activity-generate-stories

name	activity-generate-stories
description	Break a technical specification into user stories with coverage validation. Use after generate-spec.

Activity: Generate User Stories

Create structured, implementation-ready User Stories from a Technical Specification with built-in coverage validation against the PRD. Use this skill after the specification is approved. Invoked by the product-engineer agent in Feature Mode.

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RFC 2119 Notice: The key words MUST, MUST NOT, REQUIRED, SHALL, SHALL NOT, SHOULD, SHOULD NOT, RECOMMENDED, MAY, and OPTIONAL in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.

Goal

Create structured, implementation-ready User Stories from a Technical Specification, then validate that all PRD requirements are covered. Each user story MUST provide value independently, fit into a single Pull Request, and contain the detail needed for implementation.

This activity combines story generation and coverage validation into a single pass.

Context

This activity assumes the following documents already exist:

• prd-[feature-name].md — Feature requirements
• specification-[prd-name].md — Technical specification

Document Changelog Convention

The user stories document MUST include a Changelog table as the first section after the document title. The changelog tracks the version history of the document.

• The initial version MUST be 1.0.
• Every subsequent update MUST increment the minor version (e.g., 1.1, 1.2, …).
• Major structural rewrites SHOULD increment the major version (e.g., 2.0).
• The Author column MUST include the name of the person or agent responsible for the change (e.g., @username, developer-agent, planner-agent).

## Changelog

| Version | Date       | Summary         | Author             |
| ------- | ---------- | --------------- | ------------------ |
| 1.0     | YYYY-MM-DD | Initial version | @user / agent-name |

Process

1. Receive Specification: User provides reference to the Technical Specification document.
2. Analyze Specification: You MUST read and analyze the specification to identify story boundaries.
3. Ask Story-Specific Questions: You SHOULD ask about prioritization, sequencing, and story preferences.
4. Generate User Stories: You MUST create detailed stories using the structure below.
5. Validate Coverage: You MUST run a coverage check (see Coverage Validation section below) before presenting stories.
6. Save Output.

Clarifying Questions

• Story Priority & Sequencing: "In what order should these stories be prioritized? Are there dependencies?"
• MVP vs. Future: "Which stories are essential for MVP? Which are nice-to-have?"
• Story Scope: "Should we break this into more granular stories, or combine some? (Target: 1-3 days per story)"
• Definition of Done: "What definition of done applies?"
• User Acceptance: "Who will validate that stories meet acceptance criteria?"

User Story Structure

Each User Story MUST include:

### Story [ID]: [Title]

**Priority:** [Critical/High/Medium/Low]
**Estimated Size:** [XS/S/M/L]
**Dependencies:** [List any dependent stories or systems]

#### User Story

As a [user role],
I want [goal/capability],
So that [business value/benefit].

#### Context

[Why this story matters, how it fits the larger feature.]

#### Acceptance Criteria

- [ ] [Criterion 1: Specific, testable condition]
- [ ] [Criterion 2]
- [ ] [Criterion 3]

#### Business Rules

- [Business rule 1]
- [Business rule 2]

#### Technical Notes

- [Key technical decisions or patterns to follow]
- [Reference to Technical Guidelines sections]
- [Integration points]

#### Testing Requirements

- **Unit Tests:** [Specific scenarios]
- **Integration Tests:** [Cross-component scenarios]
- **Manual/UI Testing:** [User-visible checks and access path]
- **Edge-Case Matrix:** [Boundary, error, empty-state, concurrency/idempotency cases]
- **Acceptance-Criteria Mapping:** [AC -> test case IDs or commands]
- **Execution Commands:** [Canonical scripts, prefer `pnpm run <script>`]

#### Migration Requirements (When Data Model Changes)

- Migration artifact: [required by default; add explicit opt-out rationale if omitted]
- Rollback/impact notes: [required]
- Apply step: [requires explicit user confirmation before running]
- Verification after apply: [required]

#### Implementation Steps

1. [Step 1]
 [Step 2]
 [Step 3]



