The Developer path is the first rank of the dojo. In six weeks you take one product from idea to a package you can present. You do not just write code. You talk to customers, plan the whole product, and steer AI agents that do the building.
What you need
- A product idea you care about. It can be small. You may use a real idea, or the fictional TrailMug used in these pages.
- About 8 to 10 hours a week.
- A free account on a git host such as gitlab.com or github.com.
- A coach or mentor if you can find one, or a study partner.
The six weeks
| Week | Theme | You finish with |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | See the whole product | A one-page map of the product and customer interviews started |
| 2 | Know the people | Personas, touch points and journeys |
| 3 | From problems to epics | A roadmap of 4 to 8 epics, written by you |
| 4 | Defend the roadmap | A reviewed roadmap, stakeholder map and agent-ready epics |
| 5 | Brand, website and mockups | A brand name, a simple website and next-version mockups |
| 6 | Catalogue, demo and final package | A catalogue, a demo and your Product Package presentation |
The final assessment
The last week ends with a Product Package. It is a bundle of evidence that you own the product. See Product Package standard and Product Package rubric.
How to study each week
- Read the week page.
- Do the exercises in your own project, in git.
- Use the templates in the Templates section.
- Pick two or three items from the Learning path.
- On Friday, fill in the self-check and write a weekly note.
The rules still apply
All five rules of The Way apply from day one. The most important for you: you write your own epics, and you say how you used AI.
Passing
You pass when you reach level 3 (“Competent”) on all rubric skills and no skill is below level 2. If you do not, you get a coaching plan, not a failure.
After the Developer path
Next ranks: Master Developer (platform, production launch, AI-agent orchestration) and Sensei (coaching, hosting live builds, reviewing work).
