Stakeholders set the constitution
They define intent, obligations, and the assurance constitution before a feature is generated.
Sections 5 and 6
The operating loop
Two feedback paths keep the spec living: converge after each increment, and runtime evidence from the monitors that Validate promoted.
The spine defines, analyses, and hands over
For one team, the Spec Kit repository can play this part. The handover pack carries the specification, scenarios, measures, a constitution fragment, and open clarifications.
AI providers analyse and synthesise
Every call is logged. Analysis and generation stay inside an audit trail the spine can read.
Builders run the inner loop
Constitution from the fragment, specify from the import, clarify with the spine, plan through the assurance gate, tasks with [E], implement, validate, converge — then return the evidence pack.
The Confidence Engineer owns the verdict
The board, auditors, and regulators receive the traceable position. GRC platforms receive status via the API without the spine becoming a GRC system.
Roles
Who changes, and through which lens.
| SDD role change | Blueprint role | Confidence Engineering lens |
|---|---|---|
| PMs define scenarios and constraints | Product owners and analysts authoring the spec with the scoping question set | DeFOSPAM lenses; scenarios at interaction level |
| Architects shape the planning model | Builders’ architects; the Test Manager owns the evaluation architecture | Testable architecture; the plan passes the assurance gate |
| Engineers use AI to accelerate | AI-assisted builders; the Test Lead directs exploration | AI as amplifier directed at risk; exploration over repetition |
| Test shifts earlier | The Confidence Engineer — a function, not necessarily a title — owns the spec confidence block, the evidence budget, and the verdict | Do we know enough to ship? |
| Not named in SDD | Freelance testers and domain SMEs at Level 3 | The human verifier that breaks the Two Unknowns correlation |
| Not named in SDD | Board, auditors, regulators | An audit is the recursive standard, externalised |