doc-bdd

name	doc-bdd
description	Create Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) scenarios - Layer 4 of the SDD flow, translating EARS requirements into executable Given-When-Then acceptance scenarios with req-to-SPEC trace links. Use after EARS, before ADR. Single-document authoring primitive; for end-to-end or batch generation the autopilot (`doc-bdd-autopilot`) drives this skill.
metadata	{"tags":["sdd-workflow","layer-4-artifact"],"custom_fields":{"layer":4,"artifact_type":"BDD","skill_category":"core-workflow","upstream_artifacts":["EARS"],"downstream_artifacts":["ADR","SPEC","TDD","IPLAN"],"version":"0.24.0","framework_spec_version":"0.40.0","last_updated":"2026-05-23","adapts":["section_toggles","glossary"]}}

doc-bdd

Purpose

Create Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) scenarios — Layer 4 of the SDD flow. A BDD suite translates EARS formal requirements into structured YAML scenarios (Given/When/Then phase lists carried in a ```yaml block, NOT Gherkin @-tags), each carrying an element-level ears: trace list and a spec_trace link forward to the SPEC sections it exercises. (If a runner ever needs .feature files, the YAML is the source of record and a .feature emitter can be authored on demand — no such emitter ships today; the only shipped transcoder is the one-off reverse-direction tools/gherkin_to_bdd_yaml.py used to migrate legacy Gherkin into the YAML form.)

Layer: 4. Upstream: EARS (per the necessary-upstream contract; upstream PRD/BRD lineage is reachable transitively via the @-tag chain). Downstream: ADR → SPEC → TDD → IPLAN → Code.

BDD scenarios are the acceptance source of truth that TDD (Layer 7) maps to concrete test cases. Execution is QA-staging only — never run BDD in CI (use TDD unit/integration tests for CI).

When to Use

Use doc-bdd when:

• EARS (Layer 3) exists and you need executable acceptance scenarios.
• Validating EARS requirements with concrete Given-When-Then behaviors.
• Defining the req-to-SPEC trace bridge (spec_trace) before ADR/SPEC.

For end-to-end generation from EARS, a prompt, or an IPLAN, use ../doc-bdd-autopilot/SKILL.md. Create upstream artifacts first; never invent placeholders like EARS-XXX or reference documents that do not yet exist.

Prerequisites

BDD is Layer 4, so the required upstream EARS must already exist. Confirm it and read the spec before writing:

1. Template (source of truth): ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/layers/04_BDD/BDD-TEMPLATE.yaml
2. Layer README: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/layers/04_BDD/README.md
3. ID & tag standards: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/ID_NAMING_STANDARDS.md
4. Authoring style: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/AUTHORING_STYLE.md

Verify upstream and check for ID collision: ls docs/03_EARS/ docs/04_BDD/ 2>/dev/null. Reference only existing EARS elements in trace tags; upstream PRD/BRD lineage is reachable transitively via the EARS document's own @-tag chain.

Layer Guidance

Required structure (5 sections)

Per BDD-TEMPLATE.yaml, every BDD document carries:

1. Document Control — version, status, dates, author, priority, plus the ADR-Ready score. (No @ears/@prd/@brd reference rows — upstream trace lives on each scenario's ears: list.)
2. Feature Definition — a ```yaml feature: block: name matching the EARS requirement, an As a / I want / So that description, and a background (bare step text + IANA timezone, default America/New_York). The feature carries no ears — its EARS coverage is the union of its scenarios.
3. Scenario Structure — a ```yaml scenarios: flat list (Given/When/Then phase lists), each with a type: across the five categories (below).
4. Traceability — the derived coverage summary + downstream expectations and the health/coverage score.
5. Glossary — flat list of project-specific terms.

See BDD-TEMPLATE.yaml for per-section content and the normative scenario schema.

Scenario categories (Section 3)

Every scenario is a YAML mapping with id: BDD.NN.03.xxxx, name, type, priority (p0-critical … p3-low), an element-level ears: list, given / when / then phase lists, and a spec_trace list (notes optional).

Category	type: value	Min	Priority
success	success	1 / EARS	p0–p1
error	error	1 / error	p1–p2
recovery	recovery	1 / circuit-breaker	p1
parameterized	parameterized	1 / multi-value	p1–p2
optional	optional	1 / optional param	p2–p3

A parameterized scenario adds outline: true + examples: {headers, rows}.

Scenario YAML rules

• Scenarios are structured YAML, not Gherkin @-tags. Trace is the ears: list (element-level only — REFGRAN01 rejects doc-form EARS-NN); id/type/priority are fields, not tags.
• Times include seconds (HH:MM:SS) with IANA timezones (America/New_York), never abbreviations like EST.
• Quantitative values use @threshold: keys written inline in the step prose (e.g. … WITHIN @threshold:PRD.NN.perf.api.p95) — no magic numbers.
• Keep scenarios atomic (one behavior each). One BDD document per module up to ~50,000 tokens; beyond that, start a new self-contained BDD document.

