PRD Generation Skill

Generate comprehensive, structured Product Requirements Documents (PRDs) through an interactive question-and-answer workflow optimized for autonomous development.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• User asks to "create a PRD" or "generate requirements"
• Planning a new feature before implementation
• Need to document requirements for Ralph Zero
• Want to break down complex features into implementable stories

Workflow

This skill follows a structured 5-step process to create production-ready PRDs.

Step 1: Get Feature Description

Ask the user for a high-level description:

What feature would you like to build? Please provide a brief description.

Step 2: Ask Clarifying Questions

Ask these essential questions with letter options for quick responses:

1. Problem & Goals

1. What problem does this feature solve?
   A. User pain point / friction
   B. Business requirement
   C. Technical debt / refactoring
   D. Competitive feature parity
   E. Other: [specify]

2. Target Users

2. Who will use this feature?
   A. End users only
   B. Admin users only
   C. All users
   D. Developers / internal team
   E. External integrations

3. Scope

3. What is the desired scope?
   A. Minimal viable version (fastest path)
   B. Full-featured implementation
   C. Backend/API only (no UI)
   D. Frontend/UI only (mock backend)

4. Technical Constraints

4. Any technical constraints or requirements?
   A. Must integrate with existing system X
   B. Performance requirements (specify)
   C. Security/compliance requirements
   D. No special constraints

5. Success Measurement

5. How will you measure success?
   A. User metrics (engagement, retention)
   B. Business metrics (conversion, revenue)
   C. Technical metrics (performance, quality)
   D. Simply: feature works as specified

Allow user to respond: 1A, 2C, 3A, 4D, 5D for efficient iteration.

Step 3: Generate PRD

Based on answers, generate a PRD using this structure:

markdown
1# [Feature Name]
2
3## Executive Summary
4[2-3 sentence overview]
5
6## Problem Statement
7[What problem are we solving and why]
8
9## Goals
10- Goal 1: [Specific, measurable]
11- Goal 2: [Specific, measurable]
12- Goal 3: [Specific, measurable]
13
14## User Stories
15
16For each story, use this format:
17
18### US-001: [Story Title]
19**Description:** As a [user type], I want to [action], so that [benefit].
20
21**Acceptance Criteria:**
22- [ ] Specific, verifiable criterion 1
23- [ ] Specific, verifiable criterion 2
24- [ ] Typecheck passes
25- [ ] [UI stories only] Verify in browser using dev-browser skill
26
27**Priority:** 1
28
29**Notes:** [Any implementation hints or context]
30
31## Functional Requirements
32
33- FR-1: The system must [specific requirement]
34- FR-2: When [condition], the system must [behavior]
35- FR-3: [Specific, testable requirement]
36
37## Non-Goals (Out of Scope)
38
39- What we're explicitly NOT doing
40- Features deferred to future iterations
41- Edge cases intentionally not handled
42
43## Technical Approach
44
45### Architecture
46[High-level technical approach]
47
48### Data Model
49[Key schema changes or data structures]
50
51### APIs/Inte grations
52[External systems, endpoints needed]
53
54## Success Metrics
55
56- Metric 1: [target value]
57- Metric 2: [target value]
58
59## Timeline & Milestones
60
61- Phase 1: [description] - [timeframe]
62- Phase 2: [description] - [timeframe]
63
64## Dependencies
65
66- Dependency 1: [what and why]
67- Dependency 2: [what and why]
68
69## Open Questions
70
71- Question 1
72- Question 2

Step 4: Save PRD

Save to tasks/prd-[feature-name-kebab-case].md

Examples:

• "User Authentication" → tasks/prd-user-authentication.md
• "Task Priority System" → tasks/prd-task-priority.md

Step 5: Next Steps

After saving, inform the user:

✅ PRD saved to tasks/prd-[feature-name].md

Next steps:
1. Review and refine the PRD as needed
2. Convert to prd.json: Load ralph-convert skill and convert tasks/prd-[feature-name].md to prd.json
3. Run Ralph Zero: ralph-zero run --max-iterations 50

Best Practices

Keep Stories Atomic

Each user story should be:

• Specific: Clear about what needs to be done
• Testable: Can be verified when complete
• Independent: Minimal dependencies on other stories
• Small: Completable in one iteration (30min - 2hrs)

Write Verifiable Acceptance Criteria

✅ Good criteria (specific, testable):

• "Add status column to tasks table ('pending' | 'in_progress' | 'done')"
• "Badge shows green for done, blue for in_progress, gray for pending"
• "Clicking delete shows confirmation dialog with Cancel/Confirm buttons"

❌ Bad criteria (vague, untestable):

• "Status works correctly"
• "Good UX"
• "User can easily do X"
• "Handles all edge cases"

Order Stories by Dependency

Stories should execute in dependency order:

Correct order:

1. Schema/database changes
2. Backend logic/server actions
3. UI components
4. Dashboard/aggregation views

Wrong order:

• UI component at priority 1 that needs schema from priority 3

Always Include Quality Checks

Every story must have:

• Typecheck passes as final criterion
• Tests pass if testable logic
• Verify in browser using dev-browser skill if UI changes

Example Interaction

User: "Create a PRD for adding task priority levels"

Agent (you):

I'll help you create a PRD for task priority levels. Let me ask some clarifying questions:

1. What problem does this feature solve?
   A. User pain point / friction
   B. Business requirement
   C. Technical debt / refactoring
   D. Competitive feature parity
   E. Other: [specify]

[User: 1A]

2. Who will use this feature?
   A. End users only
   B. Admin users only
   C. All users
   D. Developers / internal team
   E. External integrations

[User: 2C]

...

[After gathering all answers]

Great! Here's your PRD:

# Task Priority System

## Executive Summary
Add priority levels (high, medium, low) to tasks so users can focus on what matters most...

[Generate complete PRD]

✅ PRD saved to tasks/prd-task-priority.md

Next steps:
1. Review the PRD
2. Convert to prd.json using ralph-convert skill
3. Run Ralph Zero

Customization

For project-specific templates, create:

skills/prd/references/CUSTOM_TEMPLATE.md

Then reference it:

Use the custom PRD template from references/CUSTOM_TEMPLATE.md

Common Pitfalls

Avoid Vague Requirements

❌ "Make the UI better" ✅ "Add visual feedback on hover (scale to 1.05, show shadow)"

Avoid Mixing Concerns

❌ "Add authentication and dashboard" ✅ Split into: Auth schema, Auth UI, Dashboard

Avoid Future-Proofing

❌ "Design for eventual multi-tenant support" ✅ "Implement single-tenant, document extension points"

Related Skills

• ralph-convert: Convert this PRD to prd.json
• ralph-zero: Run autonomous development loop

See Also

• PRD Template
• PRD Best Practices
• Story Sizing Guide