Skills Guide

SDLC Studio - Software Pipeline Management

VerifiedSafe

Manages the full software development pipeline from PRD creation through epic and user story generation to implementation and test automation. Supports both greenfield specification authoring and brownfield specification extraction from existing code. Use it when you need to structure a new project or document and validate an existing codebase.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
DevelopmentIntermediate
1606/2/2026
Claude Code
#sdlc#pipeline#requirements#testing#automation

Recommended for

Backend developerClaude CodeCode reviewFrontend developerTest generationFullstack developer

Our review

SDLC Studio is a command-line tool that guides the user through the entire software development lifecycle, from creating specification documents (PRD, TRD) to generating automated tests.

Strengths

  • Full pipeline coverage: specifications, code, tests
  • Two modes (create and generate) tailored to greenfield or brownfield projects
  • Automation of story and epic workflows
  • Traceability between artifacts via plan/execute modes

Limitations

  • Requires reading philosophical reference files to properly differentiate modes
  • Generate mode mandates test validation, which can slow down the process
  • Primarily works with Claude Code, not yet integrated into other environments
When to use it

Use when you want to structure a development project end-to-end with traceable artifacts and automation of key steps.

When not to use it

Avoid for very simple projects or minor changes where the overhead of the methodology outweighs the benefits.

Security analysis

Safe
Quality score92/100

The skill only uses safe tools (Read, Glob, Grep, Write, Edit, Task, AskUserQuestion) for artifact generation and management within the SDLC. No shell execution, network access, or destructive operations are performed, posing no execution risk.

No concerns found

Examples

Create PRD for new project
/sdlc-studio prd create
Generate epics from PRD
/sdlc-studio epic generate
Implement a story with TDD
/sdlc-studio story implement

name: sdlc-studio description: /sdlc-studio [type] [action] - SDLC pipeline: requirements, specifications, code, testing. Run /sdlc-studio help for commands and /sdlc-studio status for next steps. allowed-tools: Read, Glob, Grep, Write, Edit, Task, AskUserQuestion

SDLC Studio

Manage project specifications and test artifacts. Supports the full pipeline from PRD creation through Epic decomposition, User Story generation, and streamlined test automation.

Critical Philosophy (Read This First)

Two modes for every artifact type:

| Mode | Purpose | When to Use | |------|---------|-------------| | create | Author new specifications from user input | Greenfield projects, new features | | generate | Extract specifications from existing code | Brownfield projects, documentation gaps |

New to Create vs Generate? Read reference-philosophy.md - it explains why these modes exist and how they differ fundamentally.

Using generate mode? You MUST read reference-philosophy.md#generate-mode first - generated specs must be validated by tests.

Generate mode is NOT documentation. It produces a migration blueprint - a specification detailed enough that another team could rebuild the system in a different technology stack. Generated specs MUST be validated by running tests against the existing implementation.

Quick Start

/sdlc-studio help                    # Show command reference
/sdlc-studio status                  # Check pipeline state and next steps
/sdlc-studio prd generate            # Create PRD from codebase
/sdlc-studio trd generate            # Create TRD from codebase
/sdlc-studio epic                    # Generate Epics from PRD
/sdlc-studio story                   # Generate Stories from Epics
/sdlc-studio bug                     # Create or list bugs
/sdlc-studio code plan               # Plan implementation for story
/sdlc-studio code implement          # Execute implementation plan
/sdlc-studio code test               # Run tests with traceability
/sdlc-studio code verify             # Verify code against AC
/sdlc-studio code check              # Run linters and checks
/sdlc-studio tsd                      # Create test strategy document
/sdlc-studio test-spec               # Generate test specifications
/sdlc-studio test-automation         # Generate executable tests
/sdlc-studio story plan              # Preview story workflow
/sdlc-studio story implement         # Execute story workflow (all phases)
/sdlc-studio epic plan               # Preview epic workflow (all stories)
/sdlc-studio epic implement          # Execute epic workflow (all stories)

Get Help for Any Type

/sdlc-studio {type} help             # Show help for specific type

Examples:

/sdlc-studio prd help                # PRD commands and options
/sdlc-studio epic help               # Epic generation help
/sdlc-studio bug help                # Bug tracking help
/sdlc-studio code help               # Code plan/test/verify/check help
/sdlc-studio test-spec help          # Test specification help
/sdlc-studio test-automation help    # Test automation help

