> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://evoke-f0bfabff.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Research-Backed Design Decisions

> How RStack turns prior art, standards, and implementation evidence into governed product evolution.

RStack is developed through research-backed design decisions, not ad-hoc feature copying. The project compares prior art, captures claims discipline, records RFCs, and then implements validated roadmap slices.

## Development loop

```text theme={null}
research → issue → RFC/ADR → implementation PR → validation → evidence → paper update
```

## What this means in practice

1. **Research first** — RStack starts with references such as NIST Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework (AI RMF), NIST Secure Software Development Framework (SSDF), ISO/IEC 42001:2023 AI management systems, OWASP Top 10 for Large Language Model Applications, Supply-chain Levels for Software Artifacts (SLSA), Dead Simple Signing Envelope (DSSE), Sigstore, Augment Code's AI-SDLC reference architecture, and `ai-sdlc-framework/ai-sdlc`.
2. **Issue tracking** — roadmap ideas are captured in GitHub issues with acceptance criteria and paper angles.
3. **RFC/ADR** — major design decisions are recorded under `rfcs/` before implementation.
4. **Implementation** — code and docs changes are delivered through PRs with local validation and CI.
5. **Evidence discipline** — productivity claims are measured or clearly marked as hypotheses.

## Primary-source artifacts

* [`research/bibliography.md`](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/blob/main/research/bibliography.md)
* [`research/methodology.md`](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/blob/main/research/methodology.md)
* [`research/productivity-claims.md`](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/blob/main/research/productivity-claims.md)
* [`research/prior-art-ai-sdlc-framework.md`](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/blob/main/research/prior-art-ai-sdlc-framework.md)
* [`rfcs/`](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/tree/main/rfcs)

## Current roadmap chain

The first research-backed chain is:

1. [#77 Research bibliography and methodology](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/issues/77) — completed first to establish claims discipline.
2. [#76 RFC / ADR process](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/issues/76) — records decisions before major implementation.
3. [#70 Decision Queue / DoR](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/issues/70) — first product feature that should follow an RFC.

## Paper-safe wording

Use this wording until measured evidence exists:

> RStack creates the governed lifecycle, evidence structure, and observability needed to measure and improve AI-assisted software delivery.

Do not claim quantified productivity improvement until RStack has measured comparison runs.