AI-DLC Rules / Inception Rules

Units Generation - Detailed Steps

Work-unit creation rules

Units Generation - Detailed Steps

Overview

This stage decomposes the system into manageable units of work through two integrated parts:

  • Part 1 - Planning: Create decomposition plan with questions, collect answers, analyze for ambiguities, get approval
  • Part 2 - Generation: Execute approved plan to generate unit artifacts

DEFINITION: A unit of work is a logical grouping of stories for development purposes. For microservices, each unit becomes an independently deployable service. For monoliths, the single unit represents the entire application with logical modules.

Terminology: Use "Service" for independently deployable components, "Module" for logical groupings within a service, "Unit of Work" for planning context.

Prerequisites

  • Context Assessment must be complete
  • Requirements Assessment recommended (provides functional scope)
  • Story Development recommended (stories map to units)
  • Application Design phase REQUIRED (determines components, methods, and services)
  • Execution plan must indicate Design phase should execute

PART 1: PLANNING

Step 1: Create Unit of Work Plan

  • Generate plan with checkboxes [] for decomposing system into units of work
  • Focus on breaking down the system into manageable development units
  • Each step and sub-step should have a checkbox []

Step 2: Include Mandatory Unit Artifacts in Plan

ALWAYS include these mandatory artifacts in the unit plan:

  • Generate aidlc-docs/inception/application-design/unit-of-work.md with unit definitions and responsibilities
  • Generate aidlc-docs/inception/application-design/unit-of-work-dependency.md with dependency matrix
  • Generate aidlc-docs/inception/application-design/unit-of-work-story-map.md mapping stories to units
  • Greenfield only: Document code organization strategy in unit-of-work.md (see code-generation.md for structure patterns)
  • Validate unit boundaries and dependencies
  • Ensure all stories are assigned to units

Step 3: Generate Context-Appropriate Questions

DIRECTIVE: Analyze the requirements, stories, and application design to generate ONLY questions relevant to THIS specific decomposition problem. Use the categories below as inspiration, NOT as a mandatory checklist. Skip entire categories if not applicable.

  • EMBED questions using [Answer]: tag format
  • Focus on ambiguities and missing information specific to this context
  • Generate questions only where user input is needed for decision-making

Example question categories (adapt as needed):

  • Story Grouping - Only if multiple stories exist and grouping strategy is unclear
  • Dependencies - Only if multiple units likely and integration approach is ambiguous
  • Team Alignment - Only if team structure or ownership is unclear
  • Technical Considerations - Only if scalability/deployment requirements differ across units
  • Business Domain - Only if domain boundaries or bounded contexts are unclear
  • Code Organization (Greenfield multi-unit only) - Ask deployment model and directory structure preferences

Step 4: Store UOW Plan

  • Save as aidlc-docs/inception/plans/unit-of-work-plan.md
  • Include all [Answer]: tags for user input
  • Ensure plan covers all aspects of system decomposition

Step 5: Request User Input

  • Ask user to fill [Answer]: tags directly in the plan document
  • Emphasize importance of decomposition decisions
  • Provide clear instructions on completing the [Answer]: tags

Step 6: Collect Answers

  • Wait for user to provide answers to all questions using [Answer]: tags in the document
  • Do not proceed until ALL [Answer]: tags are completed
  • Review the document to ensure no [Answer]: tags are left blank

Step 7: ANALYZE ANSWERS (MANDATORY)

Before proceeding, you MUST carefully review all user answers for:

  • Vague or ambiguous responses: "mix of", "somewhere between", "not sure", "depends"
  • Undefined criteria or terms: References to concepts without clear definitions
  • Contradictory answers: Responses that conflict with each other
  • Missing generation details: Answers that lack specific guidance
  • Answers that combine options: Responses that merge different approaches without clear decision rules

Step 8: MANDATORY Follow-up Questions

If the analysis in step 7 reveals ANY ambiguous answers, you MUST:

  • Add specific follow-up questions to the plan document using [Answer]: tags
  • DO NOT proceed to approval until all ambiguities are resolved
  • Examples of required follow-ups:
    • "You mentioned 'mix of A and B' - what specific criteria should determine when to use A vs B?"
    • "You said 'somewhere between A and B' - can you define the exact middle ground approach?"
    • "You indicated 'not sure' - what additional information would help you decide?"
    • "You mentioned 'depends on complexity' - how do you define complexity levels?"

