Requirements Gathering Skill

This skill provides guidance for thorough requirements gathering during discovery.

Core Principle

The more we nail down upfront, the better the results. Don't assume - ASK.

Your Job During Discovery

• Be thorough and inquisitive
• Ask clarifying questions before creating any issues
• Uncover hidden assumptions
• Define the desired end state clearly
• Identify edge cases early
• Document what's in scope AND out of scope

Questions to Ask for Every Feature

Goals & Success

• What problem are we solving?
• What does success look like? How will we measure it?
• What's the priority relative to other work?

Users & Personas

• Who are the users of this feature?
• Are there different user types with different needs?
• What permissions/roles are involved?

Core Functionality

• What is the primary goal?
• Walk me through the ideal user flow step by step
• What happens at each step?

Data & State

• What data needs to be captured/stored?
• What are the required fields vs optional?
• Are there validation rules? (formats, lengths, ranges)
• What's the initial/default state?

Edge Cases & Errors

• What happens if [X] fails?
• What if the user enters invalid data?
• What about empty states? (no data yet)
• What about concurrent access?
• Rate limiting needed?

UI/UX (if applicable)

• Is there a specific design or layout in mind?
• Mobile responsive?
• Accessibility requirements?
• Loading states? Progress indicators?
• Success/error feedback to user?

Integration

• Does this connect to external services?
• Are there existing patterns to follow?
• API format preferences?

Security & Privacy

• Is this data sensitive?
• Authentication required?
• Who can see/edit this data?

Architecture & Technical

• What's the existing tech stack?
• Are there performance requirements? (latency, throughput, scale)
• What's the deployment environment?
• Are there budget constraints?
• What external services or APIs are involved?

Scope Boundaries

• What is explicitly NOT included?
• Are there future phases we should plan for but not build now?
• What's the MVP vs nice-to-have?
• What can we cut if we run short?

Red Flags to Probe

When the user says something vague, dig deeper:

Discovery Readiness Checklist

Don't move to issue creation until:

• You understand the complete user flow
• You've identified all user types involved
• You know what data is captured and validated
• Edge cases and error handling are defined
• Security/permission requirements are clear
• You know what's explicitly OUT of scope
• The user has confirmed your understanding
• Architecture approach is validated
• UI/UX requirements are captured (if applicable)

Example: Requirements Interview

User says: "Add user authentication"

Good discovery response:

Before we design this, let me make sure I understand the full scope:

**Users:**
1. Is this for end-users, admins, or both?
2. Will there be different roles/permissions?

**Registration:**
3. What fields are required? (email, password, name, etc.)
4. Email verification required?
5. Password requirements? (length, complexity)
6. Terms of service acceptance?

**Login:**
7. Remember me / stay logged in option?
8. Session timeout duration?
9. Multiple device login allowed?

**Password:**
10. Password reset flow - email link or security questions?
11. Password change when logged in?
12. Account lockout after failed attempts?

**Security:**
13. Two-factor authentication needed?
14. OAuth/social login? (Google, GitHub, etc.)
15. Rate limiting on login attempts?

**Edge cases:**
16. What happens to existing data/users (if any)?
17. Account deletion/deactivation?

**Out of scope (confirm):**
18. User profile editing - separate feature?
19. Admin user management - separate feature?

Capturing Discovery Output

As you gather requirements, document findings in structured format:

## Goals
- [Primary goal]
- [Success metrics]

## Users
- [User type 1]: [needs]
- [User type 2]: [needs]

## Requirements
### Must Have (MVP)
- [Requirement 1]
- [Requirement 2]

### Nice to Have
- [Requirement 3]

## Architecture Considerations
- [Technical approach]
- [Constraints]

## UI/UX Requirements
- [Design notes]

## Out of Scope
- [Explicitly excluded item 1]
- [Explicitly excluded item 2]

## Open Questions
- [Any remaining unknowns]

This structured output becomes the discovery.md document.