| name | EARS Validation |
| description | "Use when validating requirements against EARS notation patterns. Triggers on "EARS", "requirement review", "requirement quality", "shall statement", "REQ-ID"." |
EARS Validation
When to invoke
- "Review these requirements for EARS compliance."
- "Is this requirement testable?"
- "Classify this requirement by EARS pattern."
EARS patterns
| Pattern | Template |
|---|
| Ubiquitous | The <system> shall <response>. |
| Event-driven | When <trigger>, the <system> shall <response>. |
| State-driven | While <state>, the <system> shall <response>. |
| Optional | Where <feature is included>, the <system> shall <response>. |
| Unwanted | If <unwanted condition>, then the <system> shall <mitigation>. |
| Complex | While <state>, when <trigger>, the <system> shall <response>. |
Validation checklist
Common defects
| Defect | Example | Fix |
|---|
| Ambiguous | "The system should be fast." | "When a user submits a form, the system shall respond within 500ms." |
| Compound | "Login and send email." | Split into two requirements. |
| Untestable | "The system shall be user-friendly." | Replace with measurable UX metric. |
| Passive | "Login shall be supported." | "The system shall accept username/password authentication." |
Output template
### REQ-NNN (<pattern>)
<EARS statement>
**source_legacy**: legacy/natural-programs/<FILE>.NSN#L<start>-L<end>
_(or `[GREENFIELD] <justification>` when no legacy parallel)_
**Acceptance criteria**
- <criterion 1>
- <criterion 2>
**Traces from**: US-NNN, ADR-NNN
**Priority**: P0 / P1 / P2
**Status**: proposed / approved / implemented / verified
Quality gate
Reject any requirement missing REQ-ID, pattern classification, acceptance criteria, or source_legacy. The CI legacy-traceability job in .github/workflows/spec-quality.yml enforces this on every PR.
