# Prd Writing > When the user needs to define a product feature, write a product requirements document, or translate an idea into a structured spec. - **Type:** Skill - **Install:** `agentstack add skill-shawnpang-startup-founder-skills-prd-writing` - **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior - **Seller:** [shawnpang](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/shawnpang) - **Installs:** 0 - **Category:** [Agent Skills](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/agent-skills) - **Latest version:** 0.1.0 - **License:** MIT - **Upstream author:** [shawnpang](https://github.com/shawnpang) - **Source:** https://github.com/shawnpang/startup-founder-skills/tree/main/skills/prd-writing ## Install ```sh agentstack add skill-shawnpang-startup-founder-skills-prd-writing ``` Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent. ## About # PRD Writing ## When to Use Activate when a founder or PM needs to turn a product idea, feature request, or strategic initiative into a structured Product Requirements Document. This includes situations where the user says things like "write a PRD," "spec out this feature," "define requirements for X," or "I need to document what we're building." ## Context Required - **From startup-context:** company stage, target customer segments, current product state, team size, technical constraints. - **From the user:** the feature or initiative to spec, known user problems it addresses, any prior research or customer feedback, desired timeline, and scope preference (lightweight vs. full PRD). ## Workflow 1. **Clarify scope level** -- Ask whether this needs a lightweight PRD (early-stage exploration, 2-3 pages) or a full PRD (committed initiative, 5-8 pages). Default to lightweight if the company is pre-product-market-fit. 2. **Gather inputs** -- Collect the problem statement, target users, any existing research, success criteria, and known constraints. Identify key contacts and their roles. 3. **Draft the 8-section PRD** -- Write each section sequentially using the template below. Use accessible language suitable for a broad audience including engineering, design, and leadership. 4. **Flag assumptions** -- Explicitly list key assumptions underlying each section. For each, state what evidence supports it and what would invalidate it. 5. **Review and refine** -- Present the draft, invite feedback, and iterate on specific sections. State the PRD version and last-updated date. ## Output Format A structured PRD document with 8 sections: ### Section Template 1. **Summary** -- 2-3 sentence overview of what is being built and why it matters. Write for a broad audience. 2. **Contacts** -- Key stakeholders with their roles and relevant context about their involvement. 3. **Background** -- Context on the problem space: why now, what changed, what enables this initiative. Include competitive context on how others handle the same problem. 4. **Objective** -- Goals, business and customer benefits, and strategic alignment. Define SMART success metrics tied to OKRs. Use the format: "Enable [user segment] to [action] resulting in [measurable outcome]." 5. **Market Segment(s)** -- Define target users by problems and needs, not demographics. Describe primary and secondary segments with size estimates. 6. **Value Proposition(s)** -- Map customer jobs addressed, gains provided, and pain points eliminated. Show competitive differentiation using frameworks like Value Curve analysis. 7. **Solution** -- Feature descriptions, UX/prototypes, wireframes, user flows, and technology details when relevant. Include out-of-scope items explicitly. Document assumptions. Enumerate at least 5 edge cases. 8. **Release** -- Phased rollout plan using relative timeframes (not exact dates). Define MVP vs. future iterations, feature flags, rollback criteria, and review checkpoints. For lightweight PRDs, sections 2, 3, and 8 can be condensed to 2-3 sentences each. ## Frameworks & Best Practices - **Problem before solution.** Spend 40% of the document on sections 1-5 (the "why") before touching section 7 (the "what"). A PRD that jumps to the solution is a spec, not a PRD. - **One objective, not five.** A PRD with multiple objectives is multiple PRDs. Split them. Each PRD should have a single primary metric it moves. - **Market segments defined by needs.** Describe who this is for based on the problems they face and jobs they hire the product to do, not by demographics or firmographics alone. - **Value Proposition clarity.** For each segment, explicitly state the customer jobs addressed, gains provided, and pains eliminated. Use the Value Curve to show where you differentiate from competitors. - **Data-driven specificity.** Replace vague language with specific numbers. "Improve retention" is not a metric; "Increase D7 retention from 25% to 35% within 8 weeks of launch" is. - **Scope creep guard.** Explicitly list what is NOT in scope. Revisit the out-of-scope list when stakeholders propose additions. - **Relative timeframes over dates.** Use phases and relative windows rather than exact calendar dates. This prevents false precision and allows flexibility. - **Assumption tracking.** List the top 3 assumptions underlying the PRD. For each, state supporting evidence and what would invalidate it. - **Audience awareness.** Engineers need technical constraints and edge cases. Designers need user flows and personas. Executives need the summary and metrics. Write for all three in a single document. - **Living document.** State the PRD version and last-updated date. PRDs that never change were never read. - **Lightweight PRD triggers:** pre-PMF exploration, hackathon projects, internal tools, experiments with **Summary:** Add configurable Slack notifications so that teams using ProjectFlow are alerted to task updates, mentions, and deadline changes without leaving their primary communication tool. This addresses the #1 feature request from our Q3 customer survey (38% of respondents). > > **Objective:** Enable team leads on paid plans to receive real-time project updates in Slack, resulting in a 20% reduction in average response time to task assignments within 6 weeks of launch. > > **Market Segment:** Teams of 10+ coordinating across tools, whose primary pain is context-switching between project management and communication platforms. > > **Out of scope:** Microsoft Teams integration, custom notification templates, Slack bot commands. ### Example 2: Full PRD prompt **User:** "Write a full PRD for our new self-serve onboarding flow. We're losing 60% of signups before they complete setup." **Good output excerpt:** > **Background:** Current onboarding requires 7 steps and takes an average of 12 minutes. Hotjar recordings show 45% of users abandon at the "connect data source" step. Competitor X reduced their onboarding to 3 steps in Q2 and reported a 2x improvement in activation. Our support team handles 30+ onboarding tickets per week, costing approximately $4,500/month. > > **Value Proposition:** Eliminate the "connect data source" friction by offering a sample dataset that lets users experience core value before committing to integration. Differentiated from Competitor X which still requires immediate data connection. > > **Release:** > - Phase 1: Internal dogfood with the team (2 weeks) > - Phase 2: 10% of new signups via feature flag > - Phase 3: 50% rollout if activation rate > 45% > - Phase 4: GA if no P0 bugs and support ticket volume decreases > - Rollback trigger: activation rate drops below current 40% baseline ## Source & license This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code. - **Author:** [shawnpang](https://github.com/shawnpang) - **Source:** [shawnpang/startup-founder-skills](https://github.com/shawnpang/startup-founder-skills) - **License:** MIT 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-shawnpang-startup-founder-skills-prd-writing - Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/shawnpang - 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%.