requirements-engineering

name	requirements-engineering
description	Use for ambiguous or non-trivial feature planning and requirements documentation: problem framing, spec-before-build checks, requirements briefs/specs, EARS-style requirements, acceptance criteria, traceability, and ISO/IEC 25010 quality scenarios. Do not use for tiny unambiguous implementation tasks, architecture option comparison, or diff-focused design review unless requirements output is requested.
metadata	{"short-description":"Requirements engineering"}

Purpose

Use this skill to turn unclear feature work into verifiable requirements and lightweight design inputs. It may start with a small Problem Frame when a request risks solution-first implementation or unclear problem ownership.

It covers:

• small Problem Frames and spec-before-build checks
• requirements briefs, specs, and SRS-style sections
• EARS-style requirement statements
• measurable acceptance criteria and verification methods
• requirement-to-design/test traceability
• Definition of Done (observable completion conditions)
• ISO/IEC 25010 quality scenarios for non-functional requirements

When to use

Use this skill when:

• a request is ambiguous, cross-component, user-facing, or risky enough to need requirements first
• you are creating or updating a requirements brief/spec
• vague qualities such as "fast", "reliable", "secure", or "usable" need measurable targets
• non-embedded performance expectations need scale assumptions, latency/throughput acceptance criteria, or handoff to performance-review
• embedded physical-footprint qualities such as CPU, RAM, wakeups, battery, flash wear, thermal, latency/jitter, or observer effect need high-level requirement wording before NFR design
• requirements must be traceable to design decisions, tests, or monitoring

Do not use it for small, already-clear implementation tasks unless the user asks for requirements documentation. If architecture options must be compared, route to architecture-decision-analysis. If NFRs involve embedded physical footprint, route to embedded-nfr-design after drafting the smallest useful high-level requirement.

How to use

1. If the request is solution-first or problem ownership is unclear, write the smallest useful Problem Frame before requirements.
2. Choose the smallest useful output; do not require a full requirements spec for every task.
3. Open only the needed reference:
   • references/requirements-briefs-and-specs.md for briefs, specs, IDs, and trace tables
   • references/ears-requirements-to-design.md for EARS statements, boundaries, failure paths, and test seeds
   • references/iso25010-quality-scenarios.md for measurable quality attributes and NFRs
4. Write 1-5 requirements first unless the task genuinely needs more.
5. For each requirement, include acceptance criteria, a Definition of Done, and a verification method.
6. If an embedded NFR requirement depends on target behavior, do not finalize numeric acceptance criteria until embedded-target-characterization exists or the requirement is explicitly unknown/provisional.
7. If the requirement involves embedded CPU, memory, wakeups, battery, flash wear, thermal, latency/jitter, or observer effect, hand off to embedded-nfr-design for physical budgets and no-measurement-no-claim handling.
8. If the requirement involves non-embedded request latency, render cost, throughput, data-size scaling, or N+1 risk, hand off to performance-review with scale assumptions and acceptance criteria.
9. Trace acceptance criteria into the test-driven-development Test List and the quality-gate exit criteria when implementation will follow.
10. Add assumptions, open questions, and traceability only where they reduce ambiguity.

Outputs

Depending on the task, produce one or more of:

• Problem Frame
• Spec-before-build checklist
• Requirements Brief or Requirements Spec section
• EARS requirements with IDs, priority, rationale, acceptance criteria, and verification method
• Definition of Done with observable completion conditions
• ISO/IEC 25010 quality scenarios with metrics, thresholds, measurement, tests/monitoring, and design notes
• boundary sketch covering actors, systems, changed components, external dependencies, and out-of-scope areas
• failure paths and seeded test list
• trace table linking requirements to design, tests, and monitoring