GAIA Lifecycle -- Activity Diagram
This diagram shows the full end-to-end command flow across all five GAIA lifecycle phases. Every box is a clickable link to that command's documentation page. Gates are highlighted in orange. Optional steps have dashed borders.
Required step
Optional step
Quality gate
A
Agent badge
1Analysis
Elena (Analyst)
/gaia-brainstorm
Brainstorm a project idea
Elena
Open docs
▾
/gaia-market-research
Competitive and market analysis
Elena
Open docs
▾
/gaia-domain-research
Industry and regulatory research
Elena
Open docs
▾
/gaia-tech-research
Technology evaluation
Elena
Open docs
▾
/gaia-advanced-elicitation
Deep requirements elicitation
Elena
Open docs
▾
/gaia-product-brief
Create product brief
Elena
Open docs
2Planning
Derek (PM) + Christy (UX)
/gaia-create-prd
Create Product Requirements Document
Derek
Open docs
▾
/gaia-adversarial
Cynical review of PRD
REQUIRED GATE
Open docs
▾
/gaia-val-validate
Validate PRD quality
Val
GATE
Open docs
PASS / FAIL?
FAIL: /gaia-edit-prd
PASS
▾
/gaia-edit-prd
Edit PRD, re-validate
Derek
Open docs
▾
/gaia-create-ux
UX patterns and design specs
Christy
Open docs
▾
/gaia-validate-design-a11y
Planning-phase a11y design review
Christy
Open docs
3Solutioning
Theo + Zara + Soren + Derek + Sable
/gaia-create-arch
Design system architecture
Theo
Open docs
▾
/gaia-review-api
REST API standards check
Open docs
▾
/gaia-adversarial
Architecture review
REQUIRED GATE
Open docs
▾
/gaia-edit-arch
Edit architecture document
Theo
Open docs
▾
/gaia-test-strategy
Create test plan and framework
Sable
REQUIRED GATE
Open docs
▾
/gaia-create-epics
Break requirements into epics and stories
Derek
REQUIRED GATE
Open docs
▾
/gaia-atdd
Acceptance tests for high-risk stories. Per-story mode runs here; argumentless batch mode needs materialized story files, so run it in Phase 4 (Story Prep) after /gaia-create-story.
Sable
Open docs
/gaia-threat-model
STRIDE/DREAD threat analysis
Zara
Open docs
/gaia-infra-design
Infrastructure and IaC design
Soren
Open docs
▾
/gaia-trace
Traceability matrix
Sable
GATE
Open docs
/gaia-ci-setup
CI pipeline configuration
Sable
GATE
Open docs
▾
/gaia-readiness-check
Validate all artifacts, check readiness
Theo
REQUIRED GATE -- must PASS
Open docs
4Implementation
Nate (SM) + Dev Agents + Val + Zara + Sable
BACKLOG
READY
IN-PROGRESS
REVIEW
DONE
Story Prep
/gaia-create-story
Elaborate story from epics-and-stories.md
Nate
Open docs
▾
/gaia-validate-story
Validate story completeness
Val
GATE
Open docs
PASS / FAIL?
FAIL: /gaia-fix-story
PASS: ready-for-dev
/gaia-fix-story
Fix story issues, re-validate
Nate
Open docs
Sprint Planning
/gaia-sprint-plan
Select stories, set velocity, commit sprint
Nate
Open docs
▾
Development (TDD)
/gaia-dev-story
Implement story: Red, Green, Refactor
Dev Agent
Open docs
▾
/gaia-check-dod
Check Definition of Done
Nate
GATE
Open docs
▾
6-Gate Review
/gaia-review-all runs all six sequentially. All must PASS for the story to reach DONE.
1. Code Review
/gaia-review-code
Dev Agent
2. QA Tests
/gaia-review-qa
Vera (QA)
3. Security Review
/gaia-review-security
Zara (Security)
4. Test Automation
/gaia-test-automate
Sable (Test Architect)
5. Test Review
/gaia-review-test
Sable (Test Architect)
6. Performance
/gaia-review-perf
Juno (Performance)
ALL 6 PASS + DoD verified = DONE | ANY FAIL = back to IN-PROGRESS
▾
/gaia-check-review-gate
Check composite gate, transition story to done
Nate
GATE
Open docs
Sprint Operations
/gaia-sprint-status
Sprint progress dashboard
Nate
Open docs
/gaia-epic-status
Epic completion dashboard
Nate
Open docs
/gaia-correct-course
Mid-sprint scope changes
Nate
Open docs
/gaia-add-stories
Add stories to existing epics
Derek
Open docs
Sprint Closure
/gaia-triage-findings
Scan the active sprint, triage findings into backlog, then classify and prioritize tech debt (absorbed tech-debt-review). Required before sprint close.
