Skip to content
Press / to search

Software Delivery Squad

Human-supervised software agents that plan, implement, test, review, and open pull requests with traceable decision records.

Use Case PlaybookLast reviewed: Edit on GitHub
At a glance

Purpose

Turn a well-scoped engineering task into a governed delivery run. ContextOS gives software agents the same boundaries a senior engineer expects: understand the ticket, inspect the repository, propose a plan, edit only owned files, run validation, request review, and preserve a replayable trail.

Why this is agentic-first

Software delivery is an ideal agentic workflow because it is multi-step, tool-heavy, and full of feedback loops. The agent has to read requirements, search the codebase, form a plan, edit files, run tests, interpret failures, revise, and hand work to humans at the right checkpoint.

Atlassian’s HULA research describes a human-in-the-loop coding agent that reads a Jira work item, creates a plan, writes code, and raises a pull request. IBM also frames enterprise IT delivery as an agentic workflow spanning code generation, testing, and deployment.

Context Pack

LayerRequired entries
decision_layer.decision_specs[]delivery.plan.approve, delivery.patch.prepare, delivery.pr.open, delivery.deploy.request
policy_layer.policy_bundles[]Repository ownership, change-risk tiers, secure coding policy, release policy
policy_layer.approval_gates[]GATE_PLAN_REVIEW, GATE_PR_REVIEW, GATE_DEPLOY_APPROVAL
tooling_layer.adapter_registry[]adp_repo.search, adp_repo.patch, adp_ci.run, adp_pr.open, adp_issue.update, adp_release.request
memory_layer.write_classes_allowedcodebase_pattern, review_correction, decision_outcome
evaluation_layer.eval_targets[]test pass rate, lint pass rate, review rework rate, rollback rate

Agent roles

AgentResponsibilityBoundary
Requirements AgentResolves ticket scope, acceptance criteria, and non-goals.Read-only issue and docs access.
Codebase AgentFinds relevant files, owners, APIs, and local conventions.Read-only repo access.
Implementation AgentWrites the patch inside declared ownership.Cannot change protected files without gate.
Validation AgentRuns tests, type checks, lint, and static checks.Cannot merge or deploy.
Review AgentChecks risk, security, docs, and acceptance criteria.Can block PR creation.

Execution flow

  1. invokeAgent arrives with intent=delivery.implement, issue ID, repository, branch policy, and target owners.
  2. Compiler pins repository state, issue text, coding standards, ownership map, and allowed tools.
  3. Requirements Agent extracts acceptance criteria and detects ambiguity.
  4. Codebase Agent builds a focused file map and dependency map.
  5. Implementation Agent proposes a plan; GATE_PLAN_REVIEW triggers for broad or risky changes.
  6. Implementation Agent edits only the approved write set.
  7. Validation Agent runs local and remote checks, summarizes failures, and loops back to implementation when safe.
  8. Review Agent verifies acceptance criteria, security posture, and touched ownership.
  9. adp_pr.open runs only after policy acceptance and required evidence are present.
  10. ContextOS emits a DecisionRecord with decision_key="delivery.pr.open", diff summary, tests, approvals, and trace.

Decision gates

GateTriggerRequired evidence
GATE_PLAN_REVIEWCross-module work, schema migrations, auth changes, payment logic, or security-sensitive code.issue scope, file map, owners, rollback plan
GATE_PR_REVIEWPR creation against protected repository.passing checks or explicit waiver, diff summary, reviewer list
GATE_DEPLOY_APPROVALAny production deploy request.release notes, CI evidence, rollback command, owner approval

Failure modes

  • Ambiguous ticket - Requirements Agent stops the run and asks for clarification instead of guessing.
  • Ownership drift - Compiler blocks edits outside the approved write set.
  • Validation loop without progress - Orchestrator caps retries and emits a diagnosis artifact.
  • Unsafe generated code - Review Agent blocks PR creation when security or data-handling rules fail.
  • Stale branch - Tool Gateway refuses PR creation until the branch is rebased or revalidated.

Metrics

  • Plan approval rate.
  • First-pass test and typecheck pass rate.
  • Review rework rate and reviewer override rate.
  • Time from issue intake to PR.
  • Production rollback and hotfix rate for agent-authored changes.
  • Number of learned codebase patterns promoted to memory.

Research signals