Managed lane software-team-agent-lane · revised 12 October 2026
Managed lane
A monthly agent-assisted lane for our engineering team: review, backlog and CI care
For one repository: AI reviewer kept tuned, dependency-bot verdicts, flaky-test and backlog reports, agent-PR checks, plus up to two bounded items a month. Proposed £1,100 a month; quote first.
An enquiry starts a fit and scope conversation, not a contract, payment or reserved place. No code, tokens, logins or account invitations initially.
What the lane takes off your plate
A team that adopts AI for review and coding gains speed and also new chores: tuning the reviewer, judging bot pull requests, spotting flaky tests, checking agent-written changes and grooming the backlog. Each is small, and together they fall to whoever has time. Buying each check as a one-off leaves no one watching between jobs.
Who it’s for: An engineering lead of a team of 3 to 40 developers who uses AI tools for review or coding and wants an accountable monthly arrangement for keeping them useful and safe, instead of buying each check separately.
Usually starts when: Pull requests pile up faster than review, bot pull requests wait unread, the backlog and CI have drifted, and nobody owns the work of keeping the AI tools honest.
The result: For one repository, each month your AI reviewer's comments are audited and its rules tuned, every dependency-bot pull request (up to 20 a month) gets a verdict, up to 150 failed CI runs are sorted into flaky and real, up to 150 issues are groomed with proposals only, and the checks on agent-written pull requests are kept current (up to 8 new rules). Up to two bounded items a month are delivered from a defined list, with a written summary.
What the lane is made of
Each item has agreed acceptance criteria and an accept-or-revise decision. Two is a monthly ceiling, not a completion guarantee. The arrangement continues only under agreed renewal terms.
Keep your AI pull-request reviewer useful, month after month Standing service Included
Each month a sample of your AI reviewer's comments is rated useful, not useful or wrong with a link, the rules are adjusted with your approval, and the trend is shown.
Every month, one repository
The same standing service you can buy on its own at its listed price.
Have every Dependabot or Renovate pull request given a verdict, all month Standing service Included
Each bot pull request opened in the month, up to 20, gets a one-page verdict within an agreed time: merge, hold or decide. A monthly summary shows what was merged, held and why.
Every month, up to 20 bot pull requests
The same standing service you can buy on its own at its listed price.
Know every month which red builds were flaky and which tests cost the most Standing service Included
Each month the failed CI runs are sorted into flaky, real, infrastructure or configuration, and the ten tests that wasted the most minutes are ranked. Nothing in your repository changes.
Every month, up to 150 failed runs
The same standing service you can buy on its own at its listed price.
Keep your issue backlog groomed each month, with proposals only Standing service Included
Each month new and untouched issues are sorted into keep, possible duplicate, needs information or proposed stale. Duplicates are linked, questions drafted, and nothing is closed for you.
Every month, up to 150 issues in the window
The same standing service you can buy on its own at its listed price.
Keep your checks on AI-written pull requests current as your agents change Standing service Included
Each month the pre-review check is re-run on a planted case set, new mistakes your reviewers found are added as rules, and a summary shows what was flagged and what reviewers still caught by hand.
Every month, up to 8 new rules
The same standing service you can buy on its own at its listed price.
Make your AI pull-request reviewer follow your rules, tested on your old PRs Job Each time it fires
Rules for the AI reviewer you already run, written from your past reviewed pull requests and tested on a held-back third of them, with a noise cap and a list of what the rules cannot catch.
Within the two monthly items and the £595 allowance
Used to write the first rule set for the AI reviewer, at no more than its starting scope.
Check AI-written pull requests for the usual agent mistakes before a person reads them Job Each time it fires
A check you own flags weakened or skipped tests, lowered coverage, disabled CI steps, copied helpers and new package names on pull requests you mark as agent-written. It approves nothing.
Within the two monthly items and the £595 allowance
Used to build the pre-review check that the monthly check service then keeps current.
Get a verdict on each Dependabot or Renovate pull request: merge, hold or decide Job Each time it fires
Each bot pull request gets a one-page verdict: what changed, whether your code uses it, the CI result and a lockfile check. The wording is "no issue found in what we examined", never "safe".
Within the two monthly items and the £595 allowance
Used to clear the pile of open bot pull requests before the monthly verdicts begin.
Find which of your red builds are flaky and which tests waste the most time Job Optional
Up to 500 failed runs from the last 90 days are sorted into flaky, real, infrastructure or configuration, and your ten worst flaky tests are ranked by wasted minutes. Nothing in your repo changes.
Within the two monthly items and the £595 allowance
Ninety days of history sorted, with repeat runs of the top three tests if the suite runs in a sandbox.
