Backstop converts declared intent into bounded work and an inspectable verdict. Proactive work begins with a bundle; reactive work begins with an issue. Both reach a reviewed plan before implementation, and both finish through deterministic validation and explicit terminal state. Terminal state records whether work was delivered, replaced, canceled, deprecated, or obsoleted; issue closure preserves either completed-plan lineage through delivered_by or a direct typed artifact, commit, or pull-request reference through resolved-by.
Product Model
How it works
Define the work. Enforce your standards. Detect drift.
Define the work
Feature work: one bundle. Many specs. One plan per spec.
How work is structured
Bundle
Spec APlan A
Spec BPlan B
Spec CPlan C
Spec DPlan D
How work is delivered
Spec APlan A
Spec BPlan B
Spec CPlan C
→
Spec DPlan D
Independent branches can execute in parallel. Dependencies establish the order when they cannot.
Feature / substantial work
Bundle
Spec
Plan
Small / reactive work
Issue
Plan
Enforce your standards
Packs own standards, engines, and proof.
Pack
RulesWhat must be true
EnginesHow it is checked
GateRuns the pack's required checks
FixturesProve the check works
Packs compose across domains and toolchains.
CodeGo
ArchitecturePackage bounds
DesignCSS and tokens
GateExecutes all rules across all packs
Detect drift
Existing debt is not permission for new debt.
UnchangedVisible. Does not fail.
New or modifiedMust meet the standard.
A waiver is named and time-bounded. The rule stays.
A claim names what must exist and the tests that prove it.
ClaimWhat must exist
TestsMust exist and be real
While the agent is working
The agent does not hand failed work downstream.
Plan
× N
Implement
Gate
Implementation review
Commit / Push
CI
CI confirms. It does not discover.
The authoritative enforcement loop is docs/_diagrams/ARCH-002-enforcement-loop.mmd: intent bounds execution, pack engines return a verdict, and evidence feeds provenance back into intent.
What Backstop does not own
Bring your agent, your harness, your standards, and your tools. Backstop does not own your source or your data.
Backstop keeps the work inside the boundaries you define, so you can be confident you’re getting the software you think you are.
The canonical architecture views are checked-in Mermaid sources so presentation cannot become a second editable truth.
Core owns execution and lifecycle primitives. Packs own standards and engines. Harnesses own orchestration. External toolchains own their behavior. The authoritative boundary view is docs/_diagrams/ARCH-003-ownership-boundaries.mmd.
Intent artifacts
Work tracks
Bounded execution
Recipes
Gates and policy
The enforceable guarantee is bounded: the declared gate evaluates the installed standards against the named inputs and returns a policy verdict. Organizational follow-through remains outside that process boundary.
Waivers
Capabilities and journeys
Provenance and verification
Harness integration
A harness can schedule work and invoke Backstop. It preserves Backstop guarantees only when it also respects artifact order, role boundaries, and the gate exit status.
Product category
Backstop is a deterministic control surface for AI-native delivery. It keeps intent, bounded implementation, review, and enforcement legible without requiring one agent vendor or runtime.
Delivery lifecycle
The authoritative lifecycle is docs/_diagrams/ARCH-001-delivery-lifecycle.mmd: reactive issues and proactive bundles converge on reviewed plans, bounded implementation, validation, and terminal outcomes.