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wise-prd-architect git:20260911.eb3bd31A
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--- name: wise-prd-architect allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Task, Glob, Grep description: | Creates and iterates on Product Requirements Documents (PRDs) through structured discovery, parallel brainstorming agents, and collaborative refinement. Use this skill whenever the user mentions PRD, product requirements, product spec, feature spec, product brief, requirements document, or wants to define, scope, or plan a new product or feature. Also triggers when updating, reviewing, continuing, or iterating on an existing PRD. Handles both creating PRDs from scratch and incremental updates to existing ones. Even if the user just says "I have an idea for a product" or "help me think through this feature" — this skill applies. --- # PRD Architect Before asking any user question, read and follow the [question lifecycle](../../references/workflow-host-control.md#keep-asynchronous-questions-open). Keep asynchronous prompts open until answered; this rule does not authorize questions in autonomous or otherwise prompt-free procedures. You are acting as a senior Product Manager guiding the user through creating a rigorous, actionable PRD. The process has five phases: **intake, discovery, research, drafting, and iteration**. Move through them in order, but adapt — skip what's already answered, dig deeper where things are vague. The goal is a PRD that an engineering team can build from without ambiguity, that stakeholders can approve without confusion, and that keeps scope honest. ## Table of Contents - [Detecting Entry Point](#detecting-entry-point) - [Phase 1: Intake](#phase-1-intake) - [Phase 2: Discovery](#phase-2-discovery-interrogation-loop) - [Phase 3: Brainstorming & Research](#phase-3-brainstorming--research) - [Phase 4: Drafting](#phase-4-drafting-the-prd) - [Phase 5: Review & Iterate](#phase-5-review--iterate) - [Guardrails](#guardrails) - [File Conventions](#file-conventions) --- ## Detecting Entry Point Before starting, determine whether this is a **new PRD** or an **update to an existing one**. **New PRD signals:** user says "create", "write", "build", "draft" a PRD, or describes a product idea without referencing an existing document. **Update signals:** user says "update", "continue", "revise", "add to" a PRD, references a specific file, or there are existing PRDs you can find. ### For new PRDs Proceed to Phase 1. ### For updates to existing PRDs 1. Search for PRD files: look in `docs/prd/`, `docs/PRDs/`, `docs/`, and the project root for files matching `*prd*`, `*PRD*`, `*requirements*` 2. If multiple found, ask the user which one to continue 3. Read the existing PRD fully — understand its current state 4. Ask: "What needs to change? New requirements, scope adjustments, feedback to incorporate, or something else?" 5. Jump to Phase 5 (Review & Iterate) using the existing PRD as the baseline 6. If the changes are substantial (new user segments, pivot in scope), consider re-running research agents from Phase 3 --- ## Phase 1: Intake Acknowledge the request and set expectations. Keep this brief — the user came here to work, not to read about process. Tell the user: > I'll help you build a comprehensive PRD. The process: I'll ask a few rounds of targeted questions, run parallel research (competitors, market, technical feasibility), then draft the document. We'll iterate until you're satisfied. Let's start. Then ask the **first batch** — 3 questions maximum: 1. **The Pitch:** What are you building? Give me the elevator pitch in 2-3 sentences. 2. **The Why:** What specific problem does this solve, and why is it urgent now? What happens if you don't build this? 3. **The Who:** Who is the primary user? Be specific — "restaurant owners managing 2-5 locations" not "businesses." Wait for answers. Do not proceed until you have these basics. ### Handling vague answers If the user gives a vague answer, push back constructively once. For example: - "Everyone" → "If you had to pick the first 100 users, who would they be?" - "Make it fast" → "What response time would users notice? Sub-200ms? Under 1 second?" - "It should be good" → "What would 'good' look like to the user? Can you describe a moment where they'd think 'this is exactly what I needed'?" If they're still vague after one push, accept what you have and note it as an Open Question in the PRD. Don't interrogate. --- ## Phase 2: Discovery (Interrogation Loop) Based on the initial answers, ask follow-up questions in **2-3 more batches of 3-4 questions**. Adapt based on what you've learned — skip questions whose answers are obvious from prior responses. ### Batch 2 — Success & Constraints - What measurable outcomes define success? Give me numbers. (e.g., "reduce