Waypoint™ Implementation Planning Handoff Specification

1. Purpose

This document defines how an implementation-planning system or engineering team should consume the complete Waypoint™ Design Package and produce an executable implementation plan.

The design package defines the product and architecture intent. The planning process converts that intent into controlled implementation work.

2. Planning objective

Produce a realistic implementation plan that:

delivers Waypoint™ end-to-end;
preserves approved requirements;
resolves or explicitly schedules open architecture questions;
identifies dependencies and parallel streams;
estimates executable work;
assigns capability requirements;
creates coherent releases/sprints;
materializes approved work in Jira;
preserves requirement traceability;
supports autonomous execution.

3. Source-document authority

Use this precedence:

explicit owner decisions;
Requirements & Traceability Matrix;
detailed domain specifications;
Architecture Decisions/Assumptions/Open Questions;
MVP Scope & Release Boundaries;
README navigation/interpretation guidance.

When a summary conflicts with a detailed requirement, flag the conflict rather than guessing.

4. Required source package

Planning should consume all approved Waypoint™ specifications, including:

product vision/principles;
lifecycle/operating model;
Design Engine;
Planning Engine;
Execute Engine;
Delivery Engine;
Worker/Agent/Capability model;
Governance/Gates/Human Control;
Canonical Domain Model;
System Architecture/Integrations;
Reporting/Analytics/API;
Non-Functional Requirements;
MVP/Release Boundaries;
Adaptive Execution/Continuous Replanning;
Requirements/Traceability;
Architecture Decisions/Open Questions.

5. Do not plan from summaries alone

README files and executive summaries are navigation aids.

The planning system must inspect the detailed specifications and requirement matrix before creating work.

6. Required planning outputs

The implementation plan should include:

implementation phases/releases;
architecture foundation;
epics;
work packages/stories where useful;
executable Tasks/Bugs;
estimates;
dependencies;
streams;
sprint/timebox recommendations;
milestones;
capability requirements;
performer-category recommendations;
worker/team capacity forecast;
acceptance criteria;
testing/validation;
documentation work;
security/governance work;
reporting work;
integration work;
delivery work;
technical spikes for unresolved decisions;
requirement traceability.

7. Recommended hierarchy

Logical hierarchy:

Waypoint™ Implementation
  → Phase / Release
      → Epic
          → Work Package / Story (optional)
              → Task / Bug

Do not create unnecessary hierarchy levels.

Executable leaf work must be sufficiently bounded for a worker to perform.

8. Release planning

Use MVP boundaries as guidance, not as an excuse to postpone foundational cross-cutting requirements.

A reasonable release progression may include:

Platform Foundation;
Design;
Plan;
Execute;
Deliver;
Hardening / Stable Integrated Release.

Planning may improve this structure if dependencies indicate a better sequence.

Every release should produce an integrated increment.

9. Parallel streams

Identify work that can proceed independently.

Potential streams include:

product/UI;
canonical domain/data;
Design Engine;
Planning Engine;
execution/orchestration;
worker/agent platform;
governance;
integrations;
delivery;
reporting;
platform/DevOps;
security/quality;
documentation.

Streams are N:N with sprints and workers.

10. Foundation work

Planning must include explicit foundation work for:

repository/project setup;
canonical persistence;
migrations;
identity/auth;
secrets;
API foundation;
durable orchestration;
events/outbox;
artifact storage;
observability;
integration framework;
reporting projections;
CI/CD;
documentation.

Do not hide foundation effort inside feature tickets.

11. Architecture spikes

Create bounded spikes for unresolved decisions that materially block implementation.

Examples:

workflow engine;
database;
agent runtime;
delivery provider;
reporting API/projection design;
identity/secrets;
hosting.

A spike must have:

question;
alternatives;
evaluation criteria;
timebox;
expected decision artifact;
affected requirements.

12. Requirement traceability

Every implementation epic/work package should reference applicable requirement IDs.

Planning must produce a coverage report:

Requirement ID
→ planned work
→ target release
→ verification approach

Any unplanned requirement must be explicitly dispositioned.

13. Estimation

Estimate executable leaf work.

For each estimate, retain where practical:

estimate;
unit;
confidence;
assumptions;
likely performer category;
dependencies;
rationale.

Distinguish effort from elapsed duration.

14. Capability requirements

Each executable work item should identify required capabilities rather than immediately naming a specific AI agent.

Examples:

software.nextjs
data.postgresql
integration.jira
integration.github
platform.workflow-orchestration
quality.integration-testing
security.application
docs.technical-writing

Specific worker allocation occurs later or at runtime.

