# Introducing Consort: A Spec-First Agent Framework for Enforced, Test-Driven Development on Live Database Branches

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09671 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.09671/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 6 of its 22 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 9 Sep 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 6 of 6)

- [Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.09089/) (2025)
- [A Survey of Vibe Coding with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.12399/) (2025)
- [Spec-Driven Development:From Code to Contract in the Age of AI Coding Assistants](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.00180/) (2026)
- [How Coding Agents Fail Their Users: A Large-Scale Analysis of Developer-Agent Misalignment in 20,574 Real-World Sessions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.29442/) (2026)
- [Why AI Agents Still Need You: Findings from Developer-Agent Collaborations in the Wild](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.12347/) (2025)
- [Are Coding Agents Generating Over-Mocked Tests? An Empirical Study](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.00409/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

When an agent writes code, the development framework becomes the control system for a non-deterministic worker. Spec-first, agent-driven frameworks have gained rapid traction since 2025; the installable ones, GitHub Spec Kit, obra/superpowers, BMAD, and GSD, and our own, all capture intent through a specification or durable planning artifacts. Since they agree on capturing intent up front, what separates them is how each enforces the engineering discipline that keeps agent-written code clean, correct, and maintainable. Every framework enforces that discipline somehow; they differ in how. We characterize three modes: enforcement by persuasion (prompt discipline the model may ignore), by front-loaded structure (strong specs, then a trusted build), and through controls the agent cannot edit (a deterministic orchestrator, human-approved gates, immutable tests, and a green result that must pass against a live, branched database). We introduce Consort, a spec-first, test-driven agent framework built on the third, enforcing that discipline through controls the agent runs inside but cannot bypass, in which a deterministic orchestrator drives separate role agents through a spec-first design lane and a test-driven build lane on a live database branch. We argue that enforcing the tests and gates in code keeps agent-written code honest and verifiable, while its specialized roles, like the human roles before them, are what make it maintainable, claims we frame as a pre-registered, testable hypothesis.