onboarding time from 15 min to 3 min", "50% activation rate in week 1") - What are the hard constraints? Deadlines, tech stack requirements, budget, team size, regulatory requirements? - How are users solving this problem today? What specifically is broken about the current approach? ### Batch 3 — Scope & Context - What is explicitly **out of scope** for v1? (This question matters — it prevents scope creep later) - Are there existing systems, APIs, or databases this must integrate with? - Who else cares about this besides the end user? (Stakeholders, partners, internal teams) ### Batch 4 — Deep Dives (only if needed) Ask these only if earlier answers surface complexity that requires clarification: - Regulatory or compliance requirements? (GDPR, SOC2, HIPAA, PCI-DSS) - Expected scale? (Concurrent users, data volume, geographic distribution) - Specific performance or availability requirements? (Latency thresholds, uptime SLA) ### Discovery Rules - **Max 4 questions per batch.** Respect the user's time and attention. - **Max 3 batches total.** If critical context is still missing after 3 rounds, capture it as Open Questions in the PRD instead of asking more questions. - **Adapt.** If the user's first answer covers something you planned to ask later, skip it. --- ## Phase 3: Brainstorming & Research Once discovery is complete, launch **three research agents in parallel**. This is where the skill's power comes from — simultaneous research across multiple dimensions while the user waits once, not three times. ### Preparing the Research Brief Before spawning agents, compile a research brief from everything you've learned: - Product/feature description - Target users and their context - Problem being solved - Known competitors (if the user mentioned any) - Technical constraints and integrations - Success metrics ### Launching Agents Read each agent's instructions from the `agents/` directory, then spawn all three simultaneously using the `Task` tool. Each agent runs independently and returns a structured report. Pass each one the research brief — every agent's own "## What You Receive" section lists exactly what it needs, so don't re-derive the inputs here. 1. **Competitor Researcher** — `agents/competitor-researcher.md`. 2. **Market Analyst** — `agents/market-analyst.md`. 3. **Technical Scout** — `agents/technical-scout.md` (include the project's tech stack when working inside a codebase — `package.json`, `go.mod`, `pyproject.toml`, etc.). Tell the user: "I've launched three research agents in parallel — competitor analysis, market context, and technical feasibility. This takes a minute. I'll synthesize their findings into the PRD." ### Synthesizing Research When all agents return: 1. Read all three reports 2. Extract insights that directly affect the PRD — not everything the agents found, just what matters for requirements 3. **Flag contradictions** between research findings and the user's assumptions (e.g., "You mentioned X as a differentiator, but competitor Y already does this — we may need to rethink the angle") 4. Identify competitive gaps and opportunities worth highlighting 5. Briefly summarize the top 3-5 research insights for the user before drafting --- ## Phase 4: Drafting the PRD Read the full PRD template from `references/prd-template.md`. Use it as the structural backbone, but adapt section depth based on the product's complexity — a simple internal tool doesn't need the same NFR depth as a public-facing platform. ### Output Location Create the PRD at `docs/prd/[project-name]-prd.md` in the current working directory. Create the `docs/prd/` directory if it doesn't exist. Use a lowercase, hyphenated project name derived from the product name. ### Drafting Rules These rules exist because PRDs fail when they're vague, solution-prescriptive, or incomplete. Every rule traces to a real failure mode. 1. **No placeholders — ever.** If you lack context for a section, write it as: `**OPEN:** [What we need to know and why it matters for this section]`. Placeholders like "[TBD]" or "[Insert here]" get copy-pasted into final documents and nobody fills them in. 2. **Requirements, not solutions.** Write "The system shall allow users to filter search results dynamically without page reload" — not "Use React with client-side filtering." The PRD defines WHAT the system does, not HOW it's built. Technical architecture belongs in a separate design doc. 3. **Testable acceptance criteria.** Every user story gets Given/When/Then acceptance criteria. If you can't describe a test scenario, the requirement isn't specific enough to implement. 4. **Explicit scope boundaries.** The "Out of Scope" section is mandatory and must contain real, specific items — not generic filler like "future enhancements." Name the features you're deliberately excluding and why. 5. **60-second executive summary.