| name | story-validator |
| description | Validate Master and Sprint Stories — template sections, ADO-ready PRD lift, UI/Figma, non-redundancy, AC quality |
| model | haiku-4-5 |
| token_budget | {"input":8000,"output":2000} |
Scope: Validates story markdown structure and authoring rules. For PRD quality, use skills/shared/prd-gap-analyzer/. Do not re-validate the PRD here.
Authoring standards: templates/AUTHORING_STANDARDS.md
Story Validator Skill
Templates live in templates/story-templates/:
- Master:
master-story-template.md
- Sprint:
sprint-story-template.md
CLI validators (optional): templates/story-templates/validators/master-story-validator.sh, sprint-story-validator.sh
Master Story — required themes (not legacy § numbering)
Confirm the file includes these headings (emoji titles as in template):
- 🎯 Outcome — User + business outcome; do not paste Problem or full AC here.
- 🔍 Problem Definition — Pain and evidence only.
- 👤 Target User & Context
- ⚡ Job To Be Done (JTBD)
- 💡 Solution Hypothesis
- 🧩 Capability Definition
- 📎 PRD-sourced specifics — Verbatim PRD copy: notifications, errors, limits. Never id-only (e.g.
N7 without text). If PRD silent → USER_INPUT_REQUIRED.
- 🎯 Experience Intent — Qualitative feel; not Figma links.
- 🎨 UI & design — Figma (primary), prototype, design status, or N/A /
USER_INPUT_REQUIRED.
- 🧾 Acceptance Criteria — Given/When/Then; may reference rows in 📎 section instead of duplicating strings.
- 📊 Measurement & Signals — KPIs, events, baselines.
- 🧪 Validation Plan — Pilot/A/B/rollout; do not duplicate full KPI tables from Measurement.
- ⚠️ Risks & Unknowns
- 🔗 Dependencies
- 🚫 Explicit Non-Goals
- 📅 Priority & Rollout Strategy
- 🏆 Related Stories (optional)
- 📝 Notes
- 📋 Story Metadata
- 🔗 PRD Traceability — Required table: PRD doc, section IDs, ADO id.
Sprint Story — required themes
- 🎯 What We're Building — Deliverable only; not a second copy of full Context narrative.
- 🔍 Context — Why this sprint.
- ⚡ Scope — IN / OUT / assumptions.
- 📎 PRD / Master lift (this sprint) — Full strings for this sprint’s scope; or pointer to Master ADO + row if copy already there.
- 🏗️ Technical Approach
- 🧾 Acceptance Criteria — Checklists; align with Master AC ids where applicable.
- 🎨 UI & design — Figma for this sprint or N/A.
- 🔗 Dependencies
- 📊 How We'll Measure It — Sprint target/delta; do not duplicate entire Master measurement section.
- ⚠️ Known Risks
- 👥 Team & Effort
- 🚀 Definition of Done
- 📝 Notes & Updates
- 📋 Story Metadata
- 🔗 Traceability — Parent Master + PRD sections.
ADO-ready rules (both types)
- Self-contained: Reader should not need the PRD for copy, notifications, or error text.
- No duplication: Same paragraph must not appear in Outcome, Problem, and Context. Measurement vs Validation Plan: metrics vs methodology.
- Readable: Short sentences, bold labels, bullets, blank lines, tables for PRD extracts.
USER_INPUT_REQUIRED
Blocks are incomplete but valid for early review. Flag as not implementation-ready until resolved.
Validation report
Use the format in the original skill (Passed / Issues / Blocking / Approval status). Call out:
- Missing 📎 or 🎨 UI & design sections
- PRD ids without lifted text
- Repeated copy across sections
- Placeholders:
[URL], [name], [date] in UI section
Triggers
Story grooming, pre–sdlc story push, QA handoff, sprint planning.
