Join the lifecycle where you are.

Start from the furthest thing you already have.

1. If you already have an idea,start at RequirementsWrite the statement of the job. Everything after is checked against it.
2. If you already have a prototype,start at Test, then CodeWrite the statement of the job from your prototype, then Test.
3. If you already have working code,start at Package on-rampBring the statement and your programs; Package lists every program.
4. If you already have a package or an image,start at Release on-ramp, then Deploy goes liveGive it an address and a signed build record, then deploy it.
5. If you already have a remote agent with an A2A endpoint,register it with a platformIts Agent Card gives most of its Descriptor. Add what it refuses and what records it keeps. No package needed.
6. If you already have an agent connected to a network through a node,it's already on; start at DocsFinish its Descriptor so people can find it.
7. If you already have agents running on a platform,start at Run and ChangeWatch them, judge their work, and change them with a record.

Every asset fills in a little more of the picture.

Here they are in stage order. Dashed ones are optional. Solid ones are required. Every agent has a signed Descriptor and its registration, and every agent a platform runs also has the package and the signed records from Release on, each as it happens.

1. Statement of the jobRequirementsoptional
2. Architecture recordArchitecture and Designoptional
3. DesignArchitecture and Designoptional
4. Impact reportImpactoptional
5. Catalog answersSourceoptional
6. Test suiteTestoptional
7. CodeCodeoptional
8. Review findingsReviewoptional
9. Security statementSecurity reviewoptional
10. The packagePackage on-rampplatform-run
11. Signed build recordRelease on-rampplatform-run
12. Signed Descriptor and registrationDeploy goes liveevery agent
13. Signed deployment recordDeploy goes liveplatform-run
14. Conformance verdictConformanceplatform-run
15. AttestationsConformanceplatform-run
16. AcceptanceAcceptanceplatform-run
17. AgentDocDocsplatform-run
18. Published addressPublishplatform-run
19. Retraction recordRetractplatform-run
20. Receipts, usage and costCostplatform-run
21. Graded judgmentsEvalplatform-run
22. Incident recordsIncident responseplatform-run
23. Change recordsUpdate, Reconfigure, Rollbackplatform-run
24. Decommission recordDecommissionplatform-run

• optional: whatever your lifecycle makes before the package
• every agent: the signed Descriptor and its registration
• platform-run: every agent a platform runs has the package, and the records from Release on, as each happens

Here is every asset, its parts, and the stage that makes it.

Asset	Its parts	Made at	Who has it
Statement of the job	what it does what it refuses what it needs what it records what it costs the questions only the person asking can answer	Requirements	optional
Architecture record	the systems it reaches, in plain words the product bound to each, in dev, test and production dependencies on other agents and services the agent's kind limits on cost, speed, data and trust each decision with its reason	Architecture and Design	optional
Design	the steps, in order what each step is given and hands back which steps are program and which are judgment	Architecture and Design	optional
Impact report	each dependent each marked compatible, breaking or a change of behavior	Impact	optional
Catalog answers	for each step, an agent or solution that fits, or "build one", with the reason	Source	optional
Test suite	acceptance tests unit tests refusal tests that check it says no when it should what no test could be written for	Test	optional
Code	the programs an account of what was written the record of every round	Code	optional
Review findings	each naming a place, a claim and a consequence the answer to each	Review	optional
Security statement	what it may reach what it may spend what it must never do the reason for each permission it asks for	Security review	optional
The package	the draft Descriptor (agent-descriptor.json) the runtime requirements (agent-runtime-requirements.json) skills and scripts a manifest a digest	Package on-ramp	platform-run
Signed build record	who built it, from what the package at an address, under its digest	Release on-ramp	platform-run
Signed Descriptor and registration	the Descriptor, bound to the agent's identity and signed its registration, pointing at the current Descriptor for an agent running elsewhere, made by its operator	drafted at Package on-ramp, bound and signed at Deploy goes live	every agent
Signed deployment record	the package digest credentials placed by name ceilings set the checks run	Deploy goes live	platform-run
Conformance verdict	signed, case by case, against the Descriptor	Conformance	platform-run
Attestations	one signed statement per version, per attester the check list it used, by address each check passed, failed, or not attested, which is not the same as failed who attested, and whether that was the agent's own owner stale when a new version ships, or after a set time	Conformance, and by any attester after: see your checking tool	platform-run
Acceptance	the requester's recorded yes against "done", or a no that says what is missing	Acceptance	platform-run
AgentDoc	what the agent does, refuses, needs and records, each claim traced to its source	Docs	platform-run
Published address	an address a person can open the digest of what is there	Publish	platform-run
Retraction record	what was taken down by whom, and when why	Retract	platform-run
Receipts, usage and cost	what was spent, by whom against what was allowed	Cost	platform-run
Graded judgments	a grade on each piece of work, with its reason against a standard set beforehand	Eval	platform-run
Incident records	a timeline of what is known every fact with its source every gap, marked	Incident response	platform-run
Change records	what changed, signed for an update, the candidate run before the promote for a rollback, the reason and what can't be undone	Update Reconfigure Rollback	platform-run
Decommission record	nothing running the records kept the address retired	Decommission	platform-run

Only the ending is fixed.

Everything before the package is yours to shape. Every agent, wherever it runs, ends with a signed Descriptor and a registration that points at it. An agent a platform runs also has its Agent Package and the records each later stage leaves.