home / skills / snarktank / ralph / prd

prd skill

/skills/prd

This skill generates a detailed PRD from a feature description, including clarifying questions and a structured document ready for deployment.

npx playbooks add skill snarktank/ralph --skill prd

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

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SKILL.md
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---
name: prd
description: "Generate a Product Requirements Document (PRD) for a new feature. Use when planning a feature, starting a new project, or when asked to create a PRD. Triggers on: create a prd, write prd for, plan this feature, requirements for, spec out."
---

# PRD Generator

Create detailed Product Requirements Documents that are clear, actionable, and suitable for implementation.

---

## The Job

1. Receive a feature description from the user
2. Ask 3-5 essential clarifying questions (with lettered options)
3. Generate a structured PRD based on answers
4. Save to `tasks/prd-[feature-name].md`

**Important:** Do NOT start implementing. Just create the PRD.

---

## Step 1: Clarifying Questions

Ask only critical questions where the initial prompt is ambiguous. Focus on:

- **Problem/Goal:** What problem does this solve?
- **Core Functionality:** What are the key actions?
- **Scope/Boundaries:** What should it NOT do?
- **Success Criteria:** How do we know it's done?

### Format Questions Like This:

```
1. What is the primary goal of this feature?
   A. Improve user onboarding experience
   B. Increase user retention
   C. Reduce support burden
   D. Other: [please specify]

2. Who is the target user?
   A. New users only
   B. Existing users only
   C. All users
   D. Admin users only

3. What is the scope?
   A. Minimal viable version
   B. Full-featured implementation
   C. Just the backend/API
   D. Just the UI
```

This lets users respond with "1A, 2C, 3B" for quick iteration.

---

## Step 2: PRD Structure

Generate the PRD with these sections:

### 1. Introduction/Overview
Brief description of the feature and the problem it solves.

### 2. Goals
Specific, measurable objectives (bullet list).

### 3. User Stories
Each story needs:
- **Title:** Short descriptive name
- **Description:** "As a [user], I want [feature] so that [benefit]"
- **Acceptance Criteria:** Verifiable checklist of what "done" means

Each story should be small enough to implement in one focused session.

**Format:**
```markdown
### US-001: [Title]
**Description:** As a [user], I want [feature] so that [benefit].

**Acceptance Criteria:**
- [ ] Specific verifiable criterion
- [ ] Another criterion
- [ ] Typecheck/lint passes
- [ ] **[UI stories only]** Verify in browser using dev-browser skill
```

**Important:** 
- Acceptance criteria must be verifiable, not vague. "Works correctly" is bad. "Button shows confirmation dialog before deleting" is good.
- **For any story with UI changes:** Always include "Verify in browser using dev-browser skill" as acceptance criteria. This ensures visual verification of frontend work.

### 4. Functional Requirements
Numbered list of specific functionalities:
- "FR-1: The system must allow users to..."
- "FR-2: When a user clicks X, the system must..."

Be explicit and unambiguous.

### 5. Non-Goals (Out of Scope)
What this feature will NOT include. Critical for managing scope.

### 6. Design Considerations (Optional)
- UI/UX requirements
- Link to mockups if available
- Relevant existing components to reuse

### 7. Technical Considerations (Optional)
- Known constraints or dependencies
- Integration points with existing systems
- Performance requirements

### 8. Success Metrics
How will success be measured?
- "Reduce time to complete X by 50%"
- "Increase conversion rate by 10%"

### 9. Open Questions
Remaining questions or areas needing clarification.

---

## Writing for Junior Developers

The PRD reader may be a junior developer or AI agent. Therefore:

- Be explicit and unambiguous
- Avoid jargon or explain it
- Provide enough detail to understand purpose and core logic
- Number requirements for easy reference
- Use concrete examples where helpful

---

## Output

- **Format:** Markdown (`.md`)
- **Location:** `tasks/`
- **Filename:** `prd-[feature-name].md` (kebab-case)

