Workflow
How Catalyst keeps projects aligned — from first idea to production.
Read this when starting a project, beginning a new cycle, or getting back on track after a break.
Useful for anyone involved in building or making decisions about what gets built.
Project Drift
Catalyst exists to help build the right thing, fast. This means staying aligned with AI, and heading in the right direction.
Projects start with good intentions. But without a clear process things can go wrong: you build too much before getting feedback, AI starts to misunderstand the goal, decisions get forgotten and scope creeps - and months later, nobody remembers why something was built a certain way.
Catalyst solves this with a simple loop that keeps everyone aligned through the process, while capturing key decisions along the way.
The Principles
Three beliefs that keep projects aligned and moving forward:
Show, don't tell
Working software beats any description. A rough prototype makes ideas real and easy to react to.
Write it down
Decisions fade from memory. Capture them so everyone stays aligned — including AI.
Grow in stages
Complexity is earned, not planned. Start simple and upgrade only when you know it's the right thing.
The Delivery Loop
A four-step rhythm that puts the principles into action; run it as often as needed:
Brief
Define what and why. Capture scope, goals, and constraints so everyone — including AI — knows the target.
Build
Make something real. With AI, you can often have a working prototype in hours, not weeks.
Review
Show it to stakeholders. Gather reactions and agree together on what works and what to change.
Refine
Apply feedback and decide. Loop back to Brief for another pass, or promote to the next stage.
The Stages
Projects grow through four stages — each with different expectations for quality and completeness:
Proof of Concept
POCValidate the idea. Rough is fine — you just need something people can react to.
Minimum Viable Product
MVPTest with real users. Core flows work, feedback is real, the main value is proven.
Minimum Marketable Product
MMPReady for the public. Polished, reliable, handles errors gracefully.
Production
PRODBuilt to last. Secure, monitored, documented, and ready for scale.
Setting up a new project? Start with the Setup Guide to configure your environment and surfaces.
Next Steps
Ready to dive in? Pick a path: