Define implementation contracts (APIs and data models) that developers will build against during PRD v0.6 Architecture. Triggers on requests to define APIs, design database schema, create data models, or when user asks "define APIs", "data model", "database schema", "API contracts", "technical spec", "endpoint design", "schema design". Consumes ARC- (architecture), TECH- (Build items), UJ- (flows), SCR- (screens). Outputs API- entries for endpoints and DBT- entries for data models. Feeds v0.7 Build Execution.
npx skills add https://github.com/mattgierhart/PRD-driven-context-engineering --skill prd-v06-technical-specification
Position in workflow: v0.6 Architecture Design → v0.6 Technical Specification → v0.7 Build Execution
Technical specification defines the contracts developers build against: API endpoints and data models. This is the bridge between architecture and implementation.
This skill requires prior work from v0.3-v0.6:
This skill assumes v0.6 Architecture Design is complete with ARC- entries providing system structure.
This skill creates/updates:
All API- and DBT- entries are implementation contracts (not confidence-based). They are:
Example API- entry (from UJ- and SCR-):
API-001: Create Report
Method: POST
Path: /api/reports
Purpose: Create new report from selected data source and template (implements UJ-001 Step 1)
Auth: User
Journey: UJ-001 (Step 1 - Create Report)
Screen: SCR-002 (Report Builder)
Request:
Body:
{
title: string (required) — Report name
templateId: string (required) — Selected template (FEA-008)
dataSourceId: string (required) — Connected data source (FEA-001)
options: { dateRange: { start, end }, filters: [...] }
}
Response:
Success (201):
{
data: { id, title, status: "pending|generating|ready", createdAt }
}
Errors:
- 400: Invalid input — Missing required field
- 403: Forbidden — User doesn't own data source
- 404: Not found — Template or data source not found
- 429: Rate limit exceeded
Business Rules: BR-015 (max 100 reports per user)
Data: DBT-001 (reports table), DBT-002 (data_sources table)
Example DBT- entry (referenced by API- entries):
DBT-001: Reports
Purpose: Stores user-generated reports (entities created by API-001, updated by API-004)
Table: reports
Fields:
- id: uuid — Primary key
- user_id: uuid — Report owner (FK → users) [NOT NULL]
- title: varchar(255) — Display name [NOT NULL]
- status: enum('pending','generating','ready','failed') [NOT NULL]
- created_at: timestamp [NOT NULL, DEFAULT now()]
Relationships:
- belongs_to: users via user_id
- belongs_to: templates via template_id
Indexes:
- user_id — List reports by user (API-003)
- (user_id, created_at DESC) — Recent reports (API-003)
- status — Find pending reports (background job)
Constraints:
- title: NOT NULL, length 1-255
- status: valid enum only
Business Rules: BR-015 (max 100 per user — enforce in API-001)
APIs: API-001 (create), API-002 (get), API-003 (list), API-005 (delete)
| Type | What It Defines | Example |
|------|-----------------|---------|
| API- | Endpoint contracts | POST /users, GET /reports/:id |
| DBT- | Data model/schema | Users table, Reports table |
Rule: Every API- should know which DBT- it reads/writes. Every DBT- should know which API- accesses it.
API-XXX: [Endpoint Name]
Method: [GET | POST | PUT | PATCH | DELETE]
Path: [/resource/{id}/action]
Purpose: [What this endpoint does]
Auth: [Public | User | Admin | Service]
Journey: [UJ-XXX that uses this]
Screen: [SCR-XXX that calls this]
Request:
Headers:
- Authorization: Bearer <token>
- Content-Type: application/json
Params:
- id: string (required) — Resource identifier
Query:
- limit: number (optional, default 20) — Pagination limit
Body:
{
field: type — Description
}
Response:
Success (200/201):
{
data: { ... }
}
Errors:
- 400: Invalid input — [when this occurs]
- 401: Unauthorized — [when this occurs]
- 404: Not found — [when this occurs]
- 500: Server error — [when this occurs]
Business Rules: [BR-XXX enforced here]
Data: [DBT-XXX entities accessed]
Rate Limit: [requests/minute if applicable]
Example API- entry:
API-001: Create Report
Method: POST
Path: /api/reports
Purpose: Create a new report from selected data source and template
Auth: User
Journey: UJ-001 (Step 1 - Create Report)
Screen: SCR-002 (Report Builder)
Request:
Headers:
- Authorization: Bearer <token>
- Content-Type: application/json
Body:
{
title: string (required) — Report name
templateId: string (required) — Selected template
dataSourceId: string (required) — Connected data source
options: {
