| name | prd |
| description | "Use when creating, updating, validating, or phasing a PRD. Drives interactive discovery, technical architecture, phasing DAG, TDD protocol, and dependency analysis. Keywords: PRD, product requirements, feature planning, acceptance criteria, MoSCoW, phasing, requirements document. Triggers on "create PRD" or "update requirements"." |
PRD Skill
When to Use
Load this skill when the user request matches the frontmatter description for PRD Skill.
Produce drift-proof Product Requirements Documents through iterative discovery.
Output: .claude/reference/PRD.md (living requirements document for the project).
Do NOT load when
- user has a final spec and only wants implementation planning (use
/orchestrate or /prd --to-plan)
- task is a code review or repo health check
- request is a lightweight note or issue, not a full requirements document
NEVER
- Never generate a PRD without scanning the codebase first — requirements that contradict existing architecture produce unimplementable specs
- Never write acceptance criteria as "should work correctly" — use Given/When/Then; untestable criteria cannot be verified at phase completion
- Never skip dependency analysis — untracked dependencies produce phases that can't be parallelized safely
- Never batch all discovery questions into one wall of text — max 4 questions per round; users disengage from interrogations
- Never assume a library version — check
package.json and npm; version assumptions produce broken phase plans
- Never write phasing without dependency arrows — phases must be a DAG; implicit ordering creates unmergeable parallel work
- Never leave
[NEEDS CLARIFICATION] markers in a finalized PRD — they signal a spec that cannot drive implementation
Mode routing
| Argument | Mode | Description |
|---|
| (empty) | Create | Interactive PRD creation from scratch |
<feature text> | Create | Start with context, then iterate |
--update | Update | Incremental update to existing PRD |
--validate | Validate | Run validation checklist on existing PRD |
--audit-deps | Audit | Dependency/drift analysis only |
--to-plan | Plan | Generate orchestrate-ready task plan |
Create mode
Phase 1 — Codebase scan (automatic, before any questions)
Launch an Explore agent to map relevant codebase areas. Read roadmap/changelog for prior decisions. Check for outdated dependencies in scope. This prevents asking questions the codebase already answers.
Phase 2 — Interactive discovery (2–4 rounds, max 4 questions each)
- Round 1: Problem, who, success criteria, personas
- Round 2: MoSCoW priorities, explicit out-of-scope, interactions
- Round 3: Architecture constraints, database, auth, performance
- Round 4 (if needed): Phasing, parallelization risks
Never draft before Round 2. Never ask what the codebase scan already answered.
Phase 3 — Draft
Read template.md. Write to .claude/reference/PRD.md. Mark gaps [NEEDS CLARIFICATION: ...]. Populate Architecture Decisions (AD-N entries). Build phasing DAG with explicit arrows.
Phase 4 — Validation
Read validation.md, run every check. Present pass/fail. Iterate until critical gates pass.
Phase 5 — Finalize
Remove all markers. Commit: docs(prd): add <feature-name> requirements.
Update mode (--update)
- Read existing PRD
- Ask what changed (new requirement, scope change, dependency update)
- Launch Explore agent to detect codebase drift since last PRD update
- Generate diff-style updates:
[ADDED], [CHANGED], [REMOVED], [DRIFT DETECTED]
- Present for approval, apply, re-validate
Plan mode (--to-plan)
Transforms PRD phasing into an /orchestrate-ready task plan at docs/plans/<feature-name>-plan.md.
Wave assignment rules:
- Wave 1: Schemas, types, migrations, config (foundation)
- Wave 2: Routes, services, repositories (implementation)
- Wave 3: Wiring, UI, end-to-end flows (integration)
- Wave 4: Error handling, edge cases, docs (polish)
Agent assignment rules:
haiku: Type definitions, config, simple CRUD, test writingsonnet: Business logic, complex integrations, security-sensitive code
Requires V5 (DAG) validation to pass before generating the plan.
Validate mode (--validate)
Read validation.md and run all gates. Print pass/fail with line references.
Audit-deps mode (--audit-deps)
Read drift-prevention.md and run dependency freshness + architectural drift checks.
Scripts
bash scripts/check-prd-assets.sh skills/prd
node scripts/list-prd-phases.js .claude/reference/PRD.md
Arguments
/prd — interactive creation/prd Workflow Designer — start with context/prd --update — incremental update/prd --validate — run validation only/prd --audit-deps — dependency audit only/prd --to-plan — generate orchestrate-ready task plan
