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requirements-author

Author BRD and PRD documents through phased lifecycle gates with traceability and quality contracts.

1.4k|284|Updated Nov 2, 2025
Search Tags:#acceptance criteria#traceability#product planning#brd#Requirements#prD#Quality gates
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/microsoft/hve-core --skill requirements-author
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: requirements-author
Source: https://github.com/microsoft/hve-core/tree/main/.github/skills/project-planning/requirements-author
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/microsoft/hve-core --skill requirements-author

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

💡 This Skill includes references (resource) components.

What problem does it solve?

Writing Business Requirements Documents (BRDs) and Product Requirements Documents (PRDs) often produces inconsistent, untestable, or untraceable requirements. This Skill enforces a structured lifecycle with hard exit gates, canonical templates, and versioned data contracts so requirements stay complete, testable, and traceable from discovery through approval.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • Phased BRD lifecycle: Runs Discover, Define, and Govern phases with hard exit gates, SMART goal checks, supersession lineage, and a signed BRD-to-PRD handoff payload.
  • Seven-phase PRD lifecycle: Runs Assess through Finalize phases with EARS acceptance criteria, NIST 800-160 NFR classification, INVEST story checks, and feasibility handoff ingestion.
  • Quality gate contracts: Emits versioned YAML payloads (BRD_STANDARD_FINDINGS_V1, BRD_QUALITY_REPORT_V1, PRD equivalents) that drive Define, Validate, and Govern exit decisions.
  • Use Case: A product team receives an outcome hypothesis for a claims intake initiative. The Skill validates the handoff payload, seeds business goals into a BRD, builds traceable FR/AC/BG links, passes quality gates, and emits a governed handoff that the PRD Builder consumes to author the PRD.

Quick Start

Ask the agent to start a new BRD for your initiative using the requirements-author skill, beginning with the Discover phase to capture business context and stakeholders.

Frequently Asked Questions about requirements-author

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I write a BRD with traceable requirements?▼

Follow the Discover, Define, and Govern phases: capture business context and stakeholders in Discover, author FR, NFR, AC, and BG items with the canonical template in Define, and approve with lineage metadata in Govern. The author-maintained traceability matrix links FR-to-AC and FR-to-BG coverage.

How do I create a PRD from an approved BRD?▼

The PRD lifecycle consumes the BRD_TO_PRD_HANDOFF_V1 payload during its Assess phase, ingesting approved business context, coverage metrics, and waivers. It then runs Discover, Create, Build, Integrate, Validate, and Finalize phases to produce the PRD.

What acceptance criteria format does this requirements workflow use?▼

PRD acceptance criteria follow EARS patterns or Given-When-Then Gherkin form, validated by a seven-rule atomicity checklist. Each criterion must describe one behavior, one observable outcome, and avoid unmeasured quantifiers like quickly or easily.

Can the PRD Builder ingest a feasibility study handoff?▼

Yes, the Assess phase recognizes a feasibility-to-prd-handoff by its kind marker, validates the verdict and study path, and persists normalized metadata in the PRD state file. Build then assigns each forward-verdict candidate exactly one disposition such as accepted-fr or retained-gap.

What happens when BRD quality gates fail?▼

A FAIL overall status blocks the Define exit gate, and Govern exit is blocked unless an approved waiver covers the condition. The BRD_QUALITY_REPORT_V1 payload records gate decisions, threshold breaches, and prioritized recommendations for the author.

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