Each help page shows:

  • Available actions and what they do
  • Prerequisites
  • Output format and location
  • Examples
  • Next steps

When to Use

  • "Create a PRD for this project"
  • "Generate requirements from this codebase"
  • "Create a TRD for this project"
  • "Generate technical requirements from this codebase"
  • "Generate epics from the PRD"
  • "Create user stories from the epics"
  • "Create personas for this project"
  • "Report a bug I found"
  • "List all open bugs"
  • "Fix this bug"
  • "Plan the implementation for this story"
  • "Implement the plan for this story"
  • "Implement this story with TDD"
  • "Check my code quality"
  • "Verify my code against acceptance criteria"
  • "Run the tests for this epic" → /sdlc-studio code test --epic EP0001
  • "Generate test specifications"
  • "Create automated tests from specs"
  • "What's the current status of my specs?"
  • "Run the full workflow for this story"
  • "Implement all stories in this epic"
  • "Show me the workflow plan for US0024"
  • /sdlc-studio prd, /sdlc-studio trd, /sdlc-studio epic, /sdlc-studio story, /sdlc-studio persona
  • /sdlc-studio bug, /sdlc-studio bug list, /sdlc-studio bug fix, /sdlc-studio bug verify, /sdlc-studio bug close
  • /sdlc-studio code plan, /sdlc-studio code implement, /sdlc-studio code test, /sdlc-studio code verify, /sdlc-studio code check
  • /sdlc-studio tsd, /sdlc-studio test-spec, /sdlc-studio test-automation
  • /sdlc-studio story plan, /sdlc-studio story implement, /sdlc-studio epic plan, /sdlc-studio epic implement
  • /sdlc-studio status

Instructions

When invoked with /sdlc-studio [type] [action]:

  1. Parse Command: Extract type and action from arguments
  2. Load Help File: Read help/{type}.md for command-specific guidance
  3. Check Philosophy: If generate mode, load reference-philosophy.md#generate-mode FIRST
  4. Follow Progressive Loading:
    • Load reference files only for multi-step workflows
    • Load templates only when creating artifacts
    • Load decision files when choosing approaches (TDD, Ready status)
  5. Execute Workflow: Follow step-by-step procedure in reference file
  6. Update Status: Modify artifact status markers per reference-outputs.md
  7. Validate: Check Ready criteria in reference-decisions.md before proceeding

See "Progressive Loading Guide" below for detailed file loading patterns.

Progressive Loading Guide

Claude loads files progressively based on task needs:

| Task Type | Primary Load | Secondary Load | Decision Load | |-----------|--------------|----------------|---------------| | Understanding command | help/{type}.md | - | - | | Create mode workflow | help/{type}.md | reference-{domain}.md | reference-philosophy.md#create-mode | | Generate mode workflow | reference-philosophy.md#generate-mode | help/{type}.md | reference-{domain}.md | | Creating artifacts | templates/{type}-template.md | reference-outputs.md | - | | Planning code | reference-code.md#code-plan-workflow | reference-decisions.md#story-ready | best-practices/{language}.md | | Choosing TDD/Test-After | reference-decisions.md#tdd-decision-tree | reference-test-best-practices.md | - | | Validating Ready status | reference-decisions.md#{type}-ready | reference-outputs.md | - |

Reference file mapping:

| Domain | Reference File | |--------|----------------| | PRD workflows | reference-prd.md#prd-create-workflow, reference-prd.md#prd-generate-workflow | | TRD workflows | reference-trd.md#trd-create-workflow, reference-trd.md#trd-generate-workflow | | Persona workflows | reference-persona.md#persona-create-workflow, reference-persona.md#persona-generate-workflow | | Epic workflows | reference-epic.md#epic-workflow | | Story workflows | reference-story.md#story-workflow, reference-story.md#story-generate-workflow | | Bug workflows | reference-bug.md#bug-workflow | | Code plan/implement/verify/test/check | reference-code.md#code-plan-workflow, reference-code.md#code-implementation-workflow | | TSD/test-spec/test-automation | reference-testing.md | | Architecture decisions | reference-architecture.md | | Cross-stage decisions, Ready criteria | reference-decisions.md#tdd-decision-tree, reference-decisions.md#story-ready | | Create vs Generate philosophy | reference-philosophy.md#create-mode, reference-philosophy.md#generate-mode | | Test writing guidelines | reference-test-best-practices.md | | E2E and mocking patterns | reference-test-e2e-guidelines.md | | Output formats and status values | reference-outputs.md#output-formats, reference-outputs.md#status-transitions |

