Model-Based Agentic Software Engineering

Front Matter
  1. What This Book Argues
  2. How to Read This Book
  3. MAGE on One Page
  4. Glossary
  5. Preface
  6. List of Figures and Tables
  7. Acknowledgments
Part 1 — The New Engineering Problem
  1. The New Engineering Problem
  2. 1The Printer
  3. 2MAGE by Example: Summary of the DocAble Case
  4. 3The Agentic Substrate
  5. 4Two Problems the Method Must Solve
Part 2 — Modeling
  1. Modeling
  2. 5From Context to Engineering Models
  3. 6Structural Models: What Is Connected to What?
  4. 7Behavioral Models: What May Happen?
  5. 8Ownership Models: Who Controls What, and When?
  6. 9Decision Models: What Is Allowed?
  7. 10Measurement Models: How Much, and Against What Bound?
  8. 11Provenance Models: What Happened, and What Evidence Records It?
  9. 12System Knowledge: Connecting the Models
Part 3 — Alignment
  1. Alignment
  2. 13Where Authority Can Act
  3. 14From Engineering Intent to Enforceable Obligation
  4. 15Constraints, Sensors, Validators, and Gates
  5. 16Growing the Governed Environment
  6. 17Governing the Control Estate
Part 4 — The MAGE Method
  1. The MAGE Method
  2. 18The MAGE Workflow
  3. 19Migrating to MAGE
  4. 20Validating Change
  5. 21Operating MAGE
  6. 22Packaging the Method as Skills
  7. The Portable Moves
Part 5 — The Evidence
  1. The Evidence
  2. 23The Accessibility Problem
  3. 24Building DocAble
  4. 25How Delegation Changed
  5. 26From Failure to Engineering Capital
  6. 27MAGE in the Wild
Part 6 — The Profession
  1. The Profession
  2. 28A Theory of MAGE
  3. 29Scope Conditions
  4. 30What the Theory Predicts
  5. 31Software Engineering, Reorganized
  6. 32Software Rejoins Engineering
  7. 33The Engineer
Conclusion
  1. The Part That Stays Yours
Appendix Part I — Practice
  1. Appendix Part I — Practice
Appendix A — MAGE Engineering Stacks
  1. AAppendix A — MAGE Engineering Stacks
  2. AA.1 Model Coherence
  3. AA.2 Assurance
  4. AA.3 Auditable Transformation
  5. AA.4 Observe → React
  6. AA.5 Resource Mediation
  7. AA.6 Governance Conversion
  8. AA.7 Context Delivery
  9. AA.8 Composing a Stack
Appendix B — Engineering Moves
  1. BAppendix B — Engineering Moves
  2. BB.1 Make One Source Authoritative
  3. BB.2 Derive; Don't Copy
  4. BB.3 Keep Representation and Reality in Correspondence
  5. BB.4 Derive What Must Be Assured
  6. BB.5 Put Authority Where the Property Becomes Legible
  7. BB.6 Close the Action Surface
  8. BB.7 Deliver Knowledge Where the Decision Occurs
  9. BB.8 Make Cause Travel with Consequence
  10. BB.9 Externalize Recurring Operational Judgment
  11. BB.10 Make Hidden Dependencies Queryable
Appendix C — Model Reference
  1. CAppendix C — Model Reference
  2. CC.1 Structure and Boundaries
  3. CC.2 Behavior and Ownership
  4. CC.3 Execution and Placement
  5. CC.4 Measurement
  6. CC.5 Documentation and Provenance
  7. CC.6 Joining Views Around a Scenario
  8. CC.7 From Representation to Authority
Appendix D — Operator's Reference
  1. DAppendix D — Operator's Reference
  2. DD.1 The Operator's Dashboard
  3. DD.2 Daily Operator Review
  4. DD.3 System Health
  5. DD.4 Representation Health
  6. DD.5 Human Judgment
  7. DD.6 Engineering Capital
  8. DD.7 Governance Conversion
  9. DD.8 Brownfield Migration Drill
  10. DD.9 Brownfield Progress
  11. DD.10 Release Readiness
  12. DD.11 Evidence Quality
  13. DD.12 Operating Doctrine
Appendix E — How to Write a Skill
  1. EAppendix E — How to Write a Skill
  2. EAppendix E - 1. Theory
  3. EAppendix E - 2. Applying the Recipe
Appendix F — Configuring MAGE Across the Product Lifecycle
  1. FAppendix F — Configuring MAGE Across the Product Lifecycle
  2. FF.1 One Product, Several Engineering Surfaces
  3. FF.2 Product Discovery
  4. FF.3 Engineering & Realization
  5. FF.4 Product Management & Maintenance
  6. FF.5 Operations & Incident Response
  7. FF.6 Assurance & Compliance
  8. FF.7 Differential Adoption
  9. FF.8 From Local MAGE to the Product GEE
  10. FF.9 Engineering Capital Across Time and Space
Appendix Part II — Evidence
  1. Appendix Part II — Evidence
Appendix G — Field Guide
  1. GAppendix G — Field Guide
Appendix H — Evidence Ledger: The DocAble Case
  1. HAppendix H — Evidence Ledger: The DocAble Case
Appendix I — Crazy Ideas
  1. IAppendix I — Crazy Ideas
  2. II.1 Commodity Intelligence as an Experimental Instrument for Software Engineering
  3. II.2 Model Induction from Realized Work
  4. II.3 Model-Based Agentic Engineering Beyond Software
Back Matter
  1. Colophon — Dogfooding MAGE
  2. About the Author
Index
  1. Index (terms)
  2. Figures Gallery
  3. Bibliography
© James C. Davis, 2026–present