Element IDs and upstream trace

• Hierarchical element IDs: BDD.{doc_id}.{section_id}.{hash} (e.g. BDD.01.03.d7a2). Emit a stable 4-hex-char identifier per element, distinct within its section (HASH01); extend to 8 on collision. Do not compute SHA-256 in this prompt — the hash form is the canonicalization TARGET produced by a deterministic tool pass, and byte-exact field extraction is defined for BRD §7 only (Phase 2+ for BDD). Authority: framework/governance/ID_NAMING_STANDARDS.md. Scenarios live in section 03, in each scenario's id: field.
• BDD's required upstream trace is each scenario's element-level ears: list (per the necessary-upstream contract — satisfies required_tags: [ears]). Downstream artifacts cite BDD scenarios with @bdd: BDD.01.03.8f4c tags (unchanged). Upstream PRD/BRD lineage is reachable transitively via the EARS document's own @-tag chain — do not emit @brd:/@prd:/@ears tags on BDD.
• Removed patterns (do not use): SCENARIO-XXX, SCEN-XXX, TS-XXX, STEP-XXX, numeric type-codes, the legacy 3-segment BDD.NN.xxxx, and Gherkin @ears/@scenario-type/@scenario-id tags (now YAML fields).

Downstream trace (spec_trace)

Each scenario records the SPEC sections it maps to, e.g. spec_trace: ["SPEC Section 3 (Interfaces)", "SPEC Section 5 (Behavior)"]. This is the req-to-SPEC bridge that downstream layers consume.

Creation Process

1. Read upstream — the EARS that drives this BDD (and, via its @-tag chain, the PRD/BRD it derives from) to understand the behaviors to test.
2. Reserve ID — next free BDD-NN (two digits, no extra leading zero: BDD-01, BDD-99, BDD-102). Per-layer independence (CLEANUP-PR-F item 18): pick the next-free number in YOUR layer's index — the upstream's number is NOT your number (doc numbers are per-layer sequential and independent; see framework/governance/ID_NAMING_STANDARDS.md §Cross-layer cardinality).
3. Create the document from ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/layers/04_BDD/BDD-TEMPLATE.yaml; complete all 5 sections, Document Control first.
4. Write the feature: block + the scenarios: list (YAML) per EARS requirement across the five categories; each scenario carries id, type, priority, an element-level ears: list, given/when/then phase lists, inline @threshold:, and spec_trace. Add the feature background.
5. Set each scenario's element-level ears: list (this is the required upstream trace) and a unique id: — no Gherkin @-tags.
6. Update the BDD index docs/04_BDD/BDD-00_index.md in the same change.
7. Validate (below) and commit the BDD and index together.

Validation

This skill is the validator (no runtime code). Apply against ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/layers/04_BDD/README.md and ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/ID_NAMING_STANDARDS.md.

• Document Control is the first section; all 5 sections present and non-empty.
• Every scenario carries an element-level ears: list (satisfies the necessary-upstream contract); the feature has no ears.
• Every scenario has id, type, priority, given/when/then phase lists, and a spec_trace (BDD-SCHEMA-001 clean).
• All five scenario type categories represented; scenarios atomic.
• Quantitative values use inline @threshold: keys; times are HH:MM:SS with IANA timezones.
• Element IDs match BDD.NN.SS.xxxx; no removed patterns / Gherkin tags.
• Traceability section / index updated; no broken links.
• Diagram contract: sequence-diagram tag present if a scenario flow is illustrated (use ../charts-flow/SKILL.md).

Error codes (all severity error): XDOC-006 tag format invalid · XDOC-008 broken internal link · XDOC-009 missing traceability section.

Quality gate (blocking): ADR-Ready score ≥ 90/100 before moving on. If issues are found, fix and re-check; if unfixable, log for manual review.

Next Skill

../doc-adr/SKILL.md — the ADR references this BDD (@bdd: BDD.NN.SS.xxxx) along with its required @ears, records architecture decisions in Context-Decision-Consequences form, and cites the BDD scenarios that validate each decision.

Adaptation

Read .aidoc/profile.yaml; honor only this skill's knobs (section_toggles, glossary). Ignore unknown keys; absent a profile, use framework defaults. Authority: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/ADAPTATION.md.

Related Resources

• Template / authoring rules: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/layers/04_BDD/BDD-TEMPLATE.yaml
• Layer README: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/layers/04_BDD/README.md
• Index template: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/layers/04_BDD/BDD-00_index.TEMPLATE.md
• ID & tag standards: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/ID_NAMING_STANDARDS.md
• Quality gate: ../doc-bdd-audit/SKILL.md · Fixes: ../doc-bdd-fixer/SKILL.md
• Generation pipeline: ../doc-bdd-autopilot/SKILL.md

Quick Reference

Purpose	Structured YAML Given/When/Then acceptance scenarios
Layer	4
Upstream trace	scenario ears: lists (per necessary-upstream contract)
Key idea	EARS → YAML scenarios with spec_trace to SPEC
Must include	Document Control (first), 5 scenario categories, thresholds
Execution	QA staging only — never CI
Next	doc-adr