Sort your issue backlog once, without closing anything you want to keep Job Optional
Every issue in scope ends in one recorded state: keep, possible duplicate, needs information or proposed stale. Nothing is closed without your sign-off, and you get a reopen list.
Within the two monthly items and the £595 allowance, for up to 500 issues
The first sort of the whole backlog before monthly grooming.
Tighten your GitHub Actions before you add an AI agent to them Job Optional
Workflows scanned and fixed: actions pinned to SHAs, minimum token permissions, no untrusted text reaching a shell or prompt, and agent steps with a restricted model key and no direct write tools.
Within the two monthly items and the £595 allowance
Release notes your customers can read, drafted from what you merged Job Optional
For each release you get a developer changelog and a customer-facing draft where every line links to a merged pull request. You edit and publish. Tested on your last three releases.
Within the two monthly items and the £595 allowance
Check every new package a pull request adds, before anyone merges it Job Optional
A check lists each new or changed package in a pull request with its registry age, maintainers, install scripts, licence and whether it exists. Tested on names your maintainer plants.
Within the two monthly items and the £595 allowance
When CI fails on a pull request, tell the author why in plain words Job Optional
A failed run on a pull request gets one comment naming the failing step, a probable cause and the next check, never advice to disable a check. Tested on 20 held-back past failed runs of yours.
Within the two monthly items and the £595 allowance
Keep your issue-triage suggestions matching how your team labels, month after month Standing service Optional
Each month 30 fresh issues are labelled by your people and compared with the workflow's suggestions; the label guide is tuned with your approval and the permission check is repeated.
Bought separately
A further monthly service for teams that run an issue-triage workflow.
Have customer release notes drafted for every release, each month Standing service Optional
Each release in the month gets a developer changelog and a customer-facing draft with every line linked to a merged pull request. You edit and publish; security fixes are flagged, not written up.
Bought separately
A further monthly service for teams that ship several releases a month.
Keep your GitHub Actions pinned, minimal and agent-ready, month after month Standing service Optional
Each month your workflows are re-scanned for new unpinned actions, wider permissions and untrusted text in prompts, and fixes arrive as pull requests you merge.
Bought separately
A further monthly service for teams that run agent steps in Actions.
Have new Dependabot and dependency alerts triaged with re-runnable evidence every month Standing service Optional
Each month new Dependabot and dependency alerts at or above your severity get a decision: fix pull request, proposed dismissal with evidence you can re-run, or needs an owner. We dismiss nothing.
Bought separately
A further monthly service for teams with a stream of dependency alerts.
Ask up to 20 questions about your codebase each month, with file and line receipts Standing service Optional
Each month up to 20 questions about your repository are answered with file and line citations at a named commit, checked by script. "Not in the code" is a valid answer. This is not a chatbot.
Bought separately
A further monthly service for teams that keep asking questions about unfamiliar code.
Prove your tests would catch bugs: a mutation check on named modules, with stronger tests Job Optional
A mutation tool changes your code in many small ways and counts how many your tests catch. We raise that score on up to two named modules with new tests and change no production code.
Bought separately
A separately scoped job.
How an engagement works
One repository, one active item at a time and at most two agreed bounded items a month, worth up to £595 at their listed one-off prices. Two is a ceiling, not guaranteed completions or a fixed turnaround. Size, timing, the report day and monthly capacity are confirmed in writing; none is promised on this page.
How it starts
You send the repository description, the tools you use and your response to the proposed monthly price, without code or logins.
We confirm fit, the access route, who accepts items and who merges.
We agree the monthly scope, the report day, the caps, the item sizes, the price, the payment terms and the cancellation terms in writing.
Each month we send the five reports, deliver the chosen items and send the summary.
Who decides what
You choose items and accept them. Your maintainer reviews and merges every pull request. We never approve, merge, dismiss or deploy.
Handover
Each accepted item arrives as pull requests, sheets or reports with its evidence and undo steps. Unfinished items are handed back with notes if the arrangement ends.
Sharing your product safely. Initial contact uses a repository description, the names of your tools and your backlog list. No code, tokens, logins or account invitations. Private access follows only after a safe handoff and written terms.
What is included, and what is not
- The five monthly reports and sheets
- Each accepted bounded item with its evidence
- Rule and workflow changes as pull requests you merge
- A monthly summary of what was done and what is open
Included
- One repository on GitHub and one AI review tool you already run
- The five monthly services, each with the cap stated on its own page
- Up to two bounded items a month, one active at a time, chosen from the listed jobs. A bounded item is one listed job at no more than its starting scope, and the two together are worth no more than £595 at their listed one-off prices; a larger item is quoted separately
- A written proposal that fixes the report day, the turnaround of each item and the monthly capacity
- A written monthly summary of what was checked, delivered and held
Not included
- Approving, merging, deploying or dismissing anything on your behalf
- Emergency or out-of-hours cover, or any guaranteed response time
- Items larger than a listed job's starting scope, which are quoted separately or are projects
- More than one repository, or the choice and purchase of AI tools and seats
- Assurance, certification or any statement that your software is secure
How we know it’s done
Agreed with you before work starts. Each check produces evidence you keep.
