SDAD: Spec-Driven Agentic Development for the AI-Native SDLC

Abstract:Frontier coding agents backed by large language models with context windows from hundreds of thousands to millions of tokens are restructuring the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Rich context handling and multi-step reasoning now allow substantial Functional Requirement Documents (FRDs) and repository context to be ingested in a single workflow, making specification quality the execution fuel for autonomous delivery. This report formalises Spec-Driven Agentic Development (SDAD) as a synthesis of disciplined up-front formalisation and high-velocity implementation: intent capture, machine-readable specification, agentic synthesis, and independent multi-agent verification under human sign-off. We revisit the historical pendulum between Waterfall and Agile, introduce AI-code as a fourth production paradigm, and compare Human-Agile (circa 2020) with Agentic-SDAD (circa 2026) across artefacts, cadence, accountability, and security posture. Beyond process description, we extend the model to team role metamorphosis (engineer, QA, platform, and product functions), quantitative governance (Ambiguity Tax, Spec Fidelity, SER, and TCI_agentic with repair multiplier phi), and pragmatic adoption via hybrid estimation and a staged migration blueprint. Industrial and research evidence on AI-augmented testing and verification is integrated to motivate separation between synthesis and release authority. Overall, the paper argues that agentic speed does not eliminate engineering discipline; it relocates discipline upstream into specification precision, explicit gates, and auditable provenance.

Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI); Software Engineering (cs.SE)

arXiv:2608.20341 [cs.AI]

(or arXiv:2608.20341v1 [cs.AI] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.20341 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite

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