Version: 1.0.0
Purpose
The Source of Truth is the authoritative record of the project's current state.
Its purpose is to consolidate the essential information required to understand the product without requiring readers to search across multiple governance artifacts.
The Source of Truth should answer the question:
"If a new engineer joined the project today, what single document would give them the most accurate understanding of the product?"
While detailed information belongs within its respective governance artifacts, the Source of Truth provides a concise executive-level summary and references those artifacts when additional detail is required.
The Source of Truth is considered the authoritative reference for all future work.
When This Artifact Is Created
The Source of Truth is created during the Governance phase after Discovery has been approved.
It is continuously updated throughout the life of the project.
Dependencies
Requires:
- Discovery Summary
- Decision Log
- Product Vocabulary
Referenced By:
- Every governance artifact
- Architecture
- Planning
- Implementation
- Validation
- Evolution
AI Generation Instructions
The Source of Truth should provide a complete but concise summary of the project.
Avoid unnecessary detail.
Summarize rather than duplicate information contained within other governance artifacts.
When appropriate, reference supporting artifacts instead of repeating their contents.
The Source of Truth should always represent the current approved state of the project.
Whenever another governance artifact changes, determine whether the Source of Truth must also be updated.
Required Sections
Executive Summary
A concise overview of the product and its purpose.
Business Problem
What problem is being solved?
Why does it matter?
Product Vision
What is the long-term vision?
Success Criteria
How will success be measured?
Target Users
Primary users.
Secondary users.
Administrators.
Stakeholders.
Core Capabilities
Summarize the major capabilities of the product.
Business Rules
Summarize the most important business rules.
Reference the Product Requirements where appropriate.
Architecture Summary
Summarize the approved architecture.
Reference the Architecture artifact for detailed information.
Current Project Status
Current AOD Phase.
Approved milestone.
Current release.
Known risks.
Outstanding decisions.
Governance Artifacts
Reference each governance artifact together with its current approval status.
Decision Summary
Summarize the most significant project decisions.
Reference the Decision Log for complete history.
Known Constraints
Business constraints.
Technical constraints.
Regulatory constraints.
Operational constraints.
Future Considerations
Known future enhancements.
Deferred capabilities.
Long-term opportunities.
Validation Criteria
The Source of Truth is complete when:
It accurately represents the current project.
It remains consistent with every governance artifact.
No conflicting information exists.
Project status is current.
References are accurate.
The human confirms its accuracy.
Maintenance
The AI should evaluate the Source of Truth whenever:
Discovery changes.
Governance changes.
Architecture changes.
Planning changes.
Implementation changes.
Validation identifies inconsistencies.
Evolution introduces new functionality.
If any governance artifact changes, determine whether the Source of Truth requires updating before proceeding.
The Source of Truth should always be treated as the definitive reference for the current state of the project.