---
description: "SAFe x AI-DLC fusion for running programs: in programs that adopt it, Bolts take the place of sprints and Units of Work of Features, plus Mob Elaboration and the human-in-the-loop validation gate. Opt-in per program. Activate when planning or running multi-issue programs."
alwaysApply: false
---

# SAFe x AI-DLC (Program Cadence)

Use this rule when work spans **multiple issues and needs cadence** — turning an audit, epic, or
initiative into an executable program. For a single isolated ticket, use `.cursor/rules/01-git-workflow.mdc` instead.

SAFe supplies the hierarchy and guardrails. AI-DLC supplies the cadence and the human checkpoint.
Inside a program that adopts this fusion, the **sprint gives way to the Bolt** — an hours-to-days
swarm — because agent teams elaborate, build, and verify far faster than a week-long sprint assumes.
Adopting the fusion is a per-program choice; the standard sprint path stays valid.

## Vocabulary

- **Bolt** — the unit of cadence. A short swarm (hours to a few days) with an entry gate, a handful
  of issues, and a hard exit. Numbered `bolt:0`, `bolt:1`, and so on.
- **Unit of Work** — one coherent outcome; a project in the tracker. Mapped to the SAFe Feature here, though AWS frames it as replacing the Epic.
- **Mob Elaboration** — the Inception activity: read the issue, break it into sub-issues, list
  unknowns, and ask clarifying questions **before writing any code**.
- **Mob Construction** — the Construction activity: implement against the elaborated plan.
- **The three phases** — Inception, Construction, Operations.
- **The loop** — AI plans → AI asks → **human validates business context** → AI executes.

## The Fusion Mapping

| SAFe              | AI-DLC                                | Linear                              |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| Portfolio Epic    | The Program                           | Initiative                          |
| Epic/value stream | Program stream                        | Sub-initiative, or project priority |
| Feature           | Unit of Work                          | Project                             |
| PI increment      | Bolt                                  | `bolt:N` label + target date        |
| Phase gate        | Inception / Construction / Operations | Project Milestone (3 per project)   |
| Story/Enabler     | Story                                 | Issue                               |
| Task              | Mob task                              | Sub-issue                           |
| WSJF/Role/DoD     | prioritization / mob role / gate      | description + `agent:*` + AC/DoD    |

## Dependency-Wiring Rules

Wire `blocks` / `blockedBy` so the enforcement lands **before** the thing it enforces:

- **Fix the gate before the fix it verifies**
- **Rotate before scrub** (credentials)
- **Capture before alert** (observability)
- **Upgrades before re-baseline** (supply chain)

Chains are usually rooted at CI hardening. Find that keystone and sequence its Bolt first.

## Running a Bolt

1. Open and elaborate every issue (Mob Elaboration)
2. **Validate with the human** before Construction begins
3. Construct in dependency order, rebase-first
4. Verify the gates are **real** — a green check that masks a failure is not an exit
5. Post evidence to the tracker
6. RTE prepares the PR; the human (HITL) merges

## Human-Gate Checklist

Never guess these — surface options with a recommendation and stop:

- Secret or credential actions
- Security policy (CSP allow-list, auth behavior, headers)
- CI or branch-protection decisions
- Severity or risk policy, fix-vs-suppress budget
- SOP exceptions
- Signing the Definition of Done

## Anti-Patterns

- Forcing an ambiguous epic into one Bolt — run a **spike** instead
- Creating sub-issues before Inception
- Treating a Bolt as a calendar sprint (it exits on evidence, not a date)
- Skipping human validation to move faster

## References

- `docs/guides/SAFE-AI-DLC-METHODOLOGY.md` -- Methodology guide (rationale, worked example)
- `specs_templates/program_template.md` -- Program document scaffolding
- AI-DLC source: <https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/devops/ai-driven-development-life-cycle/>