dateRange: { start: ISO8601, end: ISO8601 }
filters: [{ field: string, operator: string, value: any }]
}
}
Response:
Success (201):
{
data: {
id: string
title: string
status: "pending" | "generating" | "ready"
createdAt: ISO8601
}
}
Errors:
- 400: Invalid input — Missing required field or invalid templateId
- 401: Unauthorized — Invalid or expired token
- 403: Forbidden — User doesn't own data source
- 404: Not found — Template or data source not found
- 429: Too many requests — Rate limit exceeded
Business Rules: BR-015 (max 100 reports per user)
Data: DBT-001 (reports), DBT-002 (data_sources)
Rate Limit: 10 requests/minute
DBT-XXX: [Entity Name]
Purpose: [What this entity represents]
Table: [database_table_name]
Fields:
- id: uuid — Primary key, auto-generated
- [field_name]: [type] — Description [constraints]
- created_at: timestamp — Record creation (auto)
- updated_at: timestamp — Last modification (auto)
Relationships:
- belongs_to: [DBT-YYY] via [foreign_key]
- has_many: [DBT-ZZZ]
Indexes:
- [field_name] — [Query pattern it supports]
Constraints:
- [field]: [UNIQUE | NOT NULL | CHECK expression]
Business Rules: [BR-XXX that affect this entity]
APIs: [API-XXX that read/write this]
Example DBT- entry:
DBT-001: Reports
Purpose: Stores user-generated reports with configuration and status
Table: reports
Fields:
- id: uuid — Primary key
- user_id: uuid — Report owner (FK → users) [NOT NULL]
- title: varchar(255) — Display name [NOT NULL]
- template_id: uuid — Template used (FK → templates) [NOT NULL]
- data_source_id: uuid — Data source (FK → data_sources) [NOT NULL]
- status: enum('pending','generating','ready','failed') — Generation status [NOT NULL, DEFAULT 'pending']
- options: jsonb — Report configuration (date range, filters) [DEFAULT '{}']
- output_url: varchar(500) — Generated report file URL [NULL until ready]
- created_at: timestamp — [NOT NULL, DEFAULT now()]
- updated_at: timestamp — [NOT NULL, DEFAULT now()]
Relationships:
- belongs_to: DBT-010 (users) via user_id
- belongs_to: DBT-002 (templates) via template_id
- belongs_to: DBT-003 (data_sources) via data_source_id
Indexes:
- user_id — List reports by user
- (user_id, created_at DESC) — List recent reports
- status — Find pending reports for processing
Constraints:
- title: NOT NULL, length 1-255
- status: NOT NULL, valid enum value
Business Rules: BR-015 (max 100 reports per user — enforce in API)
APIs: API-001 (create), API-002 (get), API-003 (list), API-005 (delete)
| Principle | Guidance | Example |
|-----------|----------|---------|
| Resource-oriented | URLs are nouns, not verbs | /reports not /createReport |
| Consistent naming | Plural nouns, kebab-case | /data-sources not /dataSource |
| Stateless | No server-side sessions | Auth via token, not cookie session |
| Versioned | Prefix for breaking changes | /v1/reports |
| Documented errors | Clear codes and messages | { error: { code: "LIMIT_EXCEEDED", message: "..." } } |
| Principle | Guidance | Example |
|-----------|----------|---------|
| Normalized | Avoid redundancy (unless denormalized for performance) | User name in users table, not duplicated |
| Audit trail | created_at, updated_at on all tables | Track when records change |
| Soft delete | deleted_at instead of hard delete (when needed) | Recover deleted data |
| Foreign keys | Enforce referential integrity | user_id → users.id |
| Index strategy | Index fields in WHERE and JOIN | Filter fields, FK columns |
Use this to ensure spec completeness:
| Anti-Pattern | Signal | Fix |
|--------------|--------|-----|
| API/UI mismatch | Screen needs data not in any API | Add API- or modify existing |
| Schema sprawl | 50+ tables for MVP | Consolidate; YAGNI applies |
| Missing constraints | No validation, anything accepted | Add BR- enforcement |
| N+1 queries baked in | API design requires multiple calls for one view | Add compound endpoints |
| No error handling | Only happy path documented | Define all error responses |
| Vague types | data: any | Specify exact shape |
Before proceeding to Build Execution:
API- and DBT- entries feed into:
| Consumer | What It Uses | Example |
|----------|--------------|---------|
| v0.7 Epic Scoping | API- and DBT- define EPIC scope | EPIC-01 implements API-001–005 |
| v0.7 Test Planning | API- defines test contracts | TEST-001 validates API-001 |
| v0.7 Implementation Loop | API-/DBT- are implementation tasks | Code implements API-001 |
| API Documentation | API- becomes OpenAPI spec | Swagger from API- entries |
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