prd-author

name	prd-author
description	Interactive assistant that guides users through creating high-quality PRDs for Ralph-RLM Framework. Asks structured questions about project type, requirements, testing needs, and dependency ordering.
user-invocable	true

Skill: prd-author

Guide users through creating high-quality PRDs for the Ralph-RLM Framework.

Purpose

Interactively help users write comprehensive Product Requirements Documents (PRDs) optimized for Ralph's three-phase autonomous loop. A well-written PRD prevents failures during implementation.

Philosophy: "Ask 5 questions upfront rather than have Ralph fail 5 iterations."

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Workflow

Questioning Strategy

Ask questions in focused rounds of 3-5 questions. Present numbered options with lettered choices for rapid iteration:

1. What type of project?
   A) Greenfield (new project)
   B) Brownfield (adding to existing code)
   C) Bug fix / patch

Users respond with shorthand like "1A, 2C" for speed. Conduct 2-4 rounds of adaptive follow-up before generating the PRD. Don't over-specify or under-specify -- adapt based on answers.

Phase 1: Project Understanding (MANDATORY)

Before writing anything, ask the user:

For Greenfield Projects:

• What is the project name and description?
• What is the tech stack? (e.g., .NET 10, Node.js, Python, React)
• Who are the target users?
• What are the core capabilities?
• Any design documents or references?
• What is the deployment target?

For Brownfield Projects (adding to existing code):

• What is the existing project structure?
• What patterns/conventions does the codebase follow?
• What is being added, changed, or fixed?
• Which areas of the codebase are affected?
• What existing tests exist?

For Bug Fixes:

• What is the expected behavior vs actual behavior?
• What are the reproduction steps?
• What is the suspected root cause?
• What regression tests are needed?

Phase 2: Requirements Deep Dive

For each feature area, ask about:

• Happy Path: What happens when everything works correctly?
• Edge Cases: Empty inputs, max values, null/undefined, concurrent access
• Error Scenarios: What happens when things fail? What error messages?
• Non-Functional Requirements: Performance targets, security needs, scalability, logging
• Data Requirements: Entity definitions, constraints, relationships
• Integration Points: External APIs, services, databases

Use clear requirement keywords: must, shall, will, should.

Phase 3: Quality Gates (MANDATORY)

Always ask about quality gate commands -- these are the commands that EVERY feature must pass. They become the verification_steps in feature_list.json.

Ask:

• "What is the build command?" (e.g., dotnet build, npm run build, go build ./...)
• "What is the test command?" (e.g., dotnet test, npm test, pytest)
• "Any linting or type-checking commands?" (e.g., npm run lint, dotnet format --verify-no-changes)
• "Any other verification needed?" (e.g., npm run typecheck, cargo clippy)

Include these in a dedicated Quality Gates section in the PRD. The Initializer will embed them into every feature's verification_steps.

Phase 4: Test Requirements (MANDATORY)

Every PRD must specify what needs testing:

• Unit Tests: Business logic, data validation, service methods, utility functions
• Integration Tests: API endpoints, database operations, service interactions
• E2E Tests (if applicable): UI workflows, user journeys, form submissions

Phase 5: Dependency Analysis

Determine the order features should be implemented:

• What entities/models need to exist first?
• What services depend on other services?
• What infrastructure setup is required?
• What shared components are needed?

This ordering informs how the Initializer creates features.

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Integration with Ralph

After the PRD is written:

1. User saves it as prd.md in their project root
2. Run ralph init to decompose into features
3. The Initializer reads the PRD using the feature sizing rules from this skill
4. Validation phase ensures 95%+ coverage of all requirements