Core Concepts

Change

A development task is a "Change" — e.g., "add user authentication" or "fix null pointer". DevCrew manages development flow per change.

PDEVI Workflow

Core problem solved: AI writes a large block of code only to discover the direction was wrong — rework cost is huge. PDEVI splits development into 5 phases with gate checks. Each phase has a clear deliverable; mistakes only roll back one step.

Each phase solves a specific problem:

Phase	Role	Problem Solved	Output
Plan	PdM	Vague requirements, unclear goals → define goals & acceptance criteria	proposal.md
Design	Architect	Coding without thinking, drifting direction → think before you build	design.md
Execute	Implementer	Large changes hard to track → incremental progress by task	impl-log.md
Verify	Tester + Reviewer	No testing, quality by luck → automated validation & review	test-report.md review-report.md
Iterate	PjM	Failure means start over → precisely roll back to the right phase	—

Three Modes

Different tasks use different flows — avoid overkill for simple tasks:

• Standard — Full PDEVI, for new features and refactoring
• Express — Skips Design, for bug fixes and urgent tasks
• Prototype — Skips Verify, for rapid prototype validation

Files as Memory

DevCrew uses the file system as persistent memory, organized in two layers:

Global files (across changes):

• INSTRUCTIONS.md — AI behavior instructions
• dev-crew.yaml — Project configuration
• dev-crew/specs/ — Shared specifications
• dev-crew/memory/ — Each agent's long-term memory

Per-change files (each agent maintains their own):

• proposal.md — PdM's requirements output
• design.md — Architect's technical design
• impl-log.md — Implementer's implementation log
• test-report.md — Tester's verification report
• review-report.md — Reviewer's audit report

Switch windows or conversations — each agent reads its own memory files to restore context.

Blocker

When AI encounters a decision it can't make autonomously, it marks it as a Blocker and waits for your input.