Systems where intent survives the handoff.
A method for building and operating software that humans and agents run together.
Software work fails at the seams.
Strategic intent decays every time work is handed off. That accumulated loss is decision debt: the gap between what an organization meant to build and what it can still account for having built.
The method addresses the seams directly, by naming the functions that act on intent and making the quality bar checkable at the moment work is created.
The functions that act on intent
The functions are constant. What varies is the altitude at which a given function is scoped. They are functions, not headcount — in a small organization one person may hold three of them.
Defines what must become true and why, and the constraints that bound it. Owns the North Star and the definition of the work.
Read the function →Turns intent into structureOrchestratorSequencing, dependencies, and assignment of performers. Agents are first-class performers here, not tools.
Read the function →Holds coherence during executionConductorReal-time judgment when reality diverges from the plan. Detects drift and reanchors the work to intent.
Read the function →Owns valueProducerDecides whether the work earns its keep: what gets funded, and what gets made.
Read the function →Carries the work to its audiencePromoterOwns whether the work is known, understood, and taken up by the people it was made for.
Read the overview →The same functions, at every altitude
Altitude is a property of the work, not of the role. Because the primitives are self-similar, altitude is recursion rather than a special case — only the unit of work changes.
| Altitude | Unit of work | The question at this altitude |
|---|---|---|
| Beat or track | A discrete piece of work | Is this capability distinct, coherent, and aimed at the Coda? |
| System | A system | Does this system earn its keep, evaluated exactly as a Beat would be? |
| Portfolio | The set of systems | Which capabilities exist, where do they overlap, and does the set advance strategic intent? |
Test for correct abstraction: each function’s definition must be writable without naming a specific altitude.
Everything needed to practise it
The method is published in full: its primitives, its quality model, and the structures the work is arranged against.
What the method is
The problem it addresses, why "method" rather than "framework", and how the functions fit together.
Read the overview →Key concepts
Note, Coda, Beat, Beat Version, and Revision — the self-similar objects every function acts on.
Explore the concepts →Quality gates
The quality dimensions and gates that make intent checkable rather than merely stated.
Review the model →Getting started
A practical pathway for applying the method to a new system or phase of work.
Begin here →Start with the destination.
Read the method in full, and see how a Coda, its Beats, and the Notes behind them keep intent intact across the life of a system.