ "Discount │ │ Updated │ │
│ │ only on │ │ Stories │ │
│ │ orders │ │ with BA │ │
│ │ over $50" │ │ answers │ │
│ └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘ │
│ │
│ ITERATION COUNT: Usually 2-3 rounds until stories are clear │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Refined Story Example
After BA answers: "Discount only applies to orders over $50, cannot stack with other promos"
story_id: STORY-001
title: "Apply 20% Seasonal Discount at Checkout"
status: REFINED # Was DRAFT
acceptance_criteria:
- GIVEN promotion period is active (Jan 15 - Feb 15)
AND cart total is >= $50
WHEN customer views cart
THEN 20% discount is automatically applied
- GIVEN cart total is < $50
WHEN customer views cart
THEN message shows "Add $X more to qualify for 20% off"
- GIVEN customer has another promo code applied
WHEN seasonal discount would apply
THEN only the higher discount is used (no stacking)
- GIVEN discount is applied
WHEN customer views order summary
THEN original price, discount amount, savings, and final price shown
ba_clarifications:
- "Minimum order: $50"
- "No promo stacking - use higher discount"
- "All product categories eligible"
refinement_date: "2025-01-05"
refined_by: "BA-John"
DETAILED: Button-Level Workflow
This section shows exactly who clicks what button, where at each step.
Complete Story Lifecycle: From Draft to Development
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ COMPLETE WORKFLOW: WHO DOES WHAT, WHERE │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ STEP 1: BA CREATES RAW REQUIREMENT │
│ ════════════════════════════════════ │
│ │
│ WHO: BA (Business Analyst) │
│ WHERE: Jira → Create Issue │
│ BUTTON: [Create] button in Jira │
│ │
│ WHAT BA DOES: │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Jira: Create Issue │ │
│ │ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ Project: [PROJ ▼] │ │ │
│ │ │ Type: [Story ▼] │ │ │
│ │ │ Summary: "User login with OAuth2" │ │ │
│ │ │ Description: "As a user, I want to login using Google..." │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ Labels: [requirement] [needs-expansion] │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ [Create] [Cancel] │ │ │
│ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: │
│ • Jira fires webhook to QUAD Agent Runtime (QAR) │
│ • QAR sees label "needs-expansion" → triggers Story Agent │
│ • Story status changes to "Draft" automatically │
│ │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ STEP 2: STORY AGENT EXPANDS (AUTOMATIC) │
│ ════════════════════════════════════════ │
│ │
│ WHO: Story Agent (AI) - AUTOMATIC, no human action │
│ WHERE: Background processing │
│ BUTTON: None - triggered by webhook │
│ │
│ WHAT STORY AGENT DOES: │
│ 1. Reads the raw requirement from Jira │
│ 2. Loads project context (@project_xyz) │
│ 3. Uses Gemini/Claude to expand into full stories │
│ 4. Generates acceptance criteria │
│ 5. Identifies questions that need BA clarification │
│ 6. Creates Confluence page with detailed specs │
│ 7. Updates Jira story with: │
│ • Link to Confluence specs │
│ • Suggested labels │
│ • Status: "Draft - Pending Review" │
│ • Comment: "@BA-John: Please review and answer questions" │
│ │
│ JIRA AFTER EXPANSION: │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ PROJ-123: User login with OAuth2 │ │
│ │ Status: [Draft - Pending Review] │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ 📎 Attachments: │ │
│ │ └── 📄 Specs: PROJ-123-specs (Confluence) │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ 💬 Comments: │ │
│ │ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ 🤖 Story Agent (just now) │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ Story expanded. Please review and answer: │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ ❓ Q1: Which OAuth providers? (Google, Apple, Facebook?) │ │ │
│ │ │ ❓ Q2: Should we support password fallback? │ │ │
│ │ │ ❓ Q3: Session duration: 24h or 7 days? │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ @BA-John please clarify │ │ │
│ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ STEP 3: BA REVIEWS AND ANSWERS QUESTIONS │
│ ════════════════════════════════════════ │
│ │
│ WHO: BA (Business Analyst) │
│ WHERE: Jira → Story Comments OR Confluence → Specs Page │
│ BUTTON: [Comment] in Jira OR [Edit] in Confluence │
│ │
│ OPTION A: Answer in Jira Comments │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Add Comment: │ │
│ │ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ @story-agent │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ A1: Google and Apple only, no Facebook │ │ │
│ │ │ A2: Yes, password fallback for existing users │ │ │
│ │ │ A3: 7 days for mobile, 24h for web │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ [Save] [Cancel] │ │ │
│ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ OPTION B: Answer in Confluence (More Detailed) │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Confluence: PROJ-123-specs [Edit] │ │
│ │ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ ## BA Clarifications │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ Question Answer Answered By OAuth providers Google, Apple @BA-John Password fallback Yes, for existing @BA-John Session duration 7d mobile, 24h web @BA-John Summary: Who Clicks What
Jira Workflow States
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ JIRA STORY WORKFLOW │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ [DRAFT] │
│ │ │
│ │ (Auto: Story Agent expands) │
│ ▼ │
│ [PENDING REVIEW] │
│ │ │
│ │ (BA answers questions) │
│ ▼ │
│ [REFINED] │
