# The software factory field guide

Plain-English guides, definitions, comparisons, and field references for product and engineering leaders.

- [What is a software factory?](/what-is-a-software-factory) — A plain-English guide to the people, agents, checks, and learning loop behind an AI software factory.
- [How an AI software factory works](/software-factory-architecture) — Follow a product request through its task brief, context, agent harness, proof, release, and learning loop.
- [How to build a software factory](/how-to-build-a-software-factory) — A six-stage pilot for one recurring job, with a clear task brief, safe agent harness, realistic evals, and named human decisions.
- [Software factory metrics that matter](/software-factory-metrics) — Five numbers for judging speed, rework, quality, human attention, and the real cost of AI-assisted delivery.
- [Software factory vs coding agent, copilot, harness, and CI/CD](/software-factory-vs-coding-agents-ci-cd-devops-platform-engineering) — A plain-English guide to the tools and practices most often confused with an AI software factory.
- [Software factory glossary](/glossary) — Plain-English definitions for coding agents, harness engineering, context engineering, evals, MCP, sandboxes, and software factories.
- [The software factory map](/map) — A source-backed guide to organizations, experiments, platforms, history, and public implementations using software-factory ideas.