software-engineer

A GOAL-STATE-DESIGN workflow is a structured software engineering methodology that enforces disciplined planning, design, and execution across discovery, roadmapping, state validation, and delivery to align teams around verifiable project states.

To structure a software project plan, draft a spec.md file defining functional inputs and outputs, map the GOAL, STATE, and DESIGN phases for your tasks, then record deliverables in the repository to ensure deterministic work.

The best way to split complex delivery into atomic tasks is by using a structured planning workflow that mandates frontmatter-driven discovery and a spec.md contract to define verifiable states before execution.

Yes, mandatory linting and testing steps are required for software architecture planning to ensure compliance, quality assurance, and verifiable states throughout the project lifecycle from discovery to delivery.

Yes, you can use optional resources directories including scripts, references, and assets to support deterministic work and maintain organized project specifications alongside your spec.md contract.

You should avoid a structured specification workflow for rapid prototyping or exploratory coding where strict frontmatter-driven discovery and a spec.md contract would create unnecessary overhead and slow down initial development iterations.