Generate Charter

generate-charter

Triggers

Russian: «сформируй устав», «подготовь устав проекта», «создай charter», «нужен устав проекта» English: "generate charter", "create project charter", "build charter", "draft project charter"

Language Detection

Determine the language of the user's request:

• If the request is in Russian → use templates with -ru suffix
• Otherwise → use templates with -en suffix

All output (headings, labels, comments, instructions) must match the detected language.

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1. Inputs

| Data | Required | Source | Notes | |------|:--------:|--------|-------| | Project data | yes | chat or knowledge | Brief, free-form description, answers to questions, or unstructured notes. Agent extracts and structures independently | | Stakeholder answers | no | chat or knowledge | Completed questionnaire or free-form answers. If absent — agent extracts from general project description | | Project constraints | no | chat or knowledge | Budget, timeline, technical, organizational. If not provided separately — agent extracts from general description | | Team composition | no | chat or knowledge | If provided — fill Section 5. If absent — keep only Sponsor and PM rows | | Market context | no | chat or knowledge | Used to refine goal statement and risks |

If required data is missing — request it (system-prompt-draft.md §3 p.2):

To generate a charter, I need project information in any format:
a ready brief, answers to questions, a free-form description, or a set of key points.
Minimum to start: project goal and at least one of: timeline, budget, scope.
Available data: [list what is present].
Missing for the charter: [specify].

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2. Execution Steps

1. Check inputs. Verify that project data (in any form) is present. If missing → request using the template in §1. Do NOT generate a placeholder charter, template, or example — respond ONLY with the data request. If present → step 2.
2. Structure inputs. If data is free-form — extract and categorize: goal, scope, timeline, budget, team, constraints, risks. Note ambiguities and gaps; clarify with the user selectively. Do not ask for everything at once — request only what is strictly required for the charter. When computing dates from relative timelines ("12 weeks from April 7") — calculate exactly: start + N×7 days = end. Do not round.
3. Check for contradictions. If one parameter (budget, timeline, scope) appears with conflicting values across sources — do NOT choose a value independently. List the contradictions and ask the user which data is current. Exception: if the user explicitly clarifies outdated brief data in chat — treat the clarification as authoritative.
4. Read the template project-charter.md from project knowledge.
5. Extract data from sources. For each placeholder (Section 4) — find the value in inputs. Priority: explicit user data > brief > agent assumption.
6. Fill template sections following the rules in Section 3.
7. Validate the result using the checklist (Section 5).
8. Show the result in chat. Format (system-prompt-draft.md §3 p.4):

• What was done: "Charter generated for project [name] based on: [list sources]."
• Assumptions: list all (if any).
• What is required: "Approve, provide comments, or reject."
• Do not include system file paths. Use filename only: "Charter saved as project-charter.md".

1. Wait for user response (system-prompt-draft.md §3 p.5).

• Approval → produce the final document.
• Comments → revise and show updated version. After the 3rd iteration — ask: "Continue revising or finalize the current version?" (this is not a hard limit — user may request more iterations).

1. After approval:

• Offer the user text to paste into log.md and project-state.md (system-prompt-draft.md §11).
• Notify: "Charter approved. Next available task: generate-risk-register (initial risk register). Start?" (system-prompt-draft.md §7).

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3. Section Fill Rules

Section 1. Project Goal

• Extract from stakeholder answers or free-form description (block "Goals and Expectations").
• Format: 1–3 sentences. What is being done, why, and what the outcome is.
• If the user specified success metrics — include them.

Section 2. Project Result (Scope)

• Included: specific deliverables from inputs. Each item is a measurable result.
• Excluded: explicit out-of-scope items from stakeholder answers ("we are NOT doing..."). If not specified — formulate based on context and record as an assumption.

Section 3. Timeline and Milestones

• Dates from inputs.
• Milestones: tie to key deliverables from Section 2. Minimum: start, intermediate checkpoints, launch.
• If no exact dates — use relative timelines (week N) and record the assumption.

Section 4. Budget

• Fill from stakeholder data on budget and resources.
• Add rows per number of budget line items in inputs. Last row is the total.
• If breakdown is absent — state the total as a single row and record the assumption: "Budget breakdown by line item was not provided."
• "Notes" column — for explanations and sources of figures.

