---
title: "30-60-90 Day Plan"
slug: onboarding-30-60-90-plan
section: Developer Onboarding
status: stable
description: "A sequenced path through everything else in this section, so onboarding has a shape instead of being a pile of pages to read in some order."
last-updated: 2026-10-07
---

# 30-60-90 Day Plan

A sequenced path through everything else in this section, so onboarding has a shape instead of being a pile of pages to read in some order.

## Overview

Each phase builds on the last: orientation before contribution, contribution before independence. Moving faster than the plan is fine if you're genuinely ready — moving slower is also fine. Treat the day counts as a guide, not a deadline.

## Days 1–30: Orientation

- Work through the Access & Accounts Checklist — don't wait until you're blocked by a missing credential to request it.
- Get the Local Environment Setup running and confirm a real login works end-to-end.
- Read Overview & Architecture and the Glossary — the domain vocabulary (Program vs Season vs Operational Cycle, Applicant vs Application) trips up most new contributors at least once.
- Ask the AAG MCP @ connector the recommended first questions (see the AAG MCP @ Connector Onboarding page) — it's faster than reconstructing the ecosystem model from code alone.
- Shadow at least one PR review end-to-end so the gate sequence (see PR & Code Review Process) is familiar before you're the one waiting on it.

## Days 31–60: Contribution

- Pick up one ticket and take it through the full lifecycle yourself: Asana ticket → branch → implementation → PR through every review gate → merged and deployed.
- Expect to need the Golden-Path Recipes page at least once — check there before improvising a process for a task type you haven't done yet.
- Start using the Debugging & Observability tools directly when something breaks, rather than immediately escalating.

## Days 61–90: Independence

- Own a feature through to production promotion without needing a walkthrough of the process itself (you may still need domain input — that's normal, not a sign you're behind).
- Be able to answer, unprompted: where does this fit in the ecosystem, which system owns it, what documentation explains it, and what should I verify before changing it? (This is the same "onboarding question" the AAG MCP @ connector page poses as the ultimate success criterion.)

## FAQ

- **Where do I ask questions the AAG connector doesn't have a good answer for?** The engineering Teams chat, or your onboarding buddy — the connector is a learning aid, not the final word, especially on anything that's changed recently.
- **slopgate passed locally but CI flagged something — what happened?** Local and CI slopgate versions can drift. Re-run against the CI-pinned version before assuming it's a false positive.
- **Is there a staging environment?** No. The only valid environments are `development`, `QA`, and `production` — anything referencing "staging" is legacy and should not be used.
- **Can I use my own portal login to test something quickly?** No — use one of the dedicated E2E bot accounts. See Security & Secrets Handling.