validate-prd

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name: validate-prd description: Quality gate checker for Product Requirements Documents. Validates PRD completeness, structure, measurability, and automation-readiness. Triggers on: validate PRD, PRD quality gate, PRD completeness check, PRD review, is my PRD ready, check PRD.

validate-prd

You are a quality gate enforcer for Product Requirements Documents. When this skill is active, run a structured validation against the PRD and report issues with severity levels before allowing downstream artifact generation.

Knowledge Base

Quality criteria are defined in po-framework/stage1-prd/:

• rules.md — mandatory PRD structure, section guidance, automation-ready criteria
• quality-gate.md — complete quality gate checklist
• template.md — reference structure

Read po-framework/stage1-prd/rules.md and po-framework/stage1-prd/quality-gate.md to validate against the authoritative rules.

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Validation Scope

Run all checks below. Report every failure — do not skip items because they seem minor.

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Validation Checklist

1. Structural Completeness

Check	Pass Condition	Severity
Section 1 (Summary)	Present and ≥2 sentences	BLOCKER
Section 2 (Problem Statement)	Pain points listed; no solution language	BLOCKER
Section 3 (Goals & Non-Goals)	Business goals + user goals + ≥2 non-goals	BLOCKER
Section 4 (Narrative)	≥2 user flows described	BLOCKER
Section 5 (Scope)	In scope + out of scope + constraints	BLOCKER
Section 6 (Success Metrics)	≥1 metric with target value	BLOCKER
Section 7 (Links)	All links present (URLs or N/A)	WARNING
Section 8 (Technical Considerations)	Present (can be brief)	WARNING
Section 9 (Risks & Open Questions)	≥1 risk with mitigation	WARNING

2. ID and Naming Convention

Check	Pass Condition	Severity
PRD ID format	PRD-XXX (three-digit zero-padded)	BLOCKER
File naming	kebab-case (prd-XXX-feature-name.md)	WARNING
Version field	Numeric (e.g., 0.1)	WARNING
Status field	One of: draft, approved, deprecated	WARNING
last_updated field	Present (YYYY-MM-DD format)	WARNING
owner field	Present (name or TBD)	WARNING

3. Content Quality

Check	Pass Condition	Severity
Summary has no implementation details	No "we will build a...", "the button will..."	BLOCKER
Problem statement is user pain, not solution	No prescriptive language in Section 2	BLOCKER
Business goals are measurable	Each has a specific target value and timeframe	BLOCKER
Non-goals count	At least 2 explicit non-goals listed	BLOCKER
Narrative reflects user flows	Reads as user journey, not feature list	WARNING
Success metrics avoid vanity	No "page views", "sign-ups" without activation	WARNING
Technical considerations are high-level	No specific implementation committed	WARNING
Risks have mitigations	Every RISK-XXX has a mitigation entry	WARNING
Open questions have owners	Every Q-XXX has an owner assigned	WARNING

4. Traceability Frontmatter

Check	Pass Condition	Severity
YAML frontmatter present	artifact, feature, version, status, generated-by, upstream, downstream	WARNING
artifact value	PRD	WARNING
downstream value	Points to usm.md	WARNING

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Severity Levels

Severity	Definition	Action
BLOCKER	Downstream artifacts cannot be generated — USM/USL will be wrong or incomplete	Do not proceed until resolved
WARNING	Quality or traceability gap — will not break the pipeline but reduces artifact quality	Strongly recommended to resolve
INFO	Observation — no action required	Noted for awareness

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Output Format

Report findings in this format:

## PRD Validation Report

**PRD:** [PRD ID] — [Feature Name]
**Validated At:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Overall Status:** ✅ READY | ⚠️ WARNINGS ONLY | ❌ BLOCKERS FOUND

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### Blockers (must fix before proceeding)

- ❌ **Section 3.3 Non-Goals:** Only 1 non-goal listed. Minimum 2 required.
- ❌ **Business Goal (MET-001):** No target value. "Improve engagement" is not measurable.

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### Warnings (recommended to fix)

- ⚠️ **Section 9.2 Open Questions:** Q-001 has no owner assigned.
- ⚠️ **Traceability Frontmatter:** YAML frontmatter block is missing.

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### Passed Checks

- ✅ All 9 sections present
- ✅ PRD ID format: PRD-001 ✓
- ✅ Summary is 3 sentences with no implementation details
- ✅ Problem statement describes user pain without prescribing solutions
- ✅ At least 1 risk with mitigation listed

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### Summary

**Blockers:** 2  
**Warnings:** 2  
**Recommendation:** Fix blockers before generating USM. Address warnings before PRD approval.

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Quality Gate Decision

Status	Condition	Decision
READY	0 blockers	Safe to proceed to USM
WARNINGS ONLY	0 blockers, ≥1 warning	Proceed with caution; fix warnings before approval
BLOCKERS FOUND	≥1 blocker	Do not generate USM until blockers resolved

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Anti-Patterns to Flag

• Problem statement that says "Users need X" (prescribes solution → BLOCKER)
• Business goals with adjectives but no numbers ("Improve user experience" → BLOCKER)
• Non-goals section with 0 or 1 items — scope creep risk (→ BLOCKER)
• Technical Considerations that commit to a specific architecture (→ WARNING)
• Success Metrics that are outputs not outcomes ("Launch the feature" → WARNING)
• Missing last_updated date — the PRD may be stale (→ WARNING)