The method
From Developer to Architect.
AI-assisted delivery is not only a faster way to produce code. It moves where engineering value is created: from writing each line to defining the intent, the boundaries, the data model and the verification loop. ClearTrace is that method turned into a product.
Architect plus agent
The human moves up. The agent does more.
Not AI as autocomplete, and not a junior waiting for line-by-line instructions. A senior implementation partner, directed by someone who owns the result.
The architect owns
- The business objective and product behavior
- System boundaries and the data model
- Integration contracts, security and privacy
- What must be tested before a change is trusted
- Risk acceptance and the final review
The agent contributes
- Reading the codebase and proposing a plan
- Coordinated changes across files and repositories
- Tests, commands and diff reviews
- Explaining tradeoffs
- Documentation and the change summary
The path
From code fragments to a control plane.
Most teams move through the same stages. Productivity grows less from generating code than from preserving context and improving the verification loop.
- 01Ask for code fragments.
- 02Ask for complete functions, scripts or pages.
- 03Let an agent edit files in the IDE.
- 04Add repository guidance, such as AGENTS.md.
- 05Add project configuration: permissions, tools, defaults.
- 06Add skills and templates for repeated work.
- 07Add a bootstrap control plane across projects.
- 08Close every meaningful change with a change capsule.
ClearTrace starts at stage 4 and carries you to 8: the project kit gives the guidance, the solution is the control plane, and the closeout is the capsule.
The loop
Plan, build in phases, verify, close out.
The same loop on every task, small or large. ClearTrace records each step, so the next agent or developer starts from what happened.
- 01
Plan
Goal, context, constraints and done-when, agreed before code.
ClearTrace recordsTickets, findings and intake items: the reason for the work.
- 02
Build in phases
Small phases you can review, in the right repositories.
ClearTrace recordsCommits, files and the reviewed diff, per project.
- 03
Verify
Tests, smoke checks, schema checks and review.
ClearTrace recordsTest runs, scenarios and evidence.
- 04
Close out
Update the specs and record what changed, its impact, its proof and its unknowns.
ClearTrace recordsThe closeout, its doubts and the declarations it changed.
From method to product
Each idea of the method has a place in ClearTrace.
You do not need to adopt a framework. Your agents follow the kit's guidance, and the record builds up task by task.
| In the method | In ClearTrace |
|---|---|
| Bootstrap control plane: the map | A solution with its projects, and declarations of databases, environments, services and flows |
| Repository guidance and skills | The project kit: guidance and playbooks your agent follows on short requests |
| Change capsule | The closeout: change, outcome, reason, evidence and doubts |
| Verification loop | Test runs, findings and retests linked to the change |
| Unknowns and follow-ups | Open doubts, tickets and findings |
| Feedback from users | Intake: bugs, questions and requests from your apps, triaged by agents |
Responsible adoption
Speed scales. So must verification.
The right question is not whether to use AI everywhere. It is where to use it with the right context, permissions and review.
- 01
Review before trust
AI output is a draft until it has been reviewed and verified.
- 02
Approve what cannot be undone
No destructive infrastructure or database change without explicit approval.
- 03
Keep secrets out
Secrets stay out of prompts, logs, repositories and generated documents.
- 04
Record what happened
Every meaningful change ends with a record someone else can read.
Compatible with AC/DC
Working in the Agent Centric Development Cycle? ClearTrace records each stage.
Sonar introduced the Agent Centric Development Cycle, or AC/DC, for agentic software delivery: Guide, Generate, Verify, Solve. It describes the same loop from another angle. ClearTrace does not claim that methodology; it records what happens at each stage.
Read Sonar's AC/DC announcement (opens in a new tab)- Guidecontext, specs, declarations
- Generatecommits, diffs, closeouts
- Verifytest runs, findings, evidence
- Solvetickets, decisions, fixes
Beta
Start with one project.
Connect one repository, run the first scan, and let your agents close out their next tasks. You will see what changed, why, and what is still open.