0. Vocabulary you must force the team to learn

Intent The real purpose behind the work. Not "what the ticket says," but "what problem are we trying to solve?"

Acceptance criteria The concrete conditions that prove the work is complete.

Source of truth The original reliable reference: customer request, product decision, incident, ADR, design, regulation, metric, or stakeholder confirmation.

Assumption Something we believe but have not proven.

Constraint A limitation we must respect: deadline, architecture, security, compliance, performance, compatibility.

Verification evidence Proof that the work was checked: tests, screenshots, logs, manual steps, links, review notes.

Definition of Ready The minimum quality a ticket must have before developers start work.

Definition of Done The minimum quality work must reach before it is accepted as finished.

Accountability The human owner remains responsible, even if AI helped write the ticket, code, review, or documentation.