---
title: "RStack SDLC"
description: "A governed AI software-delivery harness for coding agents — contracts and state on any harness, full runtime enforcement on Pi and Operator."
---

## What is RStack?

**RStack SDLC** is a portable AI-SDLC framework developed by Richardson Gunde. It gives AI coding agents a repeatable, governed software delivery lifecycle instead of ad-hoc prompting.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="bolt" href="/quickstart">
    Get RStack running in under 5 minutes.
  </Card>
  <Card title="System Architecture" icon="sitemap" href="/architecture">
    Deep-dive into the 7-layer governed runtime and execution pipeline.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Core Concepts" icon="cube" href="/concepts/overview">
    Understand the Orchestrator → Builder → Validator model.
  </Card>
  <Card title="SDLC Pipeline" icon="arrow-right-arrow-left" href="/sdlc-pipeline/overview">
    Explore all 15 pipeline agents from environment to cost estimation.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Install your framework" icon="plug" href="/getting-started/install-your-framework">
    Set up Pi, Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, or Operator — then add RStack.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Business Hub" icon="chart-line" href="/business-hub/overview-and-navigation">
    Live multi-project dashboard, Business Flex, Studio 3D, approvals, and webhooks on :3008.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Business Flex profiles" icon="sliders" href="/getting-started/business-flex-profiles">
    Install one npm package, then activate only the business teams and plugins you need.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## The RStack lifecycle

```
clarify → plan → spec → approve → build → validate → release-readiness → learn
```

RStack enforces this lifecycle so AI agents behave like a productive software team — not a single chatbot.

## What's included

| Layer | Contents |
|---|---|
| `agents/core/` | Orchestrator, builder, and validator team contracts |
| `agents/sdlc/` | 15 full-lifecycle pipeline agents (stages 00–14) |
| `agents/specialists/` | Backend, frontend, devops, QA, security, data, docs specialists |
| `skills/` | 68 reusable workflow instructions |
| `prompts/` | 36 prompt templates and command-style workflows |
| `plugins/` | 72 domain packs with manifests, agents, skills, and commands |
| `extensions/` | Native Pi runtime adapter (15 SDLC tools) |
| `.rstack/runs/` | Generated run state — specs, approvals, traceability, evidence, metrics |

## Why RStack?

One-shot coding agents often fail because they skip process. They code before requirements are clear, over-edit unrelated files, pass work without testing, or forget previous mistakes.

RStack fixes this by making the agent follow an explicit lifecycle with contracts and validation at every stage.

<Note>
  Full runtime enforcement runs on **Pi** and **Operator** (live tool-call gating). Claude Code enforcement lands via the `rstack-agents guard` PreToolUse hook ([#227](https://github.com/richard-devbot/SDLC-rstack/issues/227)). Every other harness — Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, custom — gets the governed contracts, state, and Business Hub, plus a guided recipe to wire the guard into its own hook system.
</Note>