Walking Skeleton

By Miranda Dulin

Published in Glossary

October 04, 2023

1 min read

Definition of Walking Skeleton

A Walking Skeleton is a minimal implementation of a system to validate the architecture and framework.

Back of a vocabulary card for the term Walking Skeleton

Example Sentence

Once the walking skeleton was in place, it became much easier to flesh out features.

Agile practitioners should be familiar with the term “walking skeleton” because it represents the bare minimum functional implementation of a system. It provides a foundational structure for a project, demonstrating end-to-end functionality, and enables early testing and validation of critical components. Understanding the concept of a walking skeleton aids teams in visualizing the core architecture, facilitating continuous integration and early feedback, and guiding subsequent iterations for further development and expansion.