your AI CTOTHE PLAYBOOK

Playbook

Build path
Choose your tier
Modules
14
Launch gates
3

Research

Chat playground

TIER 1 · MVP3/7

x

steps done — next: scaffold the boilerplate

Playbook
Launch gates

Ask the playbook

STEP 05

Launch gates

Gates you pass through — not documents you file away. The least exciting pages in the playbook, and the ones that save you the most money.

GATE 01

Pre-build

Before you write line one. Ten minutes here saves ten days later.

x

PASSED

The product fits in one sentence a stranger understands
The 6 questions are answered and written down
Tier chosen — one below where your ego says
GitHub repo + hosting + database accounts exist
AGENTS.md brief written for your coding agent
Module list picked — and nothing more

GATE 02

Security

Non-negotiable. Do not skip. Read it twice.

x

5/7

AI agents optimise for 'looks done'. This gate is where you catch what that hides.

No secrets in the repo — .env only, and .env is gitignored
Row-level security / ownership checks on every table
Every private route checks auth on the server
Public endpoints are rate-limited
All input is validated on the server, not just in forms
Backups are on — and you restored one, once
Dependency audit runs clean

GATE 03

Pre-launch

The gate between 'works on my laptop' and 'live'.

x

3/7

Custom domain with HTTPS
Production env vars set — not copies of dev
Error pages and empty states everywhere
Error tracking + uptime monitor are live
Seed and demo data removed from production
Privacy policy and terms pages exist
Rollback plan written down — and practiced once

DEMO STATE — THE INSTALLED PLAYBOOK KEEPS THIS IN YOUR REPO