brief

Turn a rough idea into a structured project brief with requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, risks, and timeline.

Steps

Step 1: Capture the idea

Take whatever the user described and identify:

• The problem: What pain does this solve?
• The solution: What are we building?
• The user: Who benefits?
• The outcome: What does success look like?

If any of these are unclear from the input, make reasonable assumptions and flag them.

Step 2: Define scope

In scope:

• List specific capabilities / features this project will deliver
• Be concrete — "user can filter by date" not "filtering functionality"

Out of scope:

• Explicitly list what this project will NOT do
• This is as important as in-scope — prevents scope creep

Assumptions:

• What are we assuming to be true?
• Technical assumptions (platform, stack, integrations)
• Business assumptions (budget, timeline, team)

Step 3: User stories

Write 5-10 user stories in standard format:

As a [user type], I want to [action] so that [benefit].

Acceptance criteria:
- [ ] [Specific, testable criterion]
- [ ] [Specific, testable criterion]
- [ ] [Specific, testable criterion]

Prioritise using MoSCoW:

• Must have: Non-negotiable for launch
• Should have: Important but not critical
• Could have: Nice to have if time allows
• Won't have: Explicitly excluded from this version

Step 4: Technical considerations

If relevant:

• Stack / platform: Recommended technology choices
• Integrations: Third-party services or APIs needed
• Data: What data is needed, where it comes from, how it's stored
• Constraints: Performance requirements, security needs, compliance

Step 5: Risks and mitigations

Identify the top 3-5 risks:

Risk	Likelihood	Impact	Mitigation
[risk]	High/Med/Low	High/Med/Low	[what to do about it]

Step 6: Timeline estimate

Break into phases with rough estimates:

• Phase 1 — Foundation: [scope] — [estimate]
• Phase 2 — Core features: [scope] — [estimate]
• Phase 3 — Polish & launch: [scope] — [estimate]

Note: These are rough estimates, not commitments.

Step 7: Write the brief

Save to briefs/[project-name]-brief.md:

# Project Brief — [Name]

**Date:** [date]
**Status:** Draft

---

## Problem
[What pain are we solving?]

## Solution
[What are we building?]

## Target User
[Who benefits?]

## Success Criteria
[How do we know this worked?]

## Scope

### In Scope
- [specific feature]

### Out of Scope
- [explicitly excluded]

### Assumptions
- [assumption]

## User Stories

### Must Have
[user stories with acceptance criteria]

### Should Have
[user stories]

### Could Have
[user stories]

## Technical Considerations
[stack, integrations, data, constraints]

## Risks
[risk table]

## Timeline
[phased estimate]

## Open Questions
- [anything still unresolved]

---
Ready for review.

Output a summary and flag any open questions that need answers before work starts.