Autonomous software production

Let agents write the code. Make the factory prove it works.

Dark Factory Dev tracks the engineering needed to let agents build and ship software without giving up evidence, control, or human accountability.

Explore the Factory Start with the concept
Factory signal path Continuous

Intent & specification

Define outcomes, constraints, and acceptance.

Orchestration

Plan, delegate, observe, and recover.

Independent verification

Test the outcome beyond the builder's report.

Evidence-backed release

Promote, observe, and retain the ability to reverse.

Where the bottleneck moves

The bottleneck moves from coding to judgment.

01 · Intent

What should be built?

Turn goals into precise, testable requirements without mistaking a generated spec for truth.

 02 · Control

Which invariants must hold?

Keep architecture, permissions, and system boundaries intact as agents move faster.

 03 · Truth

What earns the right to ship?

Use independent, layered, reconstructable evidence instead of builder self-report.

 04 · Ownership

Who owns the consequences?

Autonomous execution does not remove human accountability for production outcomes.

How to use this site

Start with the question you have.

Use the Factory for conclusions, the Graph for relationships, the Glossary for definitions, and News for what changed.

System model The Factory A subsystem-by-subsystem map of what we believe and what could change our mind. Relationships The Graph Explore how factory areas, evidence, and technical concepts connect. Shared language Glossary Evidence-linked definitions for a field whose vocabulary is still settling. What's changing News Material changes, plus what each one supports, challenges, or leaves unresolved.

Start here

What is dark factory software development?

Where the term came from, the five levels behind it, and why the hard part of autonomous production is not generating more code.

Read the field guide

We write for engineering leaders, founders, and practitioners moving from agent experiments to accountable production systems.

Research by Dark Factory Dev
Applied by Agency Intentional