product-backlog ยท diff
git:20260905.35922ed to git:20260905.a326c26
25 added, 9 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: product-backlog
description: Organize, update, and reprioritize Donut's ordered product backlog of story references across seeds. Use for backlog ordering and maintenance; story details belong in their home seeds. Do not use for LeSS in Action class backlogs (prepare-product-backlog-for-lia).
---
# Product backlog
## Product settings
- Repository: the Donut checkout containing this skill (three directories
above this skill directory). Resolve the following paths from that root.
- Canonical backlog: `.planning/PRODUCT-BACKLOG.md` in that repository.
- Story homes: `.planning/seeds/SEED-NNN-*.md`.
- - Format: one numbered list, highest priority first. Each entry contains only
- the exact story title linked to its heading or stable anchor, and its home
- seed ID. Keep requirements, estimates, dependencies, and status in the seed.
- - This is a selected queue of unfinished stories, not an exhaustive inventory
+ - Required file layout: a short **Near-future direction** section immediately
+ after the title, followed by the unfinished story queue, and a **Recently
+ done** section at the bottom.
+ - The direction section states the general product goal for the near future.
+ Most backlog items should align with that direction and goal; urgent fixes
+ and urgent architecture changes are exceptions and may take priority.
+ - Queue format: one numbered list, highest priority first. Each entry contains
+ only the exact story title linked to its heading or stable anchor, and its
+ home seed ID. Keep requirements, estimates, dependencies, and status in the seed.
+ - The queue is a selection of unfinished stories, not an exhaustive inventory
of seeds, a milestone roadmap, or an execution plan.
+ - Recently done lists the ten most recently completed items, newest first
+ (or all completed items if fewer than ten). Use the same linked title and
+ seed ID format as the queue; completion details stay in the home seed.
- Do not confuse this queue with the LeSS in Action class backlog produced by
`prepare-product-backlog-for-lia`.
## Maintain the queue
- Read the backlog and the referenced story sections before changing order.
- Follow the owner's priority instructions; otherwise order by user value,
- learning value, and genuine product prerequisites. Preserve unrelated order.
+ Read the backlog, including its near-future direction, and the referenced story
+ sections before changing order. Follow the owner's priority instructions;
+ otherwise order by alignment with the direction, user value, learning value,
+ and genuine product prerequisites, allowing the urgent exceptions above.
+ Preserve unrelated order.
Do not infer that seed number or order within a seed determines global priority.
One story has one canonical home even when its journey crosses several
features. Related seeds may link to it; do not duplicate its requirements or
enqueue the same outcome twice. Preserve stable story anchors when renaming or
moving a story, and update incoming links when needed.
Add only actual stories with a named beneficiary and evaluable outcome. Use
the repository's story-decomposition skill when those are unresolved; use
story-refinement for selected-story detail, then slice-planning. Reprioritizing
does not authorize execution or mean other seed candidates are cancelled.
- On completion, verify evidence, record completion in the home seed, and remove
- the queue entry. On deferral, remove the entry while retaining the seed story.
+ On completion, verify evidence, record completion in the home seed, and move
+ the queue entry to the top of Recently done. Keep at most ten entries: when a
+ new completion makes eleven, drop the oldest entry at the bottom, retaining
+ its completion record in the seed. On deferral, remove the queue entry while
+ retaining the seed story; deferred items do not belong in Recently done.
If a dependency is unfinished, place it first or explain the ordering conflict
to the owner; do not manufacture technical preparation stories.
Check every link and exact title, duplicate outcomes, and prerequisite order.
+ Check that the direction section comes first, most queued items align with it,
+ and Recently done comes last with at most ten entries in newest-first order.
Summarize what moved and why. Follow repository commit conventions; backlog
maintenance alone does not authorize a commit or push.