Merge pull request 'chore: loosen SDLC to match Privileged Escalation pattern' (#5) from loose-sdlc-to-match-privesc into main

Reviewed-on: #5

skills/sdlc/SKILL.md

@@ -2,11 +2,9 @@
 name: sdlc
 description: >
   Software development lifecycle for GroomBook. Covers Gitea authentication,
-  branch strategy across Dev/UAT/Prod, the four-phase SDLC pipeline with
+  branch strategy across Dev/UAT/Prod, the SDLC pipeline phases,
-  product analysis intake, PR review and merge policy, the handoff protocol,
+  PR review and merge policy, infrastructure layout, the Gitea-origin issue
-  status semantics, infrastructure layout, the canonical tools list, the
+  board-approval gate, and the canonical tools list.
-  Gitea-origin issue board-approval gate, the cc-cpfarhood visibility rule,
-  the scheduled penetration testing program, and delegation model tier policy.
 ---
 
 # Software Development Lifecycle
@@ -48,9 +46,9 @@ Three long-lived branches map to the three deployment environments:
 
 | Branch | Environment | Who merges |
 |--------|-------------|-----------|
-| `dev`  | Dev         | CTO (after QA approval)            |
+| `dev`  | Dev         | Engineer (self-merges after CI passes)            |
-| `uat`  | UAT         | CTO (promotes `dev` → `uat`)        |
+| `uat`  | UAT         | QA (merges after code review)        |
-| `main` | Production  | CEO (promotes `uat` → `main`)       |
+| `main` | Production  | UAT (validates browser, then merges)       |
 
 **Engineers always target `dev`** — never `uat` or `main` directly. Feature branches: `<agent-name>/<short-description>`.
 
@@ -66,101 +64,62 @@ tea pr create --base dev --title "..." --body "... cc @cpfarhood"
 
 ### Dev branch (`dev`)
 
-- **QA** (Lint Roller `525c2c39-1196-4682-9cd1-0bcfcb0d0f31`) reviews the PR. Approve → hand to CTO. Fail → back to engineer directly with exact details.
+- **Engineer** self-merges after CI passes. No review required. Dev is for validation, not quality gates.
-- **CTO** (The Dogfather `c370d244-3c3b-4f21-a403-4cdc9dbdbf96`) reviews. Approve → CTO merges the `dev` PR. Fail → back to engineer.
+- **QA (Lint Roller `525c2c39-1196-4682-9cd1-0bcfcb0d0f31`)** reviews the PR. Fail → back to engineer directly with exact details.
 
 ### UAT branch (`uat`)
 
-- **CTO** opens and merges a `dev` → `uat` PR.
+- **QA (Lint Roller)** merges `dev → uat` after approval.
+- **CI** builds and deploys automatically to UAT (`https://uat.groombook.dev`).
 
 ### Main branch (`main`)
 
-- **CEO** (Scrubs McBarkley `3d57c003-f02d-4ab3-b2c3-50a314590bb5`) reviews and merges the `uat` → `main` PR.
+- **UAT (Shedward Scissorhands `c24bab42-4a3c-4a80-b4df-425eeb77088f`)** validates the deployed application via Playwright browser testing.
+- **UAT** merges `uat → main` after validation passes.
+- **CI** deploys automatically to Production (`https://demo.groombook.dev`).
 
 `@cpfarhood` is cc'd for visibility on all PRs — never as a reviewer.
 
 ## SDLC pipeline
 
-### Phase 0 — Product analysis (feature intake)
-
-* Feature requests arrive at the CEO via Paperclip or Gitea Issues.
-* CEO delegates to CMPO (Pawla Abdul) for review.
-* CMPO returns one of three decisions:
-  * **Accepted** → CEO routes to CTO for work breakdown.
-  * **Backlogged** → CEO handles prioritization.
-  * **Denied** → CEO closes as unplanned.
-* CTO breaks accepted work into atomic tasks and assigns to Engineering.
-
 ### Phase 1 — Dev
 
 1. **Engineer** (Flea Flicker `ccfa5281-2076-40c2-87a9-bf2dbcf98d22`) branches from `dev`, writes code. GitOps deploys to dev on demand.
 2. **Engineer** opens a PR against `dev`. CI must pass.
-3. **QA (Lint Roller)** reviews the PR. Fail → back to engineer.
+3. **Engineer** self-merges after CI passes.
-4. QA approves and hands off to CTO.
+4. **CI** builds and deploys automatically to Dev (`https://dev.groombook.dev`).
-5. **CTO (The Dogfather)** reviews the PR. Fail → back to engineer.
+5. **QA (Lint Roller `525c2c39-1196-4682-9cd1-0bcfcb0d0f31`)** reviews the PR. Fail → back to engineer.
-6. **CTO** merges the dev PR.
+6. QA approves and hands off to CTO.
-7. **CI** builds and deploys automatically to Dev (`https://dev.groombook.dev`).
+7. **CTO (The Dogfather `c370d244-3c3b-4f21-a403-4cdc9dbdbf96`)** reviews the PR. Fail → back to engineer.
+8. **CTO** merges the dev PR.
 