---

## Example PRD

```markdown
# PRD: Task Priority System

## Introduction

Add priority levels to tasks so users can focus on what matters most. Tasks can be marked as high, medium, or low priority, with visual indicators and filtering to help users manage their workload effectively.

## Goals

- Allow assigning priority (high/medium/low) to any task
- Provide clear visual differentiation between priority levels
- Enable filtering and sorting by priority
- Default new tasks to medium priority

## User Stories

### US-001: Add priority field to database
**Description:** As a developer, I need to store task priority so it persists across sessions.

**Acceptance Criteria:**
- [ ] Add priority column to tasks table: 'high' | 'medium' | 'low' (default 'medium')
- [ ] Generate and run migration successfully
- [ ] Typecheck passes

### US-002: Display priority indicator on task cards
**Description:** As a user, I want to see task priority at a glance so I know what needs attention first.

**Acceptance Criteria:**
- [ ] Each task card shows colored priority badge (red=high, yellow=medium, gray=low)
- [ ] Priority visible without hovering or clicking
- [ ] Typecheck passes
- [ ] Verify in browser using dev-browser skill

### US-003: Add priority selector to task edit
**Description:** As a user, I want to change a task's priority when editing it.

**Acceptance Criteria:**
- [ ] Priority dropdown in task edit modal
- [ ] Shows current priority as selected
- [ ] Saves immediately on selection change
- [ ] Typecheck passes
- [ ] Verify in browser using dev-browser skill

### US-004: Filter tasks by priority
**Description:** As a user, I want to filter the task list to see only high-priority items when I'm focused.

**Acceptance Criteria:**
- [ ] Filter dropdown with options: All | High | Medium | Low
- [ ] Filter persists in URL params
- [ ] Empty state message when no tasks match filter
- [ ] Typecheck passes
- [ ] Verify in browser using dev-browser skill

## Functional Requirements

- FR-1: Add `priority` field to tasks table ('high' | 'medium' | 'low', default 'medium')
- FR-2: Display colored priority badge on each task card
- FR-3: Include priority selector in task edit modal
- FR-4: Add priority filter dropdown to task list header
- FR-5: Sort by priority within each status column (high to medium to low)

## Non-Goals

- No priority-based notifications or reminders
- No automatic priority assignment based on due date
- No priority inheritance for subtasks

## Technical Considerations

- Reuse existing badge component with color variants
- Filter state managed via URL search params
- Priority stored in database, not computed

## Success Metrics

- Users can change priority in under 2 clicks
- High-priority tasks immediately visible at top of lists
- No regression in task list performance

## Open Questions

- Should priority affect task ordering within a column?
- Should we add keyboard shortcuts for priority changes?
```

---

## Checklist

Before saving the PRD:

- [ ] Asked clarifying questions with lettered options
- [ ] Incorporated user's answers
- [ ] User stories are small and specific
- [ ] Functional requirements are numbered and unambiguous
- [ ] Non-goals section defines clear boundaries
- [ ] Saved to `tasks/prd-[feature-name].md`

Overview

This skill generates a clear, actionable Product Requirements Document (PRD) for a new feature. It guides the user through a short clarifying-question step, then produces a structured PRD suitable for handoff to developers or autonomous agents.

How this skill works

You provide a brief feature description or trigger phrase (e.g., "create a prd" or "plan this feature"). The skill asks 3–5 essential, lettered clarifying questions (problem, core actions, scope, success criteria) so you can respond compactly (e.g., "1A, 2C, 3B"). It then generates a markdown PRD with Introduction, Goals, User Stories with verifiable acceptance criteria, Functional Requirements, Non-Goals, Design/Technical considerations, Success Metrics, and Open Questions, and saves it to tasks/prd-[feature-name].md. The output is a planning/spec document only — no implementation is started.

When to use it

  • Planning a new feature before design or development begins
  • Starting a project and needing a concise spec for engineers or AI agents
  • Converting a high-level idea into concrete user stories and acceptance criteria
  • Handoff to junior developers or autonomous loops like Ralph
  • When you need a reproducible PRD file saved in tasks/

Best practices

  • Provide a one- or two-sentence feature summary to start; the skill will ask clarifying questions
  • Answer clarifying questions using lettered options (e.g., "1A, 2C") for fastest iteration
  • Be explicit about non-goals to keep scope manageable
  • Ensure UI stories include the required browser verification acceptance criterion
  • Review and iterate on generated PRD before turning it into implementation tasks

Example use cases

  • You want a PRD for an email notifications feature and need measurable success metrics
  • Converting a product manager's idea into implementable user stories for a junior dev
  • Preparing a spec for an autonomous agent (Ralph) to execute until PRD items are complete
  • Rapidly scoping a minimal viable version versus a full-featured implementation
  • Creating consistent PRDs saved to tasks/ for tracking and automation

FAQ

What format is the PRD saved in and where?

The PRD is produced as a markdown (.md) file and saved to tasks/prd-[feature-name].md using a kebab-case filename based on the feature name.

How many clarifying questions will you ask?

Typically 3–5 essential, lettered questions focused on goal, target user, scope, and success criteria to avoid unnecessary back-and-forth.