> ## 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 Program

> Bibliography, methodology, claims discipline, and prior-art comparison for the RStack SDLC research paper.

RStack is being developed as both a product and a research-backed AI-SDLC operating model. This page links the research artifacts that explain what RStack implements today, what it claims, what remains a hypothesis, and how future productivity claims should be measured.

## Research thesis

RStack improves the practical use of AI coding agents by wrapping them in a governed lifecycle:

```text theme={null}
clarify → plan → spec → approve → build → validate → release-readiness → learn
```

The careful version of the thesis is:

> RStack does not claim that AI coding alone guarantees productivity. RStack claims that AI-assisted delivery becomes more reliable and measurable when work is constrained by lifecycle stages, approvals, typed handoffs, evidence, budget envelopes, and Business Hub observability.

## Repo research artifacts

| Artifact                                                                                                                                     | Purpose                                                                                              |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [`research/current-state-audit.md`](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/blob/main/research/current-state-audit.md)                 | Detailed audit of where RStack stood before the research roadmap implementation.                     |
| [`research/bibliography.md`](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/blob/main/research/bibliography.md)                               | Standards, prior art, empirical research, and RStack primary-source references.                      |
| [`research/methodology.md`](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/blob/main/research/methodology.md)                                 | How to study RStack and what metrics to collect.                                                     |
| [`research/prior-art-ai-sdlc-framework.md`](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/blob/main/research/prior-art-ai-sdlc-framework.md) | Comparison with `ai-sdlc-framework/ai-sdlc` and AI-SDLC reference architecture patterns.             |
| [`research/productivity-claims.md`](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/blob/main/research/productivity-claims.md)                 | Claims register separating implemented facts, external evidence, hypotheses, and unsupported claims. |
| [`research/rstack-design-history.md`](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/blob/main/research/rstack-design-history.md)             | Primary-source narrative of current implementation and design history.                               |
| [`research/paper-outline.md`](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/blob/main/research/paper-outline.md)                             | Draft paper structure and thesis.                                                                    |

## Claims discipline

Every RStack paper or docs claim should have at least one of:

1. measured evidence from RStack runs, tests, PRs, or CI,
2. source evidence from standards, reports, or prior art,
3. implementation evidence from code or docs,
4. a clear hypothesis label and experiment plan.

<Warning>
  Do not claim quantified productivity gains until RStack has measured comparison runs. The current research-safe claim is that RStack creates the lifecycle and evidence structure needed to measure and improve AI-assisted delivery.
</Warning>

## Research-backed roadmap

The research program is tracked in GitHub issues:

* [#70 Decision Queue and Definition-of-Ready gate](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/issues/70)
* [#71 RStack Spec v1alpha1](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/issues/71)
* [#72 Cross-harness builder/validator review independence](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/issues/72)
* [#73 RStack attestation envelopes](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/issues/73)
* [#74 Traceability drift detection](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/issues/74)
* [#75 Untrusted contributor PR gate](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/issues/75)
* [#76 RFC / Architecture Decision Record process](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/issues/76)
* [#77 Research bibliography and methodology appendix](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/issues/77)
* [#78 Governance packs and profile-based enforcement levels](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/issues/78)

## Suggested paper measurement model

RStack should measure productivity through multiple lenses:

* delivery flow: time to plan, build, validate, and release-readiness,
* quality: builder/validator pass rates, retries, risks, tests run,
* governance: approvals, blocked gates, policy overrides,
* traceability: requirement-to-task-to-evidence completeness,
* cost: estimated vs actual usage when host/provider data is available,
* operator burden: number of human interventions per run.

See `research/methodology.md` for the full measurement plan.