12-Factor Agents Compliance Analysis

Reference: 12-Factor Agents

Input Parameters

Parameter	Description	Required
docs_path	Path to documentation directory (for existing analyses)	Optional
codebase_path	Root path of the codebase to analyze	Required

Analysis Framework

The full per-factor rubric — principle, search patterns, file patterns, compliance criteria (Strong/Partial/Weak), and anti-patterns for each of the 13 factors — lives in references/factors.md. During the Analysis Workflow, read the relevant factor sections there for the search patterns to run and the criteria to score against.

#	Factor	Focus
1	Natural Language to Tool Calls	Schema-validated structured outputs from LLM
2	Own Your Prompts	Prompts as first-class, versioned, templated code
3	Own Your Context Window	Custom formatting of history/state/tool results
4	Tools Are Structured Outputs	Validated JSON triggers deterministic code
5	Unify Execution State	Single state object merging execution + business state
6	Launch/Pause/Resume	APIs to launch, pause anywhere, resume
7	Contact Humans with Tools	Human contact as a structured tool call
8	Own Your Control Flow	Custom routing/retries, not framework defaults
9	Compact Errors into Context	Errors fed back for self-healing + escalation
10	Small, Focused Agents	Narrow responsibility, 3-10 steps each
11	Trigger from Anywhere	CLI/REST/WebSocket/chat/webhook entry points
12	Stateless Reducer	Pure (state, input) -> (state, output) agents
13	Pre-fetch Context	Fetch likely-needed data upfront

See references/factors.md for the complete rubric for every factor above.

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Output Format

Gate order: Do not assign Strong / Partial / Weak or treat recommendations as observed facts until Hard gates (after Analysis Workflow) are satisfied for the factors in scope.

Executive Summary Table

| Factor | Status | Notes |
|--------|--------|-------|
| 1. Natural Language -> Tool Calls | **Strong/Partial/Weak** | [Key finding] |
| 2. Own Your Prompts | **Strong/Partial/Weak** | [Key finding] |
| ... | ... | ... |
| 13. Pre-fetch Context | **Strong/Partial/Weak** | [Key finding] |

**Overall**: X Strong, Y Partial, Z Weak

Per-Factor Analysis

For each factor, provide:

1. Current Implementation

   • Evidence with file:line references
   • Code snippets showing patterns

2. Compliance Level

   • Strong/Partial/Weak with justification

3. Gaps

   • What's missing vs. 12-Factor ideal

4. Recommendations

   • Actionable improvements with code examples

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Analysis Workflow

1. Initial Scan

   • Run search patterns for all factors
   • Identify key files for each factor
   • Note any existing compliance documentation

2. Deep Dive (per factor)

   • Read identified files
   • Evaluate against compliance criteria
   • Document evidence with file paths

3. Gap Analysis

   • Compare current vs. 12-Factor ideal
   • Identify anti-patterns present
   • Prioritize by impact

4. Recommendations

   • Provide actionable improvements
   • Include before/after code examples
   • Reference roadmap if exists

5. Summary

   • Compile executive summary table
   • Highlight strengths and critical gaps
   • Suggest priority order for improvements

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Hard gates (evidence before scores)

Run these in order. Do not skip ahead: each Pass is an objective condition you can check (paths on disk, citations present), not internal certainty.

1. Scan gate — After the initial scan (workflow step 1), Pass: for every factor (1–13) you have either (a) ≥1 repo-relative path or glob hit to inspect, or (b) a one-line note with rationale (e.g. search command/output, or “no matches — codebase may omit this concern”). Empty hand-waving (“looks fine”) fails this gate.
2. Evidence gate (per factor) — Before writing Strong / Partial / Weak for that factor, Pass: “Current Implementation” includes ≥1 citation with file path plus line range or short quoted snippet from codebase_path, or an explicit no evidence located statement after targeted reads. If evidence is missing after search, default that factor to Weak unless the criterion is clearly N/A (say why).
3. Synthesis gate — Executive summary table and per-factor analysis sections, Pass: only after gates 1–2 are satisfied for the factors in scope. Recommendations may name new files or patterns only as proposals; they must not be presented as observed facts without matching citations from step 2.

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Quick Reference: Compliance Scoring

Score	Meaning	Action
Strong	Fully implements principle	Maintain, minor optimizations
Partial	Some implementation, significant gaps	Planned improvements
Weak	Minimal or no implementation	High priority for roadmap

When to Use This Skill

• Evaluating new LLM-powered systems
• Reviewing agent architecture decisions
• Auditing production agentic applications
• Planning improvements to existing agents
• Comparing frameworks or implementations