Tracer has introduced Epic Mode, a new collaborative artifact management system designed to address persistent challenges in AI-assisted software development, particularly the loss of context across multi-phase projects. The feature represents a significant evolution from the platform's existing planning and verification tools, introducing structured workflows that maintain continuity across complex development cycles.
A System of Living Documents
Epic Mode departs from traditional single-document planning approaches by implementing what the company describes as a "system of many specs." Rather than relying on master documents that become outdated as projects evolve, the system uses interconnected, focused documents that address specific project aspects.
The architecture centers on two primary artifact types:
- Specs — High-level documents capturing requirements, design decisions, and technical planning. These include product requirements documents, technical architecture specifications, design specifications for user flows, and API contracts. Specs function as living documents that evolve as project understanding deepens.
- Tickets — Actionable work items that translate specs into concrete implementation tasks, each featuring clear acceptance criteria and status tracking from backlog through completion.
Four-Stage Workflow
The Epic Mode workflow follows a structured four-phase process:
1. Guided workflow selection — Users begin with templates for common development scenarios rather than blank documents.
2. Requirements input — Problem statements and project goals are provided to establish foundation.
3. AI-assisted dialogue — An elicitation-driven conversation where the system asks clarifying questions, surfaces constraints, and identifies "invisible rules" rather than making assumptions.
4. Implementation handoff with verification — Selected artifacts transfer to coding environments with built-in continuous validation against specifications.
Context Preservation as Core Innovation
The defining characteristic of Epic Mode lies in its context preservation capabilities. Each spec and ticket maintains full awareness of related artifacts, previous decisions, and conversation history. This architecture addresses a fundamental limitation in AI coding workflows: the tendency for context to dissipate between sessions or phases.
When implementing later phases of a project, the system retains knowledge of earlier decisions, constraints, and rationale. This persistence eliminates the common scenario where developers must repeatedly reorient AI assistants to previously established project parameters.
Practical Application
In a demonstration using a movie tracker application, the system illustrated how context flows between artifacts. Upon establishing a product requirements document specifying TMDB API integration and local storage, subsequent technical architecture and design specifications automatically inherited these constraints.
Tickets generated from these specs carried forward relevant details — the local storage implementation ticket, for instance, incorporated the specific data structure defined in the technical architecture document. When handed to coding agents, these tickets arrived with complete contextual background rather than isolated task descriptions.
Continuous Validation and Evolution
The system includes continuous validation mechanisms that verify implementations against specifications, identifying specific violations when discrepancies occur. This validation extends to autonomous coding modes, where agents operate with access to rich contextual information about project goals and acceptance criteria.
The living document approach enables dynamic project evolution. When implementation reveals new requirements — such as discovering that local storage alone proves insufficient for cross-device synchronization — updating the relevant spec automatically propagates changes through dependent tickets, maintaining system-wide coherence.
Team and Enterprise Implications
For development teams, Epic Mode introduces shared artifact repositories that synchronize context across contributors. Specs and tickets can be version-controlled through repositories, reducing misalignment and eliminating redundant clarification conversations.
The feature is available to existing Tracer subscribers without additional cost, positioning it as an enhancement to current workflows rather than a separate product tier.
Industry Context
The release arrives as the AI coding assistant market intensifies focus on workflow integration and context management. While numerous tools address code generation, fewer have tackled the structural challenges of maintaining coherence across extended, multi-session development projects. Epic Mode represents an attempt to bridge the gap between project management systems and AI coding environments, treating planning artifacts as dynamic, interconnected resources rather than static documentation.