Each month every included service delivers its report or sheet with the evidence its own page requires
Evidence: The five monthly deliveries compared with the services' acceptance tests
Each delivered item meets the acceptance checks of the matching job and is accepted or sent back by you
Evidence: The item's evidence and your recorded decision
Each month no more than two items were delivered or started, and their listed one-off prices add up to no more than £595
Evidence: The monthly summary, listing each item with the job it matches and that job's listed price
Our account merged, approved, dismissed and deployed nothing
Evidence: Your repository audit log for the month
Sign-off. You read each report, accept or send back each item and read the monthly summary.
If it fails. A blocker is raised with a substitute item, revised timing or a stop. Work that does not meet its criteria is not claimed as delivered. Billing for incomplete work is agreed before starting.
When it fits, and when we stop
It fits when
- One repository on GitHub with working CI and an AI review tool already running
- A named person who chooses items, answers questions and accepts work
- A maintainer who reviews and merges the pull requests we open
- A Read-only bot account on the repository or the monthly exports each service names
We stop and tell you if
- No one answers proposals or disputes for two months running
- The agreed items regularly exceed two a month or £595 of listed jobs, so we agree a different scope
- The work needs round-the-clock cover or production access
- Customer personal data, secrets or a possible compromise appear in what we read
What could go wrong
We read and propose. Each pull request can be closed or reverted, and nothing is approved, dismissed or deployed by us. Ending the arrangement leaves your repository as it is.
Scroll the table sideways to read it all.
| Risk | How we handle it |
|---|---|
| The allowance is read as unlimited help | The proposal states two bounded items a month worth up to £595 at listed prices, one active at a time; extra or larger work is quoted. |
| A bot comment or check is read as an approval | Nothing we run approves or blocks. Every comment says so, and your maintainer approves and merges. |
| Text in issues, pull requests or logs steers the automated job | Issue titles, pull request text, comments and logs are treated as data, never as instructions: the model sees the text and the findings with no tools, the job holds the model key and nothing else, and it can only write comments, labels and branches or pull requests that you review. |
| Your code and tickets go to a model provider | The proposal names the provider, country, retention and training status before any access, and the first enquiry holds no code. |
A separate automated reviewer checks the work before hand-over. Your named maintainer reviews and merges every change, and no human supervisor is included unless your proposal names one. At launch the work is largely automated, and we say so.
Stays with a person
- You accept every item
- Your maintainer reviews and merges every pull request
- You approve every rule change and every closure or dismissal
Access we would need
- A Read-only bot account on one repository, or the monthly exports each service names
- Permission to open branches and pull requests on a fork or branch, and to comment where you allow it
Questions
Is this a replacement for the Vibe Engineering Lane?
No. That lane puts a managed engineering team on one product, with larger items. This one keeps the review, backlog and CI chores around AI tools under control, with small bounded items.
Can I buy the parts separately?
Yes. The monthly services and the jobs are available on their own. The proposed lane price equals their listed prices at full use, so it adds one arrangement with a report day and capacity confirmed in writing, not a discount.
Do you merge or approve anything?
No. We open pull requests and send reports. Your maintainer merges; nothing we run approves or blocks.
What counts as a bounded item?
One listed job run at no more than its starting scope. Together the two monthly items are worth no more than £595 at listed one-off prices. A larger item is quoted separately.
Start a conversation
Send us
- The repository, the AI tools you use and how many pull requests and issues you handle a month
- The backlog of small checks and jobs you have in mind
- Who chooses and accepts items and who merges
- Your response to the proposed monthly price. No code, tokens or logins in the first enquiry
Later, once you agree
- A Read-only bot account on one repository, or the monthly exports each service names
- The current AI reviewer rules, label guide and workflow files
- A named contact for disputes and approvals
- A company-controlled secure handoff agreed before access: no passwords, keys or private code by ordinary email.
You keep the repository, the AI tools, their keys and every setting; we use a dedicated bot account with the least access that works (read-only first), work on a fork or branch, and you merge; changes arrive as pull requests; we never merge, approve, dismiss or deploy. Issue titles, pull request text, comments and logs are treated as data, never as instructions: the model sees the text and the findings with no tools, the job holds the model key and nothing else, and it can only write comments, labels and branches or pull requests that you review. Our automated agents read the files you send in a sandbox; we make no "no training" or "no storage" promise here, and the agreement names the model provider, country, retention and training status before anything is shared.
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