Workflow Kit

The workflow kit is AgentXchain's opinionated operating model for real software delivery. It sits above the constitutional protocol layer and provides the planning, spec-driven development, QA, and release workflow that the reference runner uses to govern agent work.

What the workflow kit is

The protocol defines how agents take turns and pass gates. The workflow kit defines what those gates actually check and what artifacts agents produce.

The workflow kit includes:

• Phase templates — pre-built artifact scaffolds for planning, implementation, QA, architecture review, and security review
• Workflow artifacts — the governed documents that agents produce and gates evaluate (PM_SIGNOFF.md, SYSTEM_SPEC.md, IMPLEMENTATION_NOTES.md, acceptance-matrix.md, ship-verdict.md, RELEASE_NOTES.md)
• Semantic validators — content-aware validators that check artifact quality, not just existence (e.g., PM signoff must declare Approved: YES, system spec must have real content in ## Interface and ## Acceptance Tests)
• Gate artifact coverage — the mapping between routing-bound gates and the workflow artifacts they consume

What the workflow kit is not

The workflow kit is not protocol conformance. A non-reference runner can implement protocol v7 without using the workflow kit at all. The workflow kit is the reference runner's opinion on how governed delivery should happen — it is separable from the protocol.

Phase templates

Template	Description	Artifacts
planning-default	Core planning proof surface	PM_SIGNOFF.md, SYSTEM_SPEC.md, ROADMAP.md
implementation-default	Implementation proof surface	IMPLEMENTATION_NOTES.md
qa-default	QA and ship-verdict proof surface	acceptance-matrix.md, ship-verdict.md, RELEASE_NOTES.md
architecture-review	Structured architecture review	ARCHITECTURE.md (Context, Proposed Design, Trade-offs, Risks)
security-review	Structured security review	SECURITY_REVIEW.md (Threat Model, Findings, Verdict)

Semantic validators

Each workflow artifact can be bound to a semantic validator that checks content quality:

Validator	What it checks
pm_signoff	Approved: YES is declared
system_spec	## Interface and ## Acceptance Tests have real content (not placeholders)
implementation_notes	## Changes section exists with real content
acceptance_matrix	At least one acceptance criterion has a PASS status
ship_verdict	Verdict is one of YES, SHIP, or SHIP IT
release_notes	Has real content (not empty or placeholder-only)
section_check	Configurable required sections are present (used by architecture and security reviews)

Inspecting the workflow kit

Use the CLI to inspect the workflow kit contract for any governed project:

# Human-readable summary
agentxchain workflow-kit describe

# Machine-readable JSON
agentxchain workflow-kit describe --json

The --json output includes:

• workflow_kit_version — current contract version
• source — whether the kit is default, explicit (user-configured), or mixed
• phase_templates — available and in-use templates
• phases — per-phase template, source, and artifact details with existence status
• semantic_validators — the full list of content-aware validators
• gate_artifact_coverage — which gates reference which artifacts, plus the linked phases derived from routing.<phase>.exit_gate (and any explicit gate phase annotation)

Customizing the workflow kit

The workflow kit is configured through workflow_kit in agentxchain.json:

{
  "workflow_kit": {
    "phases": {
      "planning": {
        "template": "planning-default",
        "artifacts": [
          { "path": ".planning/CUSTOM_REVIEW.md", "required": true, "semantics": "section_check",
            "semantics_config": { "required_sections": ["## Summary", "## Decision"] } }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Explicit artifacts merge with template artifacts. You can add project-specific artifacts to any phase without losing the template defaults.

Protocol boundary

The workflow kit is a reference runner feature, not a protocol v7 conformance requirement. The boundary:

Surface	Layer
Run state, turn contracts, role definitions	Protocol (constitutional)
Gates, validation rules, decision ledger	Protocol (constitutional)
Phase templates, workflow artifacts	Workflow kit (operating model)
Semantic validators, artifact content checks	Workflow kit (operating model)
workflow-kit describe CLI command	Reference runner only

Non-reference runners can implement their own operating models on top of the same protocol. The workflow kit is one such model — the one AgentXchain ships and recommends.