# Drafting Proposal Sections > Drafts narrative sections of a US Federal proposal from approved storyboards. Use when the user needs to draft, write, or develop proposal sections, technical volume or management volume narrative, a solution approach, or section content for a federal bid. Writes customer-focused, benefit-led narrative that threads the section's win theme, lands its proof points, stays traceable to the compliance… - **Type:** Skill - **Install:** `agentstack add skill-danielkinneyspears-federal-proposal-skills-drafting-proposal-sections` - **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior - **Seller:** [danielkinneyspears](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/danielkinneyspears) - **Installs:** 0 - **Category:** [Agent Skills](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/agent-skills) - **Latest version:** 0.1.0 - **License:** Apache-2.0 - **Upstream author:** [danielkinneyspears](https://github.com/danielkinneyspears) - **Source:** https://github.com/danielkinneyspears/federal-proposal-skills/tree/main/skills/drafting-proposal-sections ## Install ```sh agentstack add skill-danielkinneyspears-federal-proposal-skills-drafting-proposal-sections ``` Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent. ## About # Drafting Proposal Sections Draft proposal section narrative from approved storyboards — narrative that is compliant, responsive, and built to be scored. Federal proposal writing has a specific job: not to describe the offeror, but to make it easy for a tired evaluator to find the requirement, see it answered, recognize the strength, and write down a good rating. This skill drafts to that job. ## When to use this skill Use this skill after `outlining-proposals` has produced the annotated outline and storyboards, to draft the substantive narrative sections of the technical, management, and similar volumes. It does not draft the executive summary (`writing-executive-summaries`), past performance (`writing-past-performance`), key personnel (`developing-key-personnel`), or the cost narrative (`narrating-cost-volumes`) — those have their own conventions and skills. Use this skill for the solution and approach narrative. ## Inputs **Required:** - `11-proposal-outline.md`: the annotated outline and the storyboard for the section being drafted. - `10-compliance-matrix.md`: the requirements the section must satisfy. **Preferred:** - `05-win-strategy.md`: the win themes and proof points. - The solicitation Sections L, M, and C/SOW/PWS — the source of truth. - Source material in `source/` — past performance, technical facts, resumes. **Without a storyboard**, do not free-draft. Run `outlining-proposals` for the section first, or build at least a minimal storyboard with the user. Drafting without a plan is the failure mode this package exists to prevent. Read `../../shared/glossary.md` and `../../shared/pursuit-workspace.md` if not already read this session. ## Intake Ask these as a numbered list, then confirm before drafting. 1. **Which section(s).** Which outline section(s) is this drafting pass for? 2. **Storyboard status.** Has the storyboard been reviewed and approved? If not, draft the storyboard or get it approved first. 3. **Source material.** What factual source material is available for the proof points — past performance data, technical details, named personnel, metrics? What proof points have no source yet? 4. **Evaluation approach.** Is this a best-value tradeoff or LPTA evaluation? (Tradeoff sections sell value; LPTA sections demonstrate clean acceptability without gold-plating.) 5. **Page allocation.** What is the section's page budget? ## Workflow ``` Section Drafting: - [ ] Step 1: Read the storyboard, matrix rows, and source material - [ ] Step 2: Confirm proof points have real sources - [ ] Step 3: Draft the section against the storyboard - [ ] Step 4: Run the compliance self-check - [ ] Step 5: Run the persuasion self-check - [ ] Step 6: Write the section file and update the matrix ``` **Step 1: Read.** Read the section's storyboard, every compliance-matrix row the section owns, the relevant solicitation language, and the source material. **Step 2: Confirm proof.** Check that every proof point in the storyboard has a real source. Where a proof point has no source, do not invent one. Flag it: mark the claim `[PROOF NEEDED: ]` in the draft and list it for the user. An unsubstantiated claim is a Red Team finding and a credibility risk. **Step 3: Draft.** Draft the section following `references/federal-proposal-writing.md` and the section-type guidance in `references/section-types.md`. The essentials: - **Lead with the theme.** The section opens with its theme statement, not with a restatement of the requirement. - **Answer the requirement visibly.** Use headings that match Section L/M language so the evaluator finds each requirement answered where they expect. - **Convert features to benefits.** Every capability is carried through to what the customer gets. - **Weave in proof.** Substantiate claims inline with specific evidence. - **Write for the evaluator.** Short paragraphs, informative headings, action captions on graphics, no unsupported superlatives. - **Stay in the page budget.** **Step 4: Compliance self-check.** For every compliance-matrix requirement the section owns, confirm the draft addresses it, in language traceable to the requirement. Tag each addressed requirement inline (e.g., ``) so reviewers and the matrix can trace it. Any requirement not yet addressed is named explicitly. **Step 5: Persuasion self-check.** Apply the checklist in `federal-proposal-writing.md`: theme present and threaded, benefits not just features, proof for every claim, customer as the subject, graphics carry an action caption, nothing gold-plated under LPTA. **Step 6: Write and update.** Save the section as a file in the workspace's `12-sections/` directory, named for the outline section. Update the corresponding rows of `10-compliance-matrix.md` to status "Drafted". ## Output One file per section in `12-sections/`, plus updated status in the compliance matrix. Present the user with: the drafted section, the requirements it covers, any `[PROOF NEEDED]` flags, and any requirement it could not fully address and why. ## References - `references/federal-proposal-writing.md`: federal proposal writing conventions: customer focus, theme-first structure, features-to-benefits, substantiation, writing for evaluators, and the persuasion self-check. - `references/section-types.md`: drafting guidance for common section types: technical/solution, management, transition, staffing, quality control, and risk. - `templates/section-draft.md`: the section draft file template. ## Guardrails - **Never invent proof.** A claim with no source is flagged `[PROOF NEEDED]`, never fabricated. Invented past performance, metrics, or credentials are a catastrophic integrity failure. - **Draft from a storyboard.** No storyboard, no drafting. The plan comes first. - **Compliance is the floor.** Every owned requirement is addressed and traceable. Persuasion is built on top of compliance, never instead of it. - **The customer is the subject.** Sections are about what the customer gets, not about how good the offeror is. - **Do not gold-plate under LPTA.** Where the evaluation is LPTA, demonstrate clean acceptability; exceeding the requirement adds cost and earns nothing. ## Source & license This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code. - **Author:** [danielkinneyspears](https://github.com/danielkinneyspears) - **Source:** [danielkinneyspears/federal-proposal-skills](https://github.com/danielkinneyspears/federal-proposal-skills) - **License:** Apache-2.0 Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above. ## Pricing - **Free** — Free ## Security capabilities Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access: - **Network access:** no - **Filesystem access:** no - **Shell / process execution:** no - **Environment & secrets:** no - **Dynamic code execution:** no *"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.* ## Versions - **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source. ## Links - Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-danielkinneyspears-federal-proposal-skills-drafting-proposal-sections - Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/danielkinneyspears - Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse --- Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.