│ │ │
│ ├────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ (BA approves) │ (BA requests changes)│
│ ▼ ▼ │
│ [APPROVED] [NEEDS WORK] │
│ │ │ │
│ │ (PM adds to sprint) │ (Back to PENDING) │
│ ▼ │ │
│ [READY FOR DEV] └──────────────────────┘
│ │ │
│ │ (Dev starts work) │
│ ▼ │
│ [IN PROGRESS] │
│ │ │
│ │ (Dev creates PR) │
│ ▼ │
│ [CODE REVIEW] │
│ │ │
│ │ (PR merged) │
│ ▼ │
│ [QA READY] │
│ │ │
│ ├────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ (QA passes) │ (QA fails) │
│ ▼ ▼ │
│ [DONE] [QA FAILED] │
│ │ │
│ │ (Back to IN PROGRESS)│
│ └──────────────────────┘
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Alternative: BA Uses Chat Instead of Jira
BA can also work through chat (Claude, Copilot, Slack):
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CHAT-BASED WORKFLOW │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Slack / Claude / Copilot Chat │
│ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ │
│ │
│ BA-John: @QUAD create story: "User login with OAuth2" │
│ │
│ 🤖 QUAD: Story PROJ-123 created. Expanding... │
│ │
│ 🤖 QUAD: Story expanded. I have 3 questions: │
│ │
│ ❓ Which OAuth providers? (Google, Apple, Facebook?) │
│ ❓ Password fallback for existing users? │
│ ❓ Session duration preference? │
│ │
│ BA-John: Google and Apple only. Yes password fallback. │
│ 7 days mobile, 24h web. │
│ │
│ 🤖 QUAD: Got it. Updating story... │
│ │
│ 🤖 QUAD: ✓ Story PROJ-123 refined. │
│ 📎 Specs: confluence.com/PROJ/123-specs │
│ 📊 Complexity: OCTAHEDRON (8 pts) │
│ 🏷️ Labels: priority/P1, platform/API, platform/WEB │
│ │
│ Ready to approve? [Yes, approve] [No, more changes] │
│ │
│ BA-John: clicks [Yes, approve] │
│ │
│ 🤖 QUAD: ✓ Story PROJ-123 approved. Added to backlog. │
│ PM can now add to sprint. │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Alternative: BA Uses IDE (VS Code)
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ IDE-BASED WORKFLOW (VS Code) │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ VS Code with QUAD Extension │
│ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ │
│ │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ File: requirement.md │ │
│ │ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ # User Login Feature │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ As a user, I want to login using OAuth2 so that I can │ │
│ │ access my account without remembering a password. │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ ## Requirements │ │
│ │ - Google OAuth │ │
│ │ - Apple Sign In │ │
│ │ - Session management │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ [Right-click shows context menu] │ │
│ │ ┌────────────────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ 🤖 QUAD: Expand Story │ ← BA clicks here │ │
│ │ │ 🤖 QUAD: Estimate │ │ │
│ │ │ 🤖 QUAD: Create in Jira │ │ │
│ │ └────────────────────────────┘ │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ After clicking "Expand Story": │
│ │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ QUAD Panel (sidebar) │ │
│ │ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ Story: PROJ-123 - User Login │ │
│ │ Status: Expanded ✓ │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ Questions: │ │
│ │ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ Q1: OAuth providers? │ │ │
│ │ │ [Google] [Apple] [Facebook] [Other...] │ │ │
│ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │
│ │ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ Q2: Password fallback? │ │ │
│ │ │ (Yes) (No) │ │ │
│ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │
│ │ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ Q3: Session duration? │ │ │
│ │ │ Mobile: [7 days ▼] Web: [24 hours ▼] │ │ │
│ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ [Refine Story] [Skip to Approve] │ │
│ │ │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Project Context System
How @project_xyz Works
When BA writes @project_xyz, the Story Agent loads project-specific context:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PROJECT CONTEXT SYSTEM │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ @project_xyz resolves to: │
│ │
│ /.quad/contexts/project_xyz/ │
│ ├── README.md # Project overview │
│ ├── tech_stack.yaml # Technologies used │
│ ├── architecture.md # System architecture │
│ ├── api_standards.md # API conventions │
│ ├── naming_conventions.md # Code naming rules │
│ ├── existing_stories/ # Previously completed stories │
│ │ ├── STORY-001.yaml │
│ │ └── STORY-002.yaml │
│ └── domain_glossary.md # Business terms definitions │
│ │
│ Story Agent uses this context to: │
│ ✓ Maintain consistency with existing architecture │
│ ✓ Use correct terminology │
│ ✓ Reference related stories │
│ ✓ Follow established patterns │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Context File Examples
tech_stack.yamlbackend:
language: Java
framework: Spring Boot 3.2
database: PostgreSQL 15
frontend:
web: React 18 / Next.js 14
ios: SwiftUI
android: Kotlin Jetpack Compose
infrastructure:
cloud: GCP
container: Docker / Cloud Run
ci_cd: GitHub Actions
<h1 class="text-3xl font-bold text-white mb-8">API Standards</h1>
• REST endpoints prefixed with /api/v1/
• Use kebab-case for URLs: /api/v1/user-profiles
• Response format: JSON with envelope
• Authentication: JWT Bearer tokens
• Pagination: ?page=1&size=20
• Error format: { "error": { "code": "ERR_001", "message": "..." } } Summary
Next: See QUAD_STORY_LABELS.md for the labeling system.
Part of QUAD™ (Quick Unified Agentic Development) Methodology © 2025 Suman Addanke / A2 Vibe Creators LLC