The Progression Map
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The Progression Map
The whole VibeMap journey on one page — what to do, in what order, what's required vs. optional, and how to know when you're ready to build. · Start here
VibeMap turns a product idea into a build-ready specification and then hands it to an AI coding agent. The work happens in four phases, and the app's sidebar and Overview strip follow the same order. This page is the map; every step links to its full guide.
💡 Tip: You never have to do every step. The required spine (features → user stories → acceptance criteria → pages → schema) is what makes a project buildable. Everything else sharpens the result or suits a particular workflow.
The four phases at a glance
RESEARCH ──▶ PLAN ──────────────▶ PREPARE ──────▶ DEVELOP
validate author the spec make it hand off / build
the idea (the required spine) build-ready
| Phase | You produce | The one thing that matters |
|---|---|---|
| Research | A validated idea — summary, business case, financial model | Don't spec something nobody wants |
| Plan | The spec — personas, features, stories, criteria, pages, schema | This is the required spine |
| Prepare | A build-ready blueprint — coverage checked, foundation chosen | Close the gaps before you build |
| Develop | Working software — via your IDE agent, Jira, or the in-app builder | Ship it |
Every step, ranked
Badges: Required (a project isn't buildable without it) · Recommended (most projects want it) · Optional (specific workflows or extra polish).
| # | Step | Phase | Badge | Produces | Done when… |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Create a project or use a template | Start | Required | A project seeded from your prompt | You can see the Overview |
| 2 | Project summary | Research | Recommended | An AI-written product overview | The summary reads like your idea |
| 3 | Business case | Research | Optional | Live-research market validation | You trust the idea is worth building |
| 4 | Financial analysis | Research | Optional | An interactive financial model | The numbers hold up |
| 5 | Personas | Plan | Recommended | The user roles you're building for | Every major user type is represented |
| 6 | Features | Plan | Required | The feature set | Your core capabilities are all listed |
| 7 | User stories | Plan | Required | Stories under each feature | No feature is left without stories |
| 8 | Acceptance criteria | Plan | Required | Testable criteria per story | No story is left without criteria |
| 9 | Tests | Plan | Recommended | Test cases from your criteria | Critical paths have tests |
| 10 | Pages | Plan | Required | The app's page architecture | Every user flow has a screen |
| 11 | Database schema | Plan | Required | Tables and relationships | Every entity your app needs exists |
| 12 | Prepare for Dev | Prepare | Required | A coverage-checked blueprint | The readiness check is green |
| 13 | Sprint planning | Prepare | Optional | An ordered backlog | Work is sequenced into sprints |
| 14 | Hand off to your IDE | Develop | Recommended | Your agent building from the spec | Your agent is connected via MCP |
| 15 | Codebase sync & Code Map | Develop | Optional | Generation grounded in real code | Your repo is mapped |
| 16 | Export to Jira | Develop | Optional | Epics, stories, and a Confluence page | Your board mirrors the spec |
| 17 | App Builder | Develop | Optional | A deployable app, built in-app | Your app runs |
⚠️ Watch out: Pages come before schema on purpose — your page layouts give the schema generator richer context. And it's a loop, not a line: acceptance criteria derive from features and can later be cross-checked against your pages.
Two ways to travel: guided vs. self-driven
Every project has a Guide me / I'll drive toggle in the agent panel (on by default). It changes how much the agent volunteers — not what you're allowed to do.
| Guided (default) | Self-driven | |
|---|---|---|
| Arriving on a section | The agent posts a short brief: what's here, what's thin, the next step | Nothing — you navigate yourself |
| Before a generation | Up to 3 clarifying questions (skippable, Pro plan) | Runs immediately |
| After a generation | A review: what was created, what's still thin, fix chips | Nothing |
| Best for | First projects, or when you're not sure what's next | Experienced users who know the flow |
Full detail: Guided mode. You can switch at any time; turning it off leaves the classic, do-it-yourself experience untouched.
⚡ Power user: Prefer to drive? Flip to I'll drive, use the conversational agent for targeted edits, and the section-page Generate buttons for bulk work. The guided layer never blocks anything — it only offers.
Is my project done and ready to build?
Run this check before you hand off. VibeMap computes most of it for you on the Prepare for Dev tab.
- Features exist and cover your core capabilities.
- Every feature has user stories (no "features without stories" gaps).
- Every story has acceptance criteria (no "stories without criteria" gaps).
- Pages cover every user flow, and no page is orphaned from a story.
- Schema has a table for every entity your features and pages imply.
- Prepare for Dev reports the coverage check as green and the foundation is chosen.
When those hold, your spec is build-ready: hand it to your IDE agent, export it to Jira, or build it in-app.
💡 Tip: The agent's Check my coverage chip (in the agent panel, any time) runs this gap report on demand — see Guided mode.
↔ The traditional way
Traditionally this journey is a relay of documents and specialists: a PM writes a PRD, a designer maps screens, an architect draws an ERD, a lead breaks work into tickets, and each handoff loses context. VibeMap keeps every artifact in one connected model, so a change to a feature is visible to its stories, pages, schema, and tickets at once — and the "done" check is computed, not argued.
What's next
- New here? Start with What is VibeMap?
- Ready to spec? Jump to Features — the top of the required spine.
- Want the app to lead? Read Guided mode.