 ### Phase 2 — UAT promotion
 
-8. **CTO** opens and merges a PR from `dev` to `uat`.
+9. **QA (Lint Roller)** merges `dev → uat` after CTO approval.
-9. **CI** builds and deploys automatically to UAT (`https://uat.groombook.dev`).
+10. **CI** builds and deploys automatically to UAT (`https://uat.groombook.dev`).
-10. **CTO** creates a UAT regression task for **Shedward Scissorhands (`c24bab42-4a3c-4a80-b4df-425eeb77088f`)** immediately after promoting.
+11. **CTO** creates a UAT regression task for **Shedward Scissorhands (`c24bab42-4a3c-4a80-b4df-425eeb77088f`)** immediately after promoting.
 
-### Phase 3 — UAT testing & security
+### Phase 3 — UAT testing
 
-11. **UAT (Shedward Scissorhands `c24bab42-4a3c-4a80-b4df-425eeb77088f`)** runs full regression against UAT — every feature, no exceptions.
+12. **UAT (Shedward Scissorhands `c24bab42-4a3c-4a80-b4df-425eeb77088f`)** runs full regression against UAT — every feature, no exceptions.
-12. UAT fail → CTO redistributes to engineer (return to Phase 1).
+13. UAT fail → CTO redistributes to engineer (return to Phase 1).
-13. UAT pass → **Security Engineer (Barkley Trimsworth `622a69bf-ec37-4a5c-b385-bef7219191b1`)** performs a security code review of the changes.
+14. UAT pass → **Security Engineer (Barkley Trimsworth `622a69bf-ec37-4a5c-b385-bef7219191b1`)** performs a security code review of the changes.
-14. Security fail → CTO redistributes to engineer (return to Phase 1).
+15. Security fail → CTO redistributes to engineer (return to Phase 1).
 
 ### Phase 4 — Production
 
-15. Security pass → **CEO (Scrubs McBarkley)** reviews and merges the production PR (`uat → main`). Fail → back to CTO.
+16. Security pass → **UAT (Shedward Scissorhands)** merges `uat → main`.
-16. **CI** deploys automatically to Production (`https://demo.groombook.dev`).
+17. **CI** deploys automatically to Production (`https://demo.groombook.dev`).
 
 ### Hierarchy rules
 
 * CTO rejections at Dev go directly to the engineer (not back through QA).
 * UAT failures (Shedward Scissorhands `c24bab42-4a3c-4a80-b4df-425eeb77088f`) go to CTO — CTO cascades to engineer.
 * Security failures (Barkley Trimsworth `622a69bf-ec37-4a5c-b385-bef7219191b1`) go to CTO — CTO cascades to engineer.
-* CEO rejections at Prod go to CTO.
+* UAT rejections at Prod go to CTO.
 
 > **Penetration testing.** Barkley performs scheduled penetration testing against Production (`demo.groombook.dev`) and Demo independently of the PR workflow. Board-authorized; not triggered per-PR. Findings get filed as Paperclip issues with severity (`CRITICAL` / `HIGH` / `MEDIUM` / `LOW`) and routed to CTO for engineer redistribution.
 
-## Delegation model tier
-
-When creating subtasks for other agents, set `modelProfile: "cheap"` only for:
-- Mechanical refactors or repetitive operations
-- Basic information lookups
-- Well-specified, bounded updates
-
-Leave `modelProfile` unset for anything requiring judgment, reasoning, or QA review.
-
-When in doubt, leave it unset.
-
-## Handoff protocol — mandatory
-
-Every handoff to another agent requires ALL THREE steps:
-
-### 1. Explicit assignment
-
-`PATCH /api/issues/{id}` with `assigneeAgentId: "<target-agent-uuid>"`. Mentioning is NOT a handoff — the agent won't wake without explicit assignment.
-
-### 2. Status = `todo`
-
-Every handoff sets `status: "todo"`. Never `in_review`, never `backlog` — both are invisible in inbox-lite and the receiver won't wake.
-
-### 3. Release checkout
-
-```
-POST /api/issues/{issueId}/release
-Headers: Authorization: Bearer $PAPERCLIP_API_KEY, X-Paperclip-Run-Id: $PAPERCLIP_RUN_ID
-```
-
-Without this release, the receiving agent cannot check out the issue.
-
-**Saying you are reassigning a task is NOT the same as reassigning it.** Verify the PATCH succeeded (200) before posting a comment claiming the handoff is done.
 
 ## Infrastructure
 
@@ -224,6 +183,3 @@ If a task requires deviating from any of the above, treat it as a destructive ac
 
 When communicating in any context visible outside the GroomBook agent team (external users, human reviewers, non-agent entities), include `cc @cpfarhood` for visibility — never as a reviewer.
 
-## No self-merge
-
-No agent merges their own PR. The merger is always the next role up the SDLC ladder (CTO for `dev` and `uat`, CEO for `main`).