🔄 I. Software Project Lifecycle SOPs
These define the phases of a project from initiation to closure, mapped to the necessary documentation, approvals, and reviews.
| Phase | SOP Title | Description | Key Documents |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Initiation | Project Charter SOP | Collect requirements, define scope, and develop system architecture. | charter.md, stakeholders.md |
| 2. Planning | SRS & Architecture SOP | Break requirements into technical modules, select patterns, and create diagrams. | SRS.md, architecture.md |
| 3. Design | System Design SOP | Monitor issues, apply hotfixes, and improve features. | design-spec.md, data-models/ |
| 4. Development | Code & Standards SOP | Coding begins using defined architecture, branches, and conventions. | DEVELOPMENT-GUIDELINES.md, CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md |
| 5. Testing | QA & Test SOP | Test units, integration, UAT, security. Capture test results. | test-cases.md, test-results.md |
| 6. Release | Release Management SOP | Final prep, changelog, versioning, deployment, rollback plan. | RELEASE-CHECKLIST.md, CHANGELOG.md |
| 7. Maintenance | Bug & Update SOP | Final reports, lessons learned, and the archive project. | issues/, roadmap.md |
| 8. Closure | Postmortem & Archive SOP | Final reports, lessons learned, and the archive project. | retrospective.md, archive.md |
📂 II. Documentation SOPs
These govern the creation, update, versioning, and storage of core project documents.
| Document | SOP Title | Responsible Role | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Requirements | SRS SOP | Product Owner / Analyst | /docs/SRS.md |
| Software Architecture | Architecture SOP | Technical Lead / Architect | /docs/software-architecture.md |
| Code of Conduct | Contributor Ethics SOP | Maintainer / HR | /CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md |
| Licensing | License Policy SOP | Legal / Maintainer | /LICENSE |
| Dev Standards | Dev Guidelines SOP | Tech Lead | /DEVELOPMENT-GUIDELINES.md |
| Release Process | Release SOP | Release Manager | /RELEASE-CHECKLIST.md |
| Issue & PR Mgmt | Git Workflow SOP | DevOps / Lead Dev | /docs/git-workflow.md |
| Changelog | Version History SOP | Maintainer / CI Bot | /CHANGELOG.md |
| Retrospective | Postmortem SOP | Project Manager | /docs/retrospective.md |
⚙️ III. Operational SOPs
These are cross-phase procedures critical to automation, quality, and collaboration.
| SOP Name | Description | Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Git Flow SOP | Branch strategy: main, dev, feature, hotfix, support, tags. | Git, GitHub |
| CI/CD SOP | Build, test, lint, deploy, rollback. | GitHub Actions, Docker |
| Code Review SOP | Review checklist, approvals, merge rules. | GitHub PRs |
| Security SOP | Input validation, secrets handling, access control. | OWASP, Vault |
| QA & Testing SOP | Test writing, coverage targets, UAT protocol. | PHPUnit, Jest, Postman |
| Environment Setup SOP | Local dev env setup & verification. | Docker, .env.example |
| Monitoring SOP | Application logging, uptime, error tracking. | Sentry, Grafana |
| Documentation SOP | Style guide, update process, publishing policy. | Markdown, MkDocs |
| Onboarding SOP | For new devs: tools, permissions, orientation. | /docs/onboarding.md |
📦 IV. Folder Structure Standard (Project Skeleton)
project-name/
├── docs/
│ ├── SRS.md
│ ├── software-architecture.md
│ ├── retrospective.md
├── src/
├── tests/
├── .github/
│ └── workflows/
├── CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
├── LICENSE
├── DEVELOPMENT-GUIDELINES.md
├── RELEASE-CHECKLIST.md
├── CHANGELOG.md
├── README.md
📅 Review & Governance
- All SOPs are reviewed quarterly or on major tech changes.
- Documentation changes are managed through versioned pull requests.
- Every SOP must have:
- Owner
- Last Updated Date
- Version Tag