Arguments

| Argument | Description | Default | |----------|-------------|---------| | type | See Type Reference below | Required | | action | create, generate, review, plan, verify, check, list, fix, close, help | varies | | --output | Output path (file or directory) | varies by type | | --prd | PRD file path (for epic) | sdlc-studio/prd.md | | --epic | Specific epic ID | all epics | | --story | Specific story ID | auto-select | | --bug | Specific bug ID | auto-select | | --severity | Bug severity filter (critical, high, medium, low) | all | | --spec | Specific test spec ID (for test-automation) | all specs | | --type | Test type filter (unit, integration, api, e2e) | all types | | --framework | Override framework detection | auto-detect | | --personas | Personas file path | sdlc-studio/personas.md | | --force | Overwrite existing files | false | | --no-fix | Report without auto-fixing (code check) | false | | --verbose | Detailed test output | false | | --plan | Specific plan ID (for implement) | auto-select | | --tdd | Force TDD mode (for implement) | plan recommendation | | --no-tdd | Force Test-After mode (for implement) | plan recommendation | | --docs | Update documentation (for implement) | true | | --no-docs | Skip documentation updates (for implement) | false | | --from-phase | Resume workflow from phase N (for story implement) | 1 | | --skip | Skip specific story (for epic implement) | none |

Type Reference

| Type | Description | |------|-------------| | prd | Product Requirements Document | | trd | Technical Requirements Document | | tsd | Test Strategy Document (project-level) | | persona | User Personas | | epic | Feature groupings (Epics) | | story | User Stories with acceptance criteria | | code | Implementation planning, testing, and quality | | test-spec | Consolidated test specification (plan + cases + fixtures) | | test-automation | Generate executable test code | | bug | Bug tracking and traceability | | status | Visual dashboard: Requirements, Code, Tests health | | hint | Single actionable next step | | help | Show command reference and examples |

Command Reference

Pipeline Status

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | /sdlc-studio status | Visual dashboard with three pillars | | /sdlc-studio status --testing | Tests pillar only | | /sdlc-studio status --workflows | Workflow state only | | /sdlc-studio status --brief | One-line summary |

Three Pillars:

  • 📋 Requirements (PRD Status) - PRD, Personas, Epics, Stories
  • 💻 Code (TRD Status) - TRD, Lint, TODOs
  • 🧪 Tests (TSD Status) - Coverage, E2E features

Requirements Pipeline

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | /sdlc-studio hint | Get single actionable next step | | /sdlc-studio help | Show command reference and examples | | /sdlc-studio prd | Ask which mode (create/generate/review) | | /sdlc-studio prd create | Interactive PRD creation | | /sdlc-studio prd generate | Extract PRD from codebase (brownfield) | | /sdlc-studio prd review | Review PRD against codebase, update status | | /sdlc-studio epic | Generate Epics from PRD | | /sdlc-studio epic review | Review Epic status from codebase | | /sdlc-studio story | Generate User Stories from Epics | | /sdlc-studio story generate | Extract detailed specs from CODE (brownfield) | | /sdlc-studio story review | Review Story status from codebase | | /sdlc-studio persona | Ask which mode (create/generate/review) | | /sdlc-studio persona create | Interactive persona creation | | /sdlc-studio persona generate | Infer personas from codebase (brownfield) | | /sdlc-studio persona review | Review and refine existing personas |

Technical Requirements

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | /sdlc-studio trd | Ask which mode (create/generate/review) | | /sdlc-studio trd create | Interactive TRD creation | | /sdlc-studio trd generate | Extract TRD from architecture (brownfield) | | /sdlc-studio trd review | Review TRD against implementation |

Bug Tracking

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | /sdlc-studio bug | Create new bug (interactive) | | /sdlc-studio bug list | List all bugs | | /sdlc-studio bug list --status open | List open bugs | | /sdlc-studio bug list --severity critical | List critical bugs | | /sdlc-studio bug list --epic EP0001 | List bugs for epic | | /sdlc-studio bug fix --bug BG0001 | Start fixing a bug | | /sdlc-studio bug verify --bug BG0001 | Verify bug fix | | /sdlc-studio bug close --bug BG0001 | Close a bug | | /sdlc-studio bug reopen --bug BG0001 | Reopen a closed bug |

Development Pipeline

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | /sdlc-studio code plan | Plan next incomplete story | | /sdlc-studio code plan --story US0001 | Plan specific story | | /sdlc-studio code plan --epic EP0001 | Plan next story in epic | | /sdlc-studio code implement | Implement next planned story | | /sdlc-studio code implement --plan PL0001 | Implement specific plan | | /sdlc-studio code implement --story US0001 | Implement by story | | /sdlc-studio code implement --tdd | Force TDD mode | | /sdlc-studio code implement --no-docs | Skip doc updates | | /sdlc-studio code verify | Verify next In Progress story | | /sdlc-studio code verify --story US0001 | Verify specific story | | /sdlc-studio code test | Run all tests | | /sdlc-studio code test --epic EP0001 | Run tests for specific epic | | /sdlc-studio code test --story US0001 | Run tests for specific story | | /sdlc-studio code test --type unit | Run only unit tests | | /sdlc-studio code check | Run linters with auto-fix | | /sdlc-studio code check --no-fix | Check only, no changes |

Testing Pipeline

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | /sdlc-studio tsd | Create test strategy document | | /sdlc-studio tsd generate | Infer strategy from codebase | | /sdlc-studio tsd review | Review and update strategy | | /sdlc-studio test-spec | Generate test specs from epics/stories | | /sdlc-studio test-spec --epic EP0001 | Generate for specific Epic | | /sdlc-studio test-spec generate | Reverse-engineer from existing tests | | /sdlc-studio test-spec review | Sync automation status | | /sdlc-studio test-automation | Generate executable tests | | /sdlc-studio test-automation --spec TS0001 | Generate for specific spec | | /sdlc-studio test-automation --type unit | Generate only unit tests |

Workflow Automation

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | /sdlc-studio story plan --story US0001 | Preview story workflow | | /sdlc-studio story implement --story US0001 | Execute story workflow | | /sdlc-studio story implement --tdd | Execute with TDD approach | | /sdlc-studio story implement --from-phase 3 | Resume from phase | | /sdlc-studio epic plan --epic EP0001 | Preview epic workflow | | /sdlc-studio epic implement --epic EP0001 | Execute epic workflow | | /sdlc-studio epic implement --story US0001 | Resume from story | | /sdlc-studio epic implement --skip US0001 | Skip specific story |

Workflows

For detailed step-by-step workflows, see reference files:

  • reference-prd.md, reference-trd.md, reference-persona.md - PRD, TRD, Persona workflows
  • reference-epic.md, reference-story.md, reference-bug.md - Epic, Story, Bug workflows
  • reference-code.md - Code plan, implement, review, check, test workflows
  • reference-testing.md - TSD, Test Spec, Test Automation workflows

Navigation Map

By Domain

Requirements:

  • reference-prd.md - Product Requirements workflows
  • reference-trd.md - Technical Requirements workflows
  • reference-persona.md - User Persona workflows

Specifications:

  • reference-epic.md - Epic generation and management
  • reference-story.md#story-generation-workflow - User Story workflows
  • reference-bug.md - Bug tracking workflows

Development:

  • reference-code.md#code-plan-workflow - Code planning
  • reference-code.md#code-implementation-workflow - Implementation

Testing:

  • reference-testing.md - Test Strategy, Spec, Automation
  • reference-test-best-practices.md - Testing guidelines
  • reference-test-e2e-guidelines.md - E2E patterns

Cross-Cutting:

  • reference-decisions.md - Ready criteria, TDD decisions, enforcement
  • reference-philosophy.md - Create vs Generate modes
  • reference-outputs.md - Output formats and status values (single source of truth)
  • reference-architecture.md - Architectural decisions

By Workflow Stage

  1. Requirements → reference-prd.md, reference-trd.md
  2. Decomposition → reference-epic.md, reference-story.md
  3. Planning → reference-code.md#code-plan-workflow
  4. Implementation → reference-code.md#code-implementation-workflow
  5. Testing → reference-testing.md, reference-test-best-practices.md
  6. Validation → reference-decisions.md#{type}-ready

For output formats, status values, and file locations: See reference-outputs.md

Examples

# Requirements
/sdlc-studio prd generate             /sdlc-studio prd create
/sdlc-studio epic                     /sdlc-studio story --epic EP0001