15. Human versus autonomous work

Classify work by performer eligibility:

AI/automation preferred;
AI/automation eligible;
human required;
mixed;
external system.

Human-required work may include:

owner product decisions;
high-risk approvals;
security exceptions;
acceptance;
unresolved architecture choices requiring owner judgment.

Do not make routine implementation work human-only without reason.

16. Jira materialization

Once the implementation plan is approved, materialize it into Jira.

Required behavior:

meaningful descriptions;
acceptance criteria;
estimates;
parent hierarchy;
dependencies;
release/fix version;
sprint where appropriate;
stream labels/fields;
requirement IDs;
performer/capability metadata as supported.

All implementation work must have a Task or Bug before execution.

17. Jira is not the design repository

Do not copy every design document into Jira descriptions.

Tickets should contain enough context to execute and link/reference authoritative artifacts.

Waypoint™ design specifications remain the source for product intent.

18. Source-control policy for Waypoint™ development

Unless explicitly changed by the owner, use the project policy:

feature → preview → main

Implementation planning should include:

PR template;
PR-compliance automation;
required detailed PRs;
work-item traceability;
CI;
tests;
documentation checks;
MkDocs Material;
strict MkDocs build;
multi-agent worktree procedures;
workspace cleanup/pruning.

Where feasible, keep a bounded ticket-to-change/PR relationship to simplify traceability.

19. Documentation

Documentation is implementation work.

Plan for:

architecture;
developer setup;
APIs;
adapters;
operations/runbooks;
configuration;
security;
worker/capability administration;
user guides;
reporting definitions.

Documentation must evolve with the implementation.

20. Testing strategy

Planning must include:

unit tests;
integration tests;
adapter contract tests;
workflow tests;
recovery/idempotency tests;
concurrency tests;
security tests;
end-to-end lifecycle tests;
reporting validation;
deployment/delivery tests.

Do not postpone all system testing to the final release.

21. Reporting implementation

Reporting must be planned as a core stream.

Include:

reporting projections;
metric definitions;
reporting/query APIs;
project dashboard;
execution dashboard;
governance/decision views;
delivery views;
baseline/current-plan reporting;
estimate/actual reporting;
reporting health/freshness.

Do not substitute Jira dashboards for this requirement.

22. Adaptive execution implementation

Planning must include the capability for Waypoint™ to maintain its own plan during execution.

Include:

structured Discovery/ProposedChange;
classification;
disposition policy;
automatic Task/Bug creation;
estimate/dependency updates;
sprint/stream placement;
Jira synchronization;
automatic execution where authorized;
reforecasting;
gate escalation;
baseline/current-plan reporting;
audit;
future-learning data capture.

This is MVP scope.

23. Governance implementation

Plan governance as product functionality, not manual process documentation.

Include:

gates;
approvals;
version binding;
roles;
policy checks;
exceptions;
authorization;
stop/pause;
audit;
evidence;
decision queue;
cost thresholds.

24. Definition of implementation-ready work

A Task/Bug is implementation-ready when:

requirement/design context is linked;
objective is clear;
acceptance criteria exist;
dependencies are known;
required capability is identified;
environment/tools are known;
estimate exists;
validation is defined;
no blocking design decision remains.

25. Planning validation

Before Plan approval, verify:

all MVP requirements covered;
no orphan requirements;
architecture decisions represented;
open blocking questions have spikes;
dependencies are acyclic;
executable leaves are bounded;
estimates exist;
testing included;
documentation included;
reporting included;
security/governance included;
delivery included;
adaptive execution included;
foundation work included;
capacity assumptions are visible.

26. Planning deliverables

The final implementation-planning package should include:

executive plan summary;
release/phase roadmap;
epic/work hierarchy;
dependency graph;
stream model;
estimates;
sprint recommendation;
worker/capability forecast;
architecture-spike list;
requirement coverage matrix;
risk/assumption list;
Jira materialization manifest;
implementation gate summary.

27. Plan approval

Do not begin autonomous implementation until the implementation plan has passed its Plan Gate.

Approval binds to a specific plan version.

Subsequent adaptive execution may maintain the plan within approved policy and raise new gates when thresholds are exceeded.

28. Implementation objective

The planning system should optimize for:

The shortest safe path to a vertically complete Waypoint™ that can itself manage increasingly autonomous project delivery.

It should not optimize for the largest number of tickets, the most elaborate architecture, or maximum parallelism without dependency/capacity justification.