Guides

The software factory field guide

Start with the complete system, follow a product request through it, plan one safe pilot, and measure what reaches users.

Guides4 min read
What is a software factory?
The people, agents, checks, and learning loop that make up an AI software factory.
By SWFT Editorial
Guides3 min read
What is an agent swarm?
How coordinated coding agents share work: the task graph, the orchestrator, the checks, and the human decisions that stay.
By SWFT Editorial
Guides3 min read
What is harness engineering?
Designing the instructions, tools, context, permissions, and feedback around a coding model, and why that design is a cost and control decision.
By SWFT Editorial
Guides2 min read
What is a dark factory?
The lights-out end of the software-factory range: agents write nearly all the code, and people keep direction, review, and release.
By SWFT Editorial
Guides22 min read
What TLA+, Quint, Lean, and Rocq can and cannot verify
A passing check covers a stated property under specific assumptions. Learn how model checks and proofs differ, and what to review when agents write specifications.
By SWFT Editorial
Guides4 min read
How an AI software factory works
How requests reach agents, how results are checked and released, and how the team learns from the work.
By SWFT Editorial
Guides4 min read
How to build a software factory
Choose a recurring job, compare it with today's process, prepare the agent's tools and tests, and measure what it takes to deliver an accepted result.
By SWFT Editorial
Guides5 min read
Software factory metrics that matter
Five numbers for judging speed, rework, quality, human attention, and the real cost of AI-assisted delivery.
By SWFT Editorial

Reference shelf

Definitions, comparisons, and the field map

Agent swarm scale: documented runs and adoptionWhat public numbers reveal about concurrent agents, repeated attempts, useful output, and adoption across organizations.
Software factories and agent swarms across industriesWhat banks, trading firms, manufacturers and research teams have put into practice, and what their public accounts reveal.
Software factory vs coding agent, copilot, harness, and CI/CDThe tools and practices most often confused with an AI software factory, and how each one differs.
Software factory glossaryDefinitions of coding agents, harness engineering, context engineering, evals, MCP, sandboxes, and software factories for product teams.
The software factory mapOrganizations, experiments, platforms, history, and public implementations that use software-factory ideas, each with its source.