# Bugs
/sdlc-studio bug                      /sdlc-studio bug list --status open
/sdlc-studio bug fix --bug BG0001     /sdlc-studio bug verify --bug BG0001

# Development (manual)
/sdlc-studio code plan --story US0001 /sdlc-studio code implement
/sdlc-studio code implement --tdd     /sdlc-studio code implement --no-docs
/sdlc-studio code test --story US0001 /sdlc-studio code verify
/sdlc-studio code check

# Workflow automation (recommended)
/sdlc-studio story plan --story US0001    /sdlc-studio story implement --story US0001
/sdlc-studio epic plan --epic EP0001      /sdlc-studio epic implement --epic EP0001
/sdlc-studio story implement --from-phase 3  # Resume from phase
/sdlc-studio epic implement --story US0002   # Resume from story

# Testing
/sdlc-studio test-spec --epic EP0001  /sdlc-studio test-automation
/sdlc-studio status

See help/{type}.md for full examples per type.

Error Handling

Missing prerequisites: Prompts to run earlier pipeline step (e.g., no PRD → prd, no epics → epic, no stories → story, no plans → code plan). Existing files: Warns and asks to continue unless --force. No type: Asks user which type. ID collision: Auto-increments. Open questions: Reports and pauses. Unknown language: Asks user to specify framework.

Typical Workflow

Greenfield (Create Mode)


PRD → TRD → Personas → Epics → Stories
                                  │
                    ┌─────────────┴─────────────┐
                    │                           │
              TDD Path                    Test-After Path
              (test-first)                (code-first)
                    │                           │
              test-spec                    code plan
                    │                           │
              code plan                   code implement
                    │                           │
         code implement --tdd              test-spec
                    │                           │
              code verify                 test-automation
                    │                           │
              code test                     code verify
                                                │
                                            code test

Per-story choice: You choose TDD or Test-After for each story, not globally. Both paths produce the same artifacts, just in different order.

Automated Workflow (Recommended)

For streamlined development, use workflow automation:


PRD → TRD → Personas → Epics → Stories
                                  │
                          story plan --story US0001
                                  │
                          story implement --story US0001
                                  │
                          (all 7 phases run automatically)

Or at the epic level:


PRD → TRD → Personas → Epics → Stories
                                  │
                          epic plan --epic EP0001
                                  │
                          epic implement --epic EP0001
                                  │
                          (all stories processed in dependency order)

Workflow phases per story:

  1. Plan (code plan)
  2. Test Spec (test-spec)
  3. Tests (test-automation)
  4. Implement (code implement)
  5. Test (code test)
  6. Verify (code verify)
  7. Check (code check)
  8. Review (status review)

Brownfield (Specification Extraction)


prd generate → trd generate → persona generate → epic → story generate → test-spec → test-automation → code test (VALIDATE)

Critical: The code test step validates specs against reality. Not optional.

Development Cycle


code plan → code implement → code test → code verify → code check

Status: Draft/Ready → Planned → In Progress → Review → Done

Daily Usage


/sdlc-studio status          # Visual dashboard - what needs attention?
/sdlc-studio status --brief  # Quick: Requirements 85% | Code 90% | Tests 94%
/sdlc-studio hint            # Single next step
/sdlc-studio code plan       # Plan next story
/sdlc-studio code implement  # Execute plan

See Also

Philosophy: reference-philosophy.md - Read this first. Explains Create vs Generate modes and why generate mode produces migration blueprints, not documentation.

Decisions: reference-decisions.md - Decision impact matrix, TDD decision tree, Ready status criteria, cross-stage validation checkpoints.

Help: help/help.md (main), help/{type}.md (type-specific)

References: reference-prd.md, reference-trd.md, reference-persona.md (Requirements), reference-epic.md, reference-story.md, reference-bug.md (Specifications), reference-architecture.md (Architecture), reference-code.md (Code, Test), reference-testing.md (Test artifacts), reference-test-best-practices.md (Test pitfalls), reference-test-e2e-guidelines.md (E2E patterns)

Templates: templates/prd-template.md, trd-template.md, epic-template.md, story-template.md, personas-template.md, plan-template.md, plan-index-template.md, bug-template.md, bug-index-template.md, tsd-template.md, test-spec-template.md, automation/*.template

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