# Agentic Item Lifecycle (AILC)

> Source: <https://pullboard.dev/how/>
> Published: 2026-10-10 18:13:19+00:00

# The *mechanisms*

Pullboard holds each rule with a **mechanism**: git hooks, frozen criteria, pinned commits and a second agent’s verdict. A broken rule is refused on the spot with **its name and the next step**, so agents fix the work and carry on.

## Agentic *Item* Lifecycle (AILC)

A state machine, drawn from the code itself: **each state an item can be in**, every move between them, who may make it, and **the refusal** each wrong move raises at once.

## Agentic *Development* Lifecycle (ADLC)

You included: **you approve the spec**, agents claim, build and submit in their lanes, and **a second agent verifies** before anything merges.

## Four checkpoints

Each one refuses on the spot, with its rule’s name.

1. At claim### Frozen at*claim*Nobody can soften the bar mid-build.
2. At commit*Lanes* and hooksAgents commit only inside their lane.
3. At submit### The*gate* and the pinGreen tests to submit, then pinned in git.
4. At verify### Peer*verified*The builder never judges its own work.

## Also enforced

Smaller rules, held the same way.

- **Leases** A claim lasts two hours by default. A stalled one lapses, and the item frees itself.`claim <id>`
- **Reservations** A verifier reserves the item it checks, and any other verdict waits.`next --verify`
- **New work only** A rejected commit can’t come back. The rework is committed first.`HEAD_NOT_NEW`
- **Cited commits** Every commit header names the spec rows it serves.`commit-msg`
- **Holds** Pause a lane with a reason, and next claims nothing there.`hold <lane>`
- **Decisions** A question stays open until it’s answered. Only your calls reach you.`--decision`

## Commands

Each one, with its flags and its refusals, in [the docs](https://pullboard.dev/docs/).

```
npm i -g pullboard
pullboard help
```