Definition
The Specification Lifecycle is the governed progression a Specification moves through: Draft, Accepted, Revised, Superseded, and Archived. It governs how Specifications are created, evolved, versioned, superseded, and retired while preserving traceability to the Discoveries and Architectural Decisions that justified them.
Why It Matters
Specifications are living artifacts, not one-time documents. Without a defined lifecycle, their evolution would be untraceable and their history could be silently overwritten. The Specification Lifecycle ensures specifications evolve incrementally, preserve history, and remain traceable even as they change.
Related Concepts
- Specification
- Governance
- Traceability
- Architecture Decision Record
References
- STD-0001 — Specification Lifecycle
- GV-0007 — Specification Governance
- GV-0008 — Versioning and Evolution