Artifact Templates

CAT workflows use templates to produce consistently structured artifacts. These templates live in _cat/templates/.

Intent Brief Template

Used by cat-intent-brief and cat-intent-checkpoint.

Structure

---
title: "Intent Brief: {Title}"
intent_owner: ""
intent_approver: ""
approval_date: ""
status: draft
created: ""
updated: ""
---

# Intent Brief: {Title}

## Who / Why / What Problem / What Outcome
(Business context, target users, problem statement, desired outcome)

## Scope
**In Scope:**
- (Specific deliverables and boundaries)

**Out of Scope:**
- (Explicit exclusions)

## Success Metrics
| Metric | Current | Target | Measurement Method |
|--------|---------|--------|-------------------|
| | | | |

## Assumptions and Constraints
| # | Type | Description | Impact |
|---|------|-------------|--------|
| | | | |

## Key Risks
| # | Risk | Mitigation |
|---|------|------------|
| | | |

## Dependencies
| # | Dependency | Owner | Status |
|---|-----------|-------|--------|
| | | | |

## Non-Functional Requirements
| # | Category | Requirement | Target |
|---|----------|-------------|--------|
| | | | |

Lightweight Intent Brief Template

Used by cat-quick-intent for small changes.

Structure

Same as the full Intent Brief but with the following guidance:

Who/Why/What/Outcome combined into a single section
Brief answers accepted for constraints and risks
“Standard” acceptable for NFRs on small changes
Faster overall flow (5–10 minutes vs 20–30 minutes)

ARC Template

Used by cat-arc-builder. Key sections:

# Architecture Reference Contract: {Title}

## System Context
(Technology stack, deployment model, existing integrations)

## Constraints

### MUST
- MUST-001: (Specific, enforceable requirement)

### MUST NOT
- MUST-NOT-001: (Specific, enforceable prohibition)

### SHOULD
- SHOULD-001: (Strong recommendation)

### MAY
- MAY-001: (Permitted approach)

## AI Governance
### Code Generation Boundaries
### Review Requirements
### Testing Requirements

## Testing Requirements
(Test strategy traceable to constraints)

Bolt Spec Template

Used by cat-bolt-writer:

# Bolt {ID}: {Title}

## Scope
(What this bolt builds — one responsibility)

## ARC Constraints
- MUST-XXX: (Mapped constraints from ARC)

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] (Testable criterion)

## Testing Requirements
(Required tests)

## Dependencies
(Other bolts or artifacts required first)

Compliance Report Template

Used by cat-compliance-report:

# Compliance Report

| # | Control | Status | Evidence |
|---|---------|--------|----------|
| 1 | Intent Capture | ✅/⚠️/❌ | (Reference to artifact) |
| 2 | Scope Definition | ✅/⚠️/❌ | |
| 3 | Architecture Contract | ✅/⚠️/❌ | |
| 4 | AI Governance | ✅/⚠️/❌ | |
| 5 | Constraint Traceability | ✅/⚠️/❌ | |
| 6 | Bolt Decomposition | ✅/⚠️/❌ | |
| 7 | Construction Compliance | ✅/⚠️/❌ | |
| 8 | Code Review | ✅/⚠️/❌ | |
| 9 | Adherence Verification | ✅/⚠️/❌ | |
| 10 | Acceptance | ✅/⚠️/❌ | |

Template Best Practices

Don’t remove sections. Compliance checks expect specific sections to exist. If a section isn’t applicable, mark it “N/A” rather than deleting it.
Preserve frontmatter. The YAML frontmatter (status, owner, dates) is used by cat-dlc-status and cat-compliance-report for artifact tracking.
Use the collaboration menu. After any template is populated, use A (Advanced Elicitation) or P (Party Mode) to improve the content before finalizing.