HVE → SKRAFT: continuity and rupture

SKRAFT does not replace HVE — it extends it. Where HVE instruments the conversation between a human and an AI, SKRAFT structures the entire lifecycle of a User Story, from discovery to delivery.

Why the transition?

HVE (Hypervelocity Engineering) provides an RPI (Research → Plan → Implement) workflow that works well for solo developers working with an AI assistant. This workflow assumes quality review remains human and manual.

SKRAFT takes over when you want to:

automate adversarial review before a human intervenes,
trace every decision (artifacts, state.json, verdicts),
scale across a team or a full backlog.

The SKRAFT pipeline in 5 phases

graph LR
    D[DISCOVER] -->|triage report| DI[DISCUSS]
    DI -->|INVEST story| DE[DESIGN]
    DE -->|ADR + event model| DIS[DISTILL]
    DIS -->|Gherkin scenarios| DEL[DELIVER]
    DEL -->|code + evidence| PR[Pull Request]
    style D fill:#1a3a2a,stroke:#4ed58a
    style DI fill:#1a3a2a,stroke:#4ed58a
    style DE fill:#1a3a2a,stroke:#4ed58a
    style DIS fill:#1a3a2a,stroke:#4ed58a
    style DEL fill:#1a3a2a,stroke:#4ed58a
    style PR fill:#102016,stroke:#6f8478

Phase	Executor agent	Independent reviewer	Gates crossed
DISCOVER	`backlog-discoverer`	`backlog-discoverer-reviewer`	G1–G6
DISCUSS	`backlog-planner`	`backlog-planner-reviewer`	G1–G8
DESIGN	`solution-architect`	`solution-architect-reviewer`	G1–G15
DISTILL	`acceptance-designer`	`acceptance-designer-reviewer`	G1–G8
DELIVER	`software-engineer`	`software-engineer-reviewer`	delivery gates

Jargon: a gate is a quality checkpoint that blocks progression if quality thresholds are not met. A reviewer is a read-only agent that emits a verdict without modifying artifacts (CQS principle). The detail of the 46 gates is in the catalogue.

HVE vs SKRAFT: comparison table

Dimension	HVE (RPI)	SKRAFT (5 phases)
Scope	One development session	One User Story end to end
Review	Human and manual	Adversarial assisted before human review
Traceability	Limited	`state.json`, artifacts, timestamped verdicts
Lenses	None	4 adversarial lenses (architecture, cold-reader, quality-gates, test-integrity)
Gates	None	46 gates spread per phase, configurable thresholds
Scalability	Solo / pair	Team, full backlog

What stays the same

SKRAFT inherits the principles of HVE:

The developer remains in control of decisions.
AI assists; it does not decide.
Quality is non-negotiable.

Sources

« Peer reviews are the single most effective quality practice a software organization can employ. » — Wiegers, K., Peer Reviews in Software, 2002.