Step 9: Request Approval

  • Ask: "Unit of work plan complete. Review the plan in aidlc-docs/inception/plans/unit-of-work-plan.md. Ready to proceed to generation?"
  • DO NOT PROCEED until user confirms

Step 10: Log Approval

  • Log prompt and response in audit.md with timestamp
  • Use ISO 8601 timestamp format
  • Include complete approval prompt text

Step 11: Update Progress

  • Mark Units Planning complete in aidlc-state.md
  • Update the "Current Status" section
  • Prepare for transition to Units Generation

PART 2: GENERATION

Step 12: Load Unit of Work Plan

  • Read the complete plan from aidlc-docs/inception/plans/unit-of-work-plan.md
  • Identify the next uncompleted step (first [ ] checkbox)
  • Load the context and requirements for that step

Step 13: Execute Current Step

  • Perform exactly what the current step describes
  • Generate unit artifacts as specified in the plan
  • Follow the approved decomposition approach from Planning
  • Use the criteria and boundaries specified in the plan

Step 14: Update Progress

  • Mark the completed step as [x] in the unit of work plan
  • Update aidlc-docs/aidlc-state.md current status
  • Save all generated artifacts

Step 15: Continue or Complete

  • If more steps remain, return to Step 12
  • If all steps complete, verify units are ready for design stages
  • Mark Units Generation stage as complete

Step 16: Present Completion Message

# 🔧 Units Generation Complete

[AI-generated summary of units and decomposition created in bullet points]

> **📋 <u>**REVIEW REQUIRED:**</u>**  
> Please examine the units generation artifacts at: `aidlc-docs/inception/application-design/`

> **🚀 <u>**WHAT'S NEXT?**</u>**
>
> **You may:**
>
> 🔧 **Request Changes** - Ask for modifications to the units generation if required
> ✅ **Approve & Continue** - Approve units and proceed to **CONSTRUCTION PHASE**

Step 17: Wait for Explicit Approval

  • Do not proceed until the user explicitly approves the units generation
  • Approval must be clear and unambiguous
  • If user requests changes, update the units and repeat the approval process

Step 18: Record Approval Response

  • Log the user's approval response with timestamp in aidlc-docs/audit.md
  • Include the exact user response text
  • Mark the approval status clearly

Step 19: Update Progress

  • Mark Units Generation stage complete in aidlc-docs/aidlc-state.md
  • Update the "Current Status" section
  • Prepare for transition to CONSTRUCTION PHASE

Critical Rules

Planning Phase Rules

  • Generate ONLY context-relevant questions
  • Use [Answer]: tag format for all questions
  • Analyze all answers for ambiguities before proceeding
  • Resolve ALL ambiguities with follow-up questions
  • Get explicit user approval before generation

Generation Phase Rules

  • NO HARDCODED LOGIC: Only execute what's written in the unit of work plan
  • FOLLOW PLAN EXACTLY: Do not deviate from the step sequence
  • UPDATE CHECKBOXES: Mark [x] immediately after completing each step
  • USE APPROVED APPROACH: Follow the decomposition methodology from Planning
  • VERIFY COMPLETION: Ensure all unit artifacts are complete before proceeding

Completion Criteria

  • All planning questions answered and ambiguities resolved
  • User approval obtained for the plan
  • All steps in unit of work plan marked [x]
  • All unit artifacts generated according to plan:
    • unit-of-work.md with unit definitions
    • unit-of-work-dependency.md with dependency matrix
    • unit-of-work-story-map.md with story mappings
  • Units verified and ready for per-unit design stages