Quickstart

This guide walks you through your first Software Factory workflow, from creating a project to implementing your first work order.

Step 1: Create or Join an Organization

An Organization is a private workspace where teams collaborate across one or more projects. During sign-up, a new user can create an organization or join an existing one after receiving an invitation from the organization admin.

• After signing in, click Start New Project and enter a project name.
• Once created, Software Factory opens the Project Overview dashboard.

Step 2: Create Your First Project

A Project captures all of the knowledge and documentation that defines the intent of the software and guides users from requirements gathering to software delivery.

• After signing in, click Start New Project and enter a project name.
• Once created, Software Factory opens the Project Overview dashboard.

Step 3 (Optional): Connect Your Repository

Connecting a codebase to a project allows Software Factory agents to index and read the code. This supports writing blueprints and work orders and keeps documentation synchronized with the codebase after a release.

• If you have an existing GitHub repository, navigate to Integrations.
• Click Install GitHub App. You’ll be redirected to GitHub to authorize the 8090 Software Factory GitHub App.
• After authorization, return to Software Factory, enter your repository URL, and press Authorize.
• Confirm that the integration was created successfully and indexing is in progress.

See Codebase Connection for more details.

Step 4 (Optional): Upload Supporting Artifacts

Artifacts are external files that give Software Factory agents additional context while generating requirements, blueprints, and work orders.

• Navigate to Artifacts if you have supporting documents that provide project context.
• Upload any artifacts that will help Software Factory agents build out your project.

See Artifacts for more details.

Step 5: Define Your Product Requirements

The Requirements module manages documents that capture product intent. Product Overview documents capture the product’s motivation and executive summary, while Feature Requirements documents capture feature-level requirements.

• Navigate to Requirements using the top-left module selector.
• Engage with the Getting Started alert in the agent chat panel to collaborate with the agent on Product Overview documents and begin creating Feature Requirements documents.
• Tell the agent whether it should initialize the requirements from an existing project or start fresh.

Step 6: Create Technical Blueprints

The Blueprints module houses the core architectural designs and implementation decisions for the product. Foundation Blueprints capture patterns shared across all features, while Feature Blueprints capture feature-specific architectural details.

• Navigate to Blueprints using the module selector.
• Select a template to initialize Foundation, System Diagram, and Feature-Specific Blueprints with your configured outlines.
• Document core technology decisions in Foundation Blueprints, including technology stacks and patterns shared across blueprints.
• Choose a Feature Blueprint and work with the Blueprints Agent to define its technical specification. The Quick Q&A action guides you through key decisions step by step.

Step 7: Generate Work Orders

The Work Orders module coordinates the work required to build the product. Work Orders are created from upstream requirements and blueprints and packaged into context-rich prompts that coding agents and developers can execute.

• Navigate to Work Orders using the module selector.
• Click Extract Work Orders in the agent chat panel to generate Work Orders from your Blueprints and Requirements.
• Review the resulting Work Orders, assign them, and sequence them into phases.

Step 8: Connect to a Coding Agent via MCP

Work Orders integrates with local development environments through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Coding agents such as Cursor or Claude Code can pull Work Order details and update statuses directly from the IDE. The MCP connection uses an API key scoped to a specific project and user.

• In Work Orders, follow the popup instructions to connect your coding agent to Software Factory via MCP.
• Tell your coding agent to get the next Work Order from Software Factory.
• Monitor the coding agent as it executes the Work Order.
• When the agent finishes, it marks the Work Order as In Review.

Next Steps

Congratulations on completing your first Work Order. This is a simple forward pass from requirements to code, but there is much more to explore:

• Complete more Work Orders for the Blueprints you have written.
• After completing a phase, push your code to the indexed branch. The Blueprints Agent checks for drift between the blueprints and code and guides you through discrepancies.
• Create more features in Requirements, write Blueprints for them, and extract more Work Orders.
• When requirements change, update the PRD and flow changes downstream through Feature Nodes, Blueprints, and Work Orders.
• After deploying the first version of your product, consider setting up feedback collection in Validator.

Further Reading

• Requirements — Master product definition and UI mocking.
• Blueprints — Learn advanced Blueprint techniques.
• Work Orders — Optimize your task management workflow.
• Feedback — Set up comprehensive feedback systems.

Getting Help

• Use the In-Product Feedback button in each module.
• Join the Discord community.
• Review Support & Community for additional help.