# Lifecycle and Artifacts

The lifecycle is a continuity contract, not a claim about industry standard
practice. The nine-stage contract — required question, minimum output, and
stop condition per stage — lives in [SKILL.md](../SKILL.md#lifecycle) and is
the single source of truth for stage expectations.

Every stage records entry evidence, the artifact produced, the accountable
decision maker, unresolved unknowns, and the next handoff in the shared
records below.

## Shared record fields

For every stage record: date, stage, accountable lead, decision authority,
entry evidence, work performed, source/evidence label, observed result,
unknowns, risks, decision rule, decision, commitment, owner, due date, and next
handoff. A stopped engagement remains a valid output if the stop reason and
learning are preserved.

Use the canonical [stage-handoff record](../templates/stage-handoff-record.md)
for those fields. Maintain [engagement status](../templates/engagement-status.md)
as the concise current-state view; it supplements rather than replaces the
stage evidence and handoff record.