Today I flipped the Development Playbook repository from private to public on GitHub. The entire methodology is now free, MIT licensed, and available for anyone to clone, fork, and use on their own projects.
This feels like a milestone worth documenting.
What's in the Repo
The Playbook is a structured development process broken into six phases, each with step-by-step guides and blank templates:
| Phase | Guides | Templates | What It Covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0: Concept | 8 | 6 | Vision, discovery, competitive analysis, feasibility |
| 1: Pre-Production | 9 | 9 | Requirements, architecture, design system, project plan |
| 2: Production | 2 | 2 | Sprint execution with 3-tier testing cadence |
| 3: Testing & QA | 7 | 2 | Functional, platform, performance, security, beta |
| 4: Launch | 7 | 1 | Store prep, compliance, submission, launch day |
| 5: Post-Launch | 6 | 2 | Monitoring, feedback loops, iteration planning |
39 guides total. 22 templates. Plus a TRANSITIONS.md file with readiness checklists for moving between phases, a CONTRIBUTING.md for anyone who wants to improve the process, and reference docs for AI-assisted design pipelines and asset workflows.
Every step guide follows the same structure: purpose, prerequisites, detailed process, anti-patterns to avoid, deliverable, and a definition of done. The templates are blank documents you copy into your project's docs/ folder and fill in as you work.
Why Open Source It
The Playbook started as personal process notes I adapted from running teams at EA, Blizzard, and LEGO. Over the past few years I refined it into something more structured: a repeatable framework that works whether you're building a SaaS app, a mobile game, or a static website.
This site documents 9 projects built with the Playbook. That's the proof it works. But until today, you could see the results without being able to use the process yourself. "Look at this great methodology" is less useful than "here, take the methodology and try it."
MIT license means you can use it commercially, modify it, redistribute it. No strings. If it helps you ship something, that's the whole point.
What Changed on the Site
Going public meant more than just clicking a button on GitHub. The site needed to actually tell people the Playbook exists and where to find it:
- New
/playbookpage with setup instructions, phase breakdown, and a prominent GitHub link - "Get the Playbook" is now the primary CTA in the hero section on the home page
- Styled header button with a GitHub icon so the Playbook link is visible on every page
- Updated methodology page CTA from "See It in Action" to "Use This Process Yourself"
- About page now mentions the repo is open source with a direct link
The site went from "here's a methodology you can read about" to "here's a methodology you can use." That's a meaningful shift.
What's Next
The repo is public but there's more work to do around the ecosystem:
- Social handles. @thedevplaybook on X, GitHub org, etc. Right now it lives under my personal GitHub account.
- Cross-pollination. As I build more projects through the Playbook, the guides and templates get better. Each project teaches something the process didn't account for.
- Contributions. The
CONTRIBUTING.mdis written but untested by anyone other than me. Curious to see if anyone actually submits improvements.
Nine projects in, the Playbook has proven it works for me. Now it's time to find out if it works for anyone else.