  - Brief description
  - Unit tests



 [ ] Code implemented per technical guidelines
 [ ] Unit/integration/manual/edge-case tests written and passing
 [ ] Quality gates passing (, , , , )
 [ ] Code reviewed and approved
 [ ] Acceptance criteria verified
 [ ] Acceptance criteria explicitly mapped to test evidence
 [ ] Migration lifecycle complete (or documented opt-out) when schema/data-model changes exist
 [ ] Pull Request created and merged

Package Manager and Script Conventions

• For JS/TS projects, you MUST prefer pnpm over npm.
• You MAY use npm only when pnpm is unavailable or the project is explicitly npm-locked.
• When stories reference commands, you MUST prefer canonical script names:
  • lint, lint:fix
  • format, format:check
  • typecheck
  • test, test:unit, test:integration, test:e2e
  • audit
  • validate (aggregate quality gate)

Story Quality Criteria

Good User Stories:

• Provide clear business value that can be demonstrated
• Are independent and avoid blocking other stories
• SHOULD be completable in 1-3 days by a capable developer
• MUST fit into a single Pull Request
• MUST have clear acceptance criteria
• MUST include sufficient technical guidance for implementation

Poor User Stories:

• Too large or vague (epic-sized)
• Have circular dependencies
• Mix multiple concerns or features
• Lack clear acceptance criteria

Story Sequencing

You SHOULD consider these factors when sequencing:

1. Dependencies: Stories with fewer dependencies first
2. Value: High-value core stories early
3. Risk: Risky or uncertain stories prioritized to de-risk
4. Infrastructure: Setup stories first
5. Team Skills: Consider capabilities and learning curve

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Coverage Validation (Built-in Quality Gate)

Before finalizing stories, you MUST validate coverage against the PRD.

Validation Steps

1. Extract ALL requirements from the PRD: user stories, functional requirements, non-functional requirements, business rules, acceptance criteria, data requirements.
2. Map each requirement to the User Story(ies) that address it.
3. Identify gaps — requirements NOT covered by any story.
4. Verify non-goals — confirm out-of-scope items are NOT covered (scope is respected).

Coverage Report

You MUST include a summary coverage report at the end of the stories document:

## Coverage Validation

### Summary

- **Total PRD Requirements:** [#]
- **Total User Stories:** [#]
- **Coverage:** [X%]
- **Status:** [Complete / Gaps Identified]

### Requirement Mapping

| PRD Requirement | Story ID(s)  | Status     |
| --------------- | ------------ | ---------- |
| [Req 1]         | S-001        | ✅ Covered |
| [Req 2]         | S-002, S-003 | ✅ Covered |
| [Uncovered Req] | —            | ❌ GAP     |

### Gaps (if any)

- **Gap [#]:** [Requirement not covered] — **Recommendation:** [Create new story / Modify existing story]

### Non-Goals Validation

- [ ] [Out-of-scope item 1] — Confirmed NOT in any story
- [ ] [Out-of-scope item 2] — Confirmed NOT in any story

If gaps are found, you MUST propose additional stories or modifications to close them before presenting for review.

Output

• Format: Markdown (.md)
• Location: /workstream/
• Filename: user-stories-[prd-name].md

Final Instructions

1. You MUST NOT start implementing.
2. You MUST read the referenced Technical Specification and PRD.
3. You MUST identify logical story boundaries that provide independent value.
4. You SHOULD ask clarifying questions about prioritization and sequencing.
5. You MUST generate detailed User Stories with all required sections.
6. You MUST ensure stories are appropriately sized (1-3 days of work).
7. You MUST run the coverage validation and include the report.
8. You MUST close any gaps before presenting stories for review.
9. You MUST present stories for user review and save the finalized version.
10. You MUST provide a summary of total stories and a high-level execution plan.
11. When updating an existing user stories document, you MUST add a new row to the Changelog table with an incremented version, the current date, a summary of changes, and the responsible author/agent.