Starting A New Project Agent Skill

Starting a new project

The workspace is empty: no code, no decisions. Turn the user's idea into one clear, buildable document —

goal-and-requirements.md — then hand off to brainstorming for the features that follow.

Hold the writing-specs bar. Read that concept skill before saving anything — it carries the

short / honest / on-rails rules every section you save must meet.

Method

• Build on what's already said. Never re-ask what the request already told you.
• Infer, then confirm — propose a concrete draft and let the user correct it; a suggestion beats an

open question. Compose ask_user_question rounds per the asking-user-questions concept skill

(read it before the first round — it carries the option, confirmation, and degradation norms).

• MVP first. The right v1 is smaller than the user expects. Every v1 capability must justify itself.
• Save incrementally. Create the file as soon as the first section is settled, then add each

confirmed section in template order. Don't batch; don't invent unconfirmed content.

• A skipped question is not a blocker — proceed on the current model and note real gaps inline.

Working model (infer from the request; never ask these directly)

audience:   personal | public | both        domain: what space this is in
tech:       stack mentioned, or null         scope:  small | large
depth:      light | standard | full          creator_is_user: does the maker use it?

depth scales the document: light = a one-liner idea → a few lines; full = named competitors /

multiple user types → a full PRD. It can only grow during the conversation, never shrink.

Fast path — pre-filled brief

If the request already reads like a spec (several headings or a multi-section brief), parse it, treat those

sections as confirmed, save them immediately, and only pursue what's genuinely missing and required by

depth. Don't ask the user to confirm what they already wrote. The one always-offered extra is

alternatives research (below).

Flow

• Orient — one line: "Let's nail the goal and scope, then I'll save it as goal-and-requirements.md."
• Overview — infer it (depth-sized: a sentence → a paragraph naming what it replaces) and confirm.
• Problem — one tailored question referencing the domain (never generic); turn the answer into a

statement (who / what they do today / the specific breakdown) and confirm. Skip if the Overview already

implies it.

• Route from the model — don't ask "who's this for" unless genuinely ambiguous:

personal / first-person pain / depth=light → Personal spec; public / named users / depth=full

→ PRD.

• Elicit the branch's sections (below), inferring and confirming each, saving as you go.
• Research alternatives (always offered, never forced): web_search + fetch_content for the

closest open-source projects / products, then offer to add an Alternatives Considered section

(name, one-line gap, URL). On a pre-filled brief, ask permission first.

• Review the full draft in plain markdown and confirm, then finalize.

Personal spec (sections)

# Title + one-line tagline · Overview · Problem · V1 Features (only capabilities the tool is

useless without) · Tech Notes (stack, or TBD).

PRD (sections)

# Title + tagline · Overview · Problem Statement · Target Users (roles, not demographics) ·

Jobs to Be Done ("When [situation], I want [motivation], so I can [outcome]") · Key User Story

(one concrete scenario) · Goals (verb-first, measurable) · Non-Goals · Success Metrics /

Done Conditions · MVP Scope (In v1 — each item justified against a Goal/Success condition; `Out

of v1`) · Non-Functional Requirements (only if they exist) · Technology (Aspect | Choice |

Rationale).

Skip any section the model already answers or that depth doesn't warrant (light → skip Goals/NFRs,

binary Done Conditions instead of metrics). Reject vague goals inline: "'Better UX' isn't a goal —

'first result in under 30s' is."

Saving

• spec_create once, path: "goal-and-requirements.md", a slug id, type: "goal-and-requirements",

title, status: "draft"; replace the scaffold with the chosen template + the sections settled so far.

• edit to add each confirmed section in template order.
• spec_update status: draft → done once finalized.

Next

State plainly that the spec is saved. Suggest the natural next step — sketch architecture.md, then use

brainstorming per feature. There is no board/ticket hand-off — say it and stop: **this workflow ends

here**; feature work from now on routes through choosing-a-workflow → brainstorming.