Section 5. Team and Roles

• Fill from team composition (if provided).
• Required roles: Sponsor, PM.
• If composition is not provided — keep Sponsor and PM rows only; do not add others.

Section 6. Constraints and Assumptions

• Constraints: from constraint data + identified from project description.
• Assumptions: all assumptions made by the agent during filling (e.g., "budget breakdown not provided", "out-of-scope items determined by agent").

Section 7. Key Risks (Top 3)

• Identify exactly 3 most probable/impactful risks based on project context. The charter is a strategic document for approval, not a risk register. Full detail will be in risk-register.md (next skill). If more than 3 risks are identified — mention in assumptions: "3 key risks selected from N identified. Remaining risks — in the risk register."
• Rating: H (High) / M (Medium) / L (Low) — for both probability and impact.
• For each — briefly describe mitigation.
• Note: "Details — in risk-register.md" (to be created by the next skill).

Section 8. Approval

• Fill names from Section 5 (Sponsor, PM). Date — leave blank (filled upon approval).

Header Metadata

• Version: 1.0
• Date: current generation date.
• File: project-charter.md
• Document Status: draft (at generation). After user approval — approved.
• Project Manager: from inputs.

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4. Placeholder Table

> Placeholders {{}} in the template are fill targets, not auto-substitution variables. Replace each with the corresponding value from inputs.

| Placeholder | Required | Source | Allowed Values | |-------------|:--------:|--------|----------------| | {{project_name}} | yes | project data | text | | {{date}} | yes | system | YYYY-MM-DD | | {{pm_name}} | yes | project data / team | name | | {{project_goal}} | yes | project data | text, 1–3 sentences | | {{deliverable_N}} | yes (≥1) | project data | specific result | | {{out_of_scope_N}} | yes (≥1) | project data / assumption | what is NOT included | | {{start_date}} | yes | project data | YYYY-MM-DD | | {{end_date}} | yes | project data | YYYY-MM-DD | | {{milestone_N}} | yes (≥1) | project data / section 2 | milestone name | | {{date_N}} | yes | project data | YYYY-MM-DD or "week N" | | {{launch_date}} | yes | project data | YYYY-MM-DD | | {{cost_item_N}} | no | project data | budget line item | | {{amount_N}} | no | project data | number + currency | | {{note_N}} | no | agent | line item explanation | | {{total_budget}} | yes | project data | number + currency | | {{sponsor_name}} | yes | project data | name | | {{role_N}} | no | team | role name | | {{name_N}} | no | team | name | | {{responsibility_N}} | no | team | area of responsibility | | {{constraint_N}} | yes (≥1) | project data | text | | {{assumption_N}} | no | agent | text (formulated by agent) | | {{risk_N}} | yes (≥3) | agent | risk description | | {{mitigation_N}} | yes (≥3) | agent | mitigation description |

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5. Validation Checklist

Before showing the result to the user — verify:

• [ ] All required placeholders replaced with values
• [ ] No {{}} placeholders remain in the text (except removed optional rows)
• [ ] Project goal is specific and measurable
• [ ] Scope contains both "Included" (≥1) and "Excluded" (≥1)
• [ ] Dates are consistent: start_date Generate a project charter. Brief, stakeholder answers, and constraints are in project knowledge.

Agent response (after generation):

> Charter generated for project "[name]" based on: brief, stakeholder answers, constraints. > > Assumptions: > - Out-of-scope items determined by agent based on context (not explicitly stated by stakeholder). > - Budget breakdown by line item was not provided — total amount stated. > > Required: approve, provide comments, or reject. > > [charter text]

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Changelog

| Date | Version | Change | |------|---------|--------| | 2026-03-25 | 1.0 | Skill created. Reference SKILL.md for remaining MVP skills | | 2026-03-25 | 1.1 | Based on benchmark results (3 tests, 6 runs). Added: step 3 — contradiction check; strengthened guard rail for missing data (step 1); explanation of "exactly 3 risks" constraint (§3 section 7); prohibition of file paths in response (step 8); exact date calculation (step 2) |

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: KirKruglov
• Source: KirKruglov/claude-skills-kit
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.