Five steps. No skipping.

Every feature advances through the same five steps in order. A step only advances when its required artifacts exist — and the hooks block any file write that doesn't belong to the current step.

  1. plan brief · plan · spec
  2. code implementation
  3. tests unit · int · accept
  4. validate gates + suite
  5. docs generated HTML

Describe a project. Get a roadmap. Ship it feature by feature.

Centinela's greenfield flow scaffolds an entire project: it interviews you, generates a phased roadmap of features, then walks each feature through the enforced five-step loop.

Describe your project

Tell the agent what you want to build. Centinela writes PROJECT.md — your archetype, stack, and rules.

"A task-tracker API with auth, projects, and a billing layer."

Centinela generates a roadmap

ROADMAP.md + .workflow/roadmap.json — phases, each holding feature chips.

Advance each feature through the loop

Pick a feature chip and run it through plan → code → tests → validate → docs. Every chip gets the same enforced treatment before it merges to main.

▶ projects-crud  ✓ plan · ▶ code · ○ tests · ○ validate · ○ docs
↳ runs in its own git worktree · merges back when all gates pass

Enforcement is mechanical, not advisory.

Try to write source code during the plan step and the prewrite hook stops you cold — with a reason and the exact artifacts you owe first.

No human has to remember the rule. The hook runs on every write, for every agent, automatically.

A 30-second tour.

From centinela init to a validated, merged feature — recorded straight from the CLI.

Animated terminal recording of a Centinela session: init, start a feature, advance through plan, code, tests, validate, and docs.

Recorded with vhs · the hero renders instantly; this GIF loads lazily, below the fold.