The Collabetive PATH · Plan, Act, Test, Hone
Humans own the why. AI owns the repetition.
Not a slogan — a 39-step workflow with an owner recorded against every step. Read all 39 steps, or see the 2026 hiring plan if you would rather work this way than read about it.
How to read it
Every step carries an owner. That is the whole method — the split is explicit, so it can be argued with.
18 steps
19 steps
2 steps
The four phases at a glance
Phase, step count, and how the ownership falls out.
1. Ideation & Planning
8 steps · 2 human · 5 AI
Define outcomes, gather requirements, and create detailed implementation plans
2. Database, Version Control & Branching
4 steps · 3 human · 1 AI
Set up database structure, create feature branches, and prepare for development
3. Code Development & Testing
19 steps · 6 human · 13 AI
Write code, test thoroughly, and ensure quality standards
4. Branch Merge & Release
8 steps · 7 human · 0 AI
Create pull requests, review changes, merge to main, and deploy to production
All 39 steps
Every step, in order, in the page. Nothing is collapsed.
Phase 1
Ideation & Planning
Define outcomes, gather requirements, and create detailed implementation plans
01
Submit Idea
Deliverable: A crisp Outcome Statement - Define user-visible win, success criteria, out of scope, and constraints (security, backward compatibility, performance). Ask AI for best practices and/or other ideas related to this idea that will make it great... easy to learn, easy to use, pleasant on the eyes, and perform well. Rule: Humans own the "why" and the final shape of "done"
02
Plan Database Tasks
Database Architect Agent
03
Plan API Tasks
Backend Developer Agent
04
Plan Backend Tasks
Backend Developer Agent
05
Plan Frontend Tasks
Frontend Developer Agent
06
Plan Infrastructure Tasks
DevOps Agent
07
Review Plan
Determine number of prototypes to develop
08
Refine Plan
Phase 2
Database, Version Control & Branching
Set up database structure, create feature branches, and prepare for development
01
Create Feature Branch
02
Design Database Changes
Database Architect Agent
03
Review Database Changes
04
Approve Database Changes
Phase 3
Code Development & Testing
Write code, test thoroughly, and ensure quality standards
01
Write Code
Develop API Layer, Business Logic, and UI Components
Backend Developer Agent · Frontend Developer Agent
02
Comment Code
Code Documentation Skill
03
Run Lint
Repeat until clean
Code Quality Skill
04
Fix Lint Errors
Repeat until clean
05
Scan Security Issues
Security Analyst Agent
06
Fix Security Issues
Repeat until clean
07
Assess Scalability/Performance
Performance Engineering Agent
08
Optimize Code
Repeat until acceptable
09
Run Local Build
Repeat until successful
Build Automation Skill
10
Fix Build Errors
Repeat until successful
11
Review Code
12
Commit Changes
13
Sync Repository
14
Build Playwright Tests
QA Engineer Agent
15
Run Automated Tests
QA Engineer Agent
16
Fix Test Failures
Repeat until passing
17
Test Application (Alpha)
18
Publish to Preview
19
Conduct User Testing (Beta)
With end users
Phase 4
Branch Merge & Release
Create pull requests, review changes, merge to main, and deploy to production
01
Create Pull Request
02
Review Pull Request
Teammate review
03
Approve Pull Request
Teammate approval
04
Merge to Main Branch
05
Delete Feature Branch
06
Write Documentation
Technical Writer Agent
07
Send Communication
08
Publish to Production
Key principles
Humans own the "why"
Strategic decisions, product direction, and the final definition of "done" are always human responsibilities. AI assists with the "how," not the "why."
AI handles repetitive tasks
Code generation, linting, testing, security scanning, and optimization are automated with AI, freeing developers to focus on creative problem-solving and architecture.
Quality through iteration
Many AI tasks include "repeat until clean/passing/successful" — we iterate automatically until quality standards are met, ensuring robust, secure, and performant code.
Double the productivity
By leveraging AI for time-consuming tasks like code generation, testing, and documentation, our developers ship features twice as fast without sacrificing quality.
4
Phases
39
Steps, every one documented
18
Human-owned
19
AI-owned
2
Collaborative
Where to go next
Interested in the PATH approach?
We are happy to walk through how it works — and where it does not.
39 steps, 18 of them human-owned. If that is how you want software built, start there.