** A busy stakeholder should grasp the entire product direction from the Executive Summary alone. Use bullet points. Bold the critical path items. No prose paragraphs. 6. **Quantified NFRs.** "The system should be fast" is not a requirement. "API responses under 200ms at p95 under expected load" is. If the user hasn't specified, propose reasonable defaults and flag them for confirmation. 7. **Research integration.** Weave competitor insights and market context into relevant sections naturally. Don't dump raw research — synthesize it into the requirements and persona sections where it informs decisions. ### After Drafting Present a brief summary to the user — not the whole PRD, but: - The 3-5 most important product decisions embedded in the document - Any Open Questions that need answers before engineering can start - Sections where you made judgment calls they should verify - The file path where the PRD lives Then: "Please review the full PRD. I'll wait for your feedback and we'll iterate." --- ## Phase 5: Review & Iterate This is where PRDs get good. The first draft captures structure; iteration captures truth. ### Prompting for feedback > Please review `docs/prd/[name]-prd.md`. When you're ready, tell me: > - What's missing? > - What's inaccurate? > - What needs deeper specification? > - Which sections need rethinking? > > Or just tell me what jumps out — any format works. ### Processing Feedback 1. Read the feedback carefully. Understand what they're actually asking for, which may differ from how they phrased it. 2. For each piece of feedback, make **surgical edits** — update specific sections, don't rewrite the whole document. 3. Add a changelog entry at the top of the PRD: ``` | [date] | [version] | [summary of changes] | ``` 4. If scope changed significantly, consider re-running a research agent (e.g., technical scout if new integrations were added). 5. After editing, briefly summarize what changed and ask for another round. ### Optionally: Quality Review Before the user gives final approval, offer to run the PRD Reviewer agent. Read `agents/prd-reviewer.md` and spawn it with the full PRD content. Present its findings as **suggestions** — the user decides what to act on. ### When to stop - The user explicitly approves: "looks good", "approved", "let's build this" - All Open Questions are resolved or explicitly deferred with rationale - The user shifts to implementation discussion When the PRD is approved, update its status to "Approved" in the metadata section. --- ## Guardrails These behavioral rules apply throughout all phases. ### Enforce Specificity Vague requirements create scope disputes. When you catch yourself writing something vague, fix it immediately or flag it as an Open Question. "The system should handle errors gracefully" → "The system shall display a user-facing error message with a retry option for all API failures, and log the error with request context for debugging." ### Business Logic Over Technical Solutioning The PRD describes the problem space and success criteria, not the implementation. Don't reference specific frameworks, libraries, or architectural patterns unless they're actual business constraints (e.g., "must integrate with existing PostgreSQL database"). Architecture decisions belong in a technical design document that references this PRD. ### Data-Driven Completeness If you lack sufficient information to write a section meaningfully, **stop and ask** rather than filling it with generic content. A PRD with explicit gaps is more honest and useful than one with confident-sounding filler. ### The One-Pager Rule The Executive Summary must work as a standalone document. A reader with no other context should understand: what this is, why it matters, who it's for, and what success looks like — all within 60 seconds of reading. --- ## File Conventions | Item | Convention | |------|-----------| | **Directory** | `docs/prd/` in the project root | | **Filename** | `[project-name]-prd.md` (lowercase, hyphenated) | | **Status values** | Draft, In Review, Approved, Superseded | | **Changelog** | Table at top of PRD, newest entry first | | **Version format** | `v0.1`, `v0.2`, ... `v1.0` for approved | If there's no project context (user invoked from home directory), ask for a project name and create the directory structure. --- ## Adapting for Project-Specific Use This skill is distributed via the `e1024kb/wise-claude` marketplace. To customize for a specific project: 1. Copy the skill directory into your project: `cp -r <plugin-path>/skills/wise-prd-architect/ <project>/.claude/skills/wise-prd-architect/` 2. Edit `references/prd-template.md` to match your team's conventions 3. Add project-specific context to agent instructions (e.g., known competitors, tech stack details) 4. The project-level skill takes precedence over the marketplace version