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Engineering Stage

ES-103 — Stage Manifest

Define the formal contract for the planning and work breakdown stage.

Stage Contract Planning Evidence Next: ES-104

ES-103 Stage Manifest

Manifest purpose

This manifest is the structured contract for ES-103. It defines what the stage is, what it consumes, what it produces, what completion means, and why ES-104 can begin after the stage is complete.

Stage identity

Field Value
Stage ID ES-103
Stage Name Planning and Work Breakdown
Stage Family Definition and Planning
Stage Type Project evidence production
Estimated Effort 1–2 hours
Prerequisites ES-102 — Requirements and Constraints
Previous Stage ES-102 — Requirements and Constraints
Next Stage ES-104 — Architecture
Primary Output Planning evidence package
Evidence Family docs/planning/
Publication Status Production-ready

Stage mission

Convert reviewed requirements and constraints into a realistic, traceable, risk-aware engineering plan.

Primary engineering question

How should the required engineering work be decomposed, sequenced, assigned, estimated, and risk-managed?

Inputs

Input Required Source
Requirements overview Yes docs/requirements/requirements_overview.md
Functional requirements Yes docs/requirements/functional_requirements.md
Nonfunctional requirements Yes docs/requirements/nonfunctional_requirements.md
Constraints Yes docs/requirements/constraints.md
Use cases or user stories Yes docs/requirements/use_cases_or_user_stories.md
Traceability notes Yes docs/requirements/traceability_notes.md
Requirements review Yes docs/requirements/requirements_review.md
Requirements readiness summary Yes docs/requirements/requirements_readiness_summary.md

Outputs

Output Repository Location
Planning overview docs/planning/planning_overview.md
Work breakdown structure docs/planning/work_breakdown_structure.md
Milestones docs/planning/milestones.md
Roles and responsibilities docs/planning/roles_and_responsibilities.md
Risk register docs/planning/risk_register.md
Dependency map docs/planning/dependency_map.md
Estimation record docs/planning/estimation_record.md
Planning review docs/planning/planning_review.md
Planning readiness summary docs/planning/planning_readiness_summary.md

Required evidence

ES-103 requires requirements-to-plan evidence, work decomposition evidence, milestone evidence, ownership evidence, risk evidence, dependency evidence, estimation evidence, review evidence, AI verification evidence when applicable, and transition evidence.

Activities

ES-103 activities create the planning overview, work breakdown structure, milestones, roles and responsibilities, risk register, dependency map, estimation record, planning review, and planning readiness summary.

Completion criteria

ES-103 is complete when all required planning artifacts exist, work packages are traceable, responsibilities are assigned, risks are visible, dependencies are mapped, estimates are recorded with uncertainty, planning review is complete, AI involvement has been verified when applicable, and ES-104 readiness is documented.

Success criteria

ES-103 succeeds when ES-104 can begin architecture work without guessing what work exists, what constraints matter, what risks are known, who owns planning decisions, what dependencies shape architecture, or what evidence obligations must be supported.

Dependencies

ES-103 depends on a usable ES-102 requirements package. Weak requirements produce weak planning. If requirements are not clear enough to decompose into work, return to ES-102 before attempting to compensate with planning detail.

Risks if skipped

Skipping ES-103 may result in architecture work disconnected from requirements, unowned risks, fake schedules, hidden dependencies, missing evidence work, unmanaged AI verification, and uncontrolled downstream rework.

Maintenance notes

If ES-102 artifact names change, update this manifest and all ES-103 artifact references. If ES-104 architecture expectations change, update the ES-103 readiness summary expectations and downstream-use language. Do not introduce new UI patterns here without a platform-level architecture decision.

Lifecycle chain

ES-103 follows the platform lifecycle chain:

Question: How should engineering work be organized?
Evidence: docs/planning/
Decision: Can architecture begin responsibly?
Repository Artifact: Planning evidence package
Next Stage: ES-104
Engineering insight

The manifest is the stage contract. It should remain aligned with the activities, evidence, outputs, and readiness gate.

Continue to ES-104

Begin architecture once the ES-103 readiness gate is satisfied.

Continue to ES-104 →