Nate
Open docs
▾
/gaia-retro
Post-sprint retrospective
Nate
Open docs
▾
/gaia-action-items
Process action items from retro and triage
Open docs
More sprints? Loop to Story Prep
5Deployment
Soren (DevOps)
Tutorial: Automated Versioning & Deploy
/gaia-release-plan Staged rollout strategy Soren Open docs▾
/gaia-rollback-plan
Rollback criteria and procedures
Soren
Open docs
▾
/gaia-deploy-checklist
Pre-deployment verification
Soren
REQUIRED GATE
Open docs
Go / No-Go?
No-Go: fix, re-check
Go
▾
/gaia-deploy
Deploy to environment
Soren
Open docs
▾
/gaia-deploy-post
Health and metric validation
Soren
GATE
Open docs
Health checks pass?
FAIL: rollback
PASS: done
Alternate Entry Paths
Brownfield Onboarding
Onboard an existing codebase to GAIA. Runs deep discovery, multi-scan gap
analysis, and NFR assessment, then produces a gap-focused PRD. Feeds into
Phase 3 (Solutioning) at
/gaia-create-arch.
Discovery (Pre-Backlog)
A pre-backlog staging area for raw ideas. Items flow through capture,
research, and evaluation before graduating into
/gaia-add-feature. Graduate is the only downstream edge.
Discovery synthesis is internal-only -- never paste secrets into
capture.
Add Feature (Mid-Lifecycle)
Triage and route a fix, enhancement, or feature through only the affected
artifacts. Cascades through PRD, architecture, test plan, epics, traceability,
and readiness as needed.
Anytime Commands
These commands can be run at any point in the lifecycle. They are not tied to a specific phase.
Configuration
Testing
- /gaia-test-strategy
- /gaia-edit-test-plan
- /gaia-test-automate
- /gaia-review-test
- /gaia-test-gap-analysis
- /gaia-fill-test-gaps
- /gaia-nfr
- /gaia-test-run
- /gaia-test-a11y
- /gaia-test-e2e
- /gaia-test-perf
- /gaia-test-dast
- /gaia-test-mobile-e2e
- /gaia-test-device-matrix
- /gaia-mobile-testing
- /gaia-perf-testing
- /gaia-teach-testing
Validation and Memory
Status and Monitoring
Documentation
Gates Summary
Gates are quality checkpoints that must pass before the workflow proceeds. A failed gate loops back to the producing command for remediation.
| Gate | Command | What It Checks | On Failure |
|---|---|---|---|
| PRD Adversarial | /gaia-adversarial | Critical/high findings in PRD must be addressed | Incorporate findings into prd.md, re-run |
| PRD Validation | /gaia-val-validate | PRD quality and completeness | Run /gaia-edit-prd, re-validate |
| Arch Adversarial | /gaia-adversarial | Architecture "Review Findings" section present | Incorporate findings into architecture.md |
| Test Plan | /gaia-test-strategy | test-plan.md must exist before epics | Run /gaia-test-strategy to create plan |
| Traceability | /gaia-trace | traceability-matrix.md exists and maps all requirements | Run /gaia-trace to generate matrix |
| CI Setup | /gaia-ci-setup | ci-setup.md must exist | Run /gaia-ci-setup to scaffold CI pipeline |
| Readiness | /gaia-readiness-check | All planning artifacts complete, no blocking contradictions | Resolve contradictions, fill missing artifacts |
| Story Validation | /gaia-validate-story | Story completeness and factual accuracy | Run /gaia-fix-story, re-validate |
| Definition of Done | /gaia-check-dod | All DoD checklist items checked | Address unchecked items, re-run |
| 6-Gate Review | /gaia-review-all | Code, QA, Security, Test Auto, Test Review, Performance all PASS | Fix issues, run /gaia-dev-story to address, re-review |
| Review Gate | /gaia-check-review-gate | Composite gate: all 6 reviews passed | Return to IN-PROGRESS, fix remaining failures |
| Deploy Checklist | /gaia-deploy-checklist | Pre-deployment verification passes | Fix blockers, re-check |
| Post-Deploy | /gaia-deploy-post | Health checks and metrics within thresholds | Execute rollback plan |