Handbook
SAFe ceremonies → ceremony foundation
**Purpose:** Map **SAFe events** (team-level and program-level) to methodology-neutral **intent types** in [`ceremony-foundation.md`](ceremony-foundation.md).
SAFe ceremonies → ceremony foundation
Purpose: Map SAFe events (team-level and program-level) to methodology-neutral intent types in Ceremony foundation (methodology-neutral).
Canonical SAFe narrative: https://forgesdlc.com/methodology-safe.html · Scaled Agile Framework
Events × intent types
SAFe events operate at two levels: team (identical to Scrum) and program (ART). Program-level events are unique to SAFe.
Program-level events
| SAFe event | Foundation intents (primary → secondary) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PI Planning | C1 Align → C2 Commit | Two-day event; vision + architecture briefing (C1), then team breakouts + PI Objectives (C2). Program board captures dependencies. |
| System Demo | C4 Inspect → C6 Knowledge share | Every iteration; integrated demo across all ART teams; Product Management accepts features. |
| Inspect & Adapt (I&A) | C4 Inspect → C5 Improve | End of PI; quantitative review + problem-solving workshop; improvement backlog items. |
| ART Sync | C3 Sync | Weekly/bi-weekly; Scrum of Scrums + PO Sync; cross-team impediments and dependencies. |
Team-level events
| SAFe event | Foundation intents (primary → secondary) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Iteration Planning | C2 Commit → C1 Align | Select stories that advance PI Objectives; same as Sprint Planning. |
| Daily Stand-up | C3 Sync | 15-minute timebox; surface cross-team blockers for ART Sync escalation. |
| Iteration Review | C4 Inspect → C1 Align | Team demo; feeds into System Demo. |
| Iteration Retrospective | C5 Improve | Team improvement; ART-level themes escalated to I&A. |
Large Solution events (when applicable)
| SAFe event | Foundation intents (primary → secondary) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-PI Planning | C1 Align | Cross-ART alignment on solution context and objectives. |
| Post-PI Planning | C2 Commit | Integrate PI plans across ARTs; resolve cross-ART dependencies. |
| Solution Demo | C4 Inspect | Integrated demo across multiple ARTs. |
C6 Assure / release is continuous in SAFe via the continuous delivery pipeline, Definition of Done, and built-in quality practices. Release on demand (Phase F) is a separate business decision — see project release docs.
What git-based tracking approximates vs what ceremonies need
| Event | Git / commits approximate | You still need (ALM / human) |
|---|---|---|
| PI Planning | Activity trends, prior PI throughput | Vision, feature priorities, capacity, business value, dependency mapping |
| System Demo | Merged PRs, integrated branches | Stakeholder feedback, feature acceptance, cross-team coordination |
| I&A | Throughput, defect trends, cycle time | Root-cause analysis, psychological safety, improvement experiments |
| ART Sync | Cross-repo activity, blocked PRs | Verbal/async impediment escalation, dependency resolution |
| Iteration Planning | Recent activity, linked work units | PI Objectives context, PO ordering, capacity |
| Daily | Activity per contributor | Verbal/async blockers, coordination |
See project TRACKING-CHALLENGES.md.
Suggestions (SAFe-specific)
| Event | Suggestions |
|---|---|
| PI Planning | Ensure architecture briefing is concrete (enabler epics, not just principles). Timebox team breakouts; avoid "planning theater." Use the confidence vote honestly — revote if average < 3/5. |
| System Demo | Demo integrated, working software — not slides. Product Management should actively accept/reject features against criteria, not defer to later. |
| I&A | Dedicate real time to the problem-solving workshop — do not let the quantitative review consume the entire session. Limit improvement items to top 1–3 that will actually be actioned. |
| ART Sync | Keep focused on impediments and dependencies — not a status report. If no blockers, keep it short. |
| Iteration events | Same as Scrum suggestions — see scrum.md. Ensure team retro themes that affect the ART bubble up to I&A. |
For cross-methodology blend tips (e.g. SAFe ART with Kanban teams), see Methodology bridge — foundation intents ↔ named ceremonies.
Agentic note
Human accountability for PI Objectives, feature acceptance, and improvement experiments stays with roles. Agents can prepare data (velocity charts, dependency graphs, draft PI Objectives) but PI Planning negotiations, I&A problem-solving, and confidence votes require human judgment — ../agentic-sdlc.md.
Canonical source
Edit https://github.com/autowww/blueprints/blob/main/sdlc/methodologies/ceremonies/safe.md first; regenerate with docs/build-handbook.py.