AI Development Factory
From source to controlled local delivery.
One owner-controlled workflow across many repositories, without treating a source commit as a verified local release.
A GitHub commit does not update a Windows checkout.
Managing many repositories creates two different states: the remote revision and what the owner’s machine actually has. Uncommitted local files also need protection during synchronization.
- Check remote and installed revisions separately
- Never overwrite local edits to make a dashboard look green
One Windows Worker. Guarded Git synchronization.
The local Worker monitors active repositories, distinguishes pull and push needs, and uses fast-forward operations when safe. A loopback dashboard reports sync status; dirty or diverged checkouts require review.
- GitHub remains source of truth
- One local Worker; explicit Git state and lifecycle
Report NOT_TESTED when no test ran.
Guardian evidence is tied to Git metadata and can identify unverified work. Under current owner policy, the Worker does not automatically run CI, builds, tests or previews; a pushed commit is not a release.
- Evidence: AI-Development-Factory and Guardian contract
- Manual acceptance remains separate from repository sync
Behind the decisions.
Explore the implementation context, technical trade-offs and evidence behind the three-part story. Open any chapter to read the full explanation.
0101 / CONTEXTEngineering beyond one repository.
The AI Development Factory coordinates several product repositories from one owner-facing operating model. Its central concern is provenance: which repository changed, which commit is current and whether the local machine actually has that revision.
GitHub contains the source history. A single Windows Worker owns the local checkout boundary. The dashboard exists to make that relationship visible instead of hiding it behind generic success messages.
This is an owner-operated development environment. It should not be confused with an unattended commercial AI coding service or a guarantee that every product is deployed.
- Multi-repository source coordination
- One local Worker
- Owner-operated control surface
0202 / THE PROBLEMSource truth is not machine truth.
A successful push to GitHub says only that a revision exists in the remote repository. A laptop may be offline, running an older Worker, holding local edits or pointing at a mismatched Git remote.
Blind pulls and destructive cleanups could overwrite work. In multi-project environments, repeated CI and browser-preview execution can also exceed available memory and reduce the reliability of the whole system.
The Factory therefore needs separate evidence for GitHub state, owner authorization, local synchronization and any manually requested verification.
- Source versus installed state
- Preservation of local changes
- Bounded resource use
0303 / PROJECT LIFECYCLEOnly active work should consume attention.
The source defines distinct project states, including active, future, completed and archived. This lets the owner control which repositories belong in the current development cycle.
For active products, the intended Worker flow monitors GitHub heads and attempts guarded fast-forward synchronization when the repository and checkout pass identity and cleanliness checks.
Completed or archived projects remain discoverable as history without continuously consuming the resources needed by active work.
- Active / future / completed / archived
- GitHub commit monitoring
- No blind all-project execution
0404 / SAFETY BOUNDARIESSynchronize without destroying ownership.
The design favors Git remote validation, branch checks and fast-forward updates instead of reset, stash or clean as automatic recovery techniques. Local tracked and untracked changes are protected from silent replacement.
Legacy path conflicts and ignored files require special care: the existence of two local copies is not permission to delete one. A preserved conflict is a meaningful safety result, not necessarily a broken application.
All of these controls must be evaluated against the installed Worker and the actual machine checkout. GitHub source changes alone do not prove that the laptop pulled them.
- Trusted origin and branch
- Non-destructive fast-forward
- Legacy file preservation
0505 / OBSERVABILITYEvidence can be incomplete. Say so.
The Guardian Hub contract describes source-anchored metadata from specialized quality tools, including design, security, API and data, reliability and SEO evaluation.
A recorded report is not a substitute for a real scan. When evidence is unavailable the system can report NOT_TESTED; when the source changes, previous evidence can become stale.
This keeps the dashboard useful as an evidence index without presenting an unrun check or a plugin-written PASS as independently verified release readiness.
- Source-anchored reports
- NOT_TESTED and STALE semantics
- No invented quality grades
0606 / CURRENT OPERATING MODELAutomatic source sync. Human-directed quality.
The current October 2026 main-branch policy keeps automatic Worker CI, builds, scans and managed previews disabled. The local Worker is intended to monitor active repositories and perform safe source synchronization within its authorized scope.
Project code can still be developed directly through reviewed GitHub changes. Expensive or intrusive verification stays a separate, deliberate action rather than silently running on every repository update.
Whether a particular machine has installed this revision must be confirmed from fresh owner-device evidence. This case study documents the architecture and policy, not an unverified live deployment.
- CI and preview not automatic
- Owner-directed verification
- Runtime activation verified separately
What is actually verified.
The current October 2026 source policy disables automatic CI, build, tests and preview inside the Worker. Source updates are not proof of an installed release; the dashboard distinguishes actual machine state from unverified claims.
The overview explains documented implementation decisions. Production results and customer outcomes require separate verification.