workflow-spec-to-pbi

Quick Summary

Goal: Convert one or more canonical 8-section Feature Specs into a complete, sprint-ready PBI backlog.

Canonical input: docs/specs/{Bucket}/README.{Feature}.md (one tech-free 8-section Feature Spec per capability). There is no separate A-E engineering bundle — code is the technical source of truth.

Primary outputs:

• team-artifacts/pbis/{date}-pbi-{slug}.md for each generated PBI — each carries its rank/priority in frontmatter (written back by /prioritize).
• team-artifacts/backlog/spec-to-pbi-{date}-backlog.md with priority order and dependency graph.
• team-artifacts/pbis/{slug}-mockup.html for each UI PBI (header surfaces the PBI priority/rank).
• team-artifacts/design-specs/{date}-designspec-{slug}.md for each UI PBI.
• One standalone HTML stakeholder deck from /feature-presentation whose Scope & backlog slide surfaces each PBI's priority/rank.
• plans/reports/spec-to-pbi-{date}-{bucket}.md with coverage matrix and unresolved questions.

Universal Rules:

• MUST ATTENTION define success criteria before execution and loop until observable verification passes.
• MUST ATTENTION when creating/reviewing specs or tests, name Business Intent / Invariant Guarded or the protected business intent/invariant and ensure the test would fail if that intent breaks.
• [BLOCKING] Tech-agnostic output: PBI / backlog / report prose stays tech-agnostic per docs/project-reference/spec-principles.md §3 — no framework/product/language/design-pattern names; source paths and class names appear ONLY in evidence fields (Evidence, [Source:]), frontmatter, and Mermaid.
• [BLOCKING] Inherit M1-M5/M7 + logical-ID carry: See .claude/skills/shared/sdd-artifact-contract.md → "AI-SDD Mandates (M1-M7)" for BLOCKING criteria. Every generated PBI MUST satisfy M1-M5 and M7. M7 — business-visibility: a PBI is a business-tree artifact, so apply the demo test to each acceptance criterion's BODY — "what would a stakeholder SEE change?"; no answer → FAIL as TECHNICAL-ONLY. Every Given = a state a user could arrange; every When = an action a user could take; every Then = an outcome a user could see. FAIL a When that is an invocation (a handler runs, a consumer receives, a job fires, data syncs) or a Then asserting schema/type/nullability/call-count, and NEVER derive a PBI's AC count from an architecture inventory. Judge the BODY, never the title or ID. M1 governs vocabulary; M7 governs subject matter — a technical AC in impeccably tech-free prose satisfies M1 while violating M7, and that gap is the most common way business specs rot. Carry each requirement's logical ID (FR-/BR-) from the spec's requirement/rule statements into the PBI as the PRIMARY citation spine, keeping the spec's [Source: namespace/service/id] abstract-anchor evidence as the SECONDARY carrier (KEEP it). Generated acceptance criteria stay tech-agnostic and observable — one valid interpretation, named failure modes, no implementation details.

When to Use

• User wants to create all PBIs from an existing Feature Spec (or a bucket of them).
• User wants to split a very large Feature Spec into small sprint-ready PBIs.
• User wants a dependency-aware and priority-ranked backlog from docs/specs/.
• User wants shared/foundation tasks identified before feature PBIs.

When Not to Use

• Raw product vision without any Feature Spec -> use /workflow-idea-to-spec (then chain back here for the backlog).
• One informal idea -> use /workflow-idea-to-pbi.
• Spec creation/update only -> use /workflow-code-to-spec (from code) or /workflow-idea-to-spec (from an idea).
• Implementation after PBIs are ready -> use /workflow-feature or /workflow-big-feature.

Protocol

1. Activate

Run /start-workflow workflow-spec-to-pbi with the user's prompt as context.

2. Load Spec Context

Locate and read, per target capability:

• docs/specs/{Bucket}/INDEX.md — the bucket catalog (which capabilities exist)
• docs/specs/{Bucket}/README.{Feature}.md — the canonical 8-section Feature Spec. Each PBI is decomposed from its sections:

- §1 Overview / §3 User Stories & Acceptance Criteria → PBI scope + acceptance criteria - §4 Business Rules (BR-) + §3 (US-/AC-) → logical-ID citation spine (M3) - §5 Domain Model (Mermaid ERD) → entity/aggregate impact for ## Domain Impact - §6 Process Flows → vertical-slice story boundaries - §7 Permissions & Roles → access-control acceptance criteria - §8 Test Specifications (TC-) → expected TC categories per PBI

If the spec path is missing or ambiguous, ask the user for the exact bucket / Feature Spec path before generating PBIs.

3. Freshness Gate

Run /spec-index in audit mode before PBI generation.

• If stale behavior is found, run/update the impacted spec sections before generating PBIs.
• If only structural/doc formatting is stale, record the risk and continue.
• If critical domain/API/business-rule sections are stale, stop and ask whether to update specs first.

4. Coverage Matrix

Create a matrix with one row per independently deliverable item:

Every source feature/operation must map to exactly one of:

• Generated PBI
• Shared/foundation PBI
• Existing PBI reference
• Explicit out-of-scope decision with reason

5. Large Spec Decomposition

Apply these scale rules before creating PBIs:

6. Domain Analysis Gate

Run /domain-analysis when any spec item includes:

• New or changed entities, aggregates, value objects, or ownership boundaries
• State machines or lifecycle transitions
• Cross-service event ownership or synchronization
• Data migration or seed/test-data needs

Record domain findings in each affected PBI under ## Domain Impact.

7. PBI Generation Loop

For each matrix row that needs a new PBI:

1. Run /refine to create the PBI artifact.
2. Run /artifact-review --type=pbi.
3. Run /story to create vertical-slice stories.
4. Run /artifact-review --type=story.
5. Run /pbi-challenge.
6. Run /dor-gate.
7. Run /pbi-mockup only when UI is involved. The generated mockup file MUST surface the PBI's priority/rank (header badge) so the prototype carries the same priority info as the backlog.
8. Run /design-spec only when UI is involved (after /pbi-mockup) — mirrors workflow-idea-to-pbi so the spec→pbi half is step-for-step IDENTICAL.

Spec-hub coupling (§6 interaction surface ↔ UI artifacts): for UI PBIs the /pbi-mockup and /design-spec produced here are NOT standalone artifacts — they are the deep companions of the existing canonical Feature Spec's §6 interaction surface (View Inventory / Navigation Map / Key UI States / per-story click-path) you decomposed in step 2. Both couple to §6: the §6 thin intent seeds them, and design-spec records its path in the spec's design_spec: frontmatter (the mockup in mockup:) so the spec stays the navigable hub: a reader goes spec → §6 thin intent → mockup + design-spec deep companions, and the three never drift. Keep deep visual fidelity (layout, tokens, pixel detail) in the mockup/design-spec, never in §6. See the SYNC:ui-intent-layer block below for the full rule — do not restate it here. Backend-only PBIs (no UI) → skip /pbi-mockup + /design-spec and state that reason.

Each PBI MUST include:

• Logical requirement IDs (FR-/BR-) carried from the spec as the primary citation spine (M3).
• Source spec references with file:section evidence (secondary, re-anchorable carrier — KEEP).
• GIVEN/WHEN/THEN acceptance criteria — tech-agnostic and observable (M1/M4).
• Story points and complexity.
• Dependencies table with must-before, can-parallel, blocked-by, or independent.
• Priority input data for /prioritize.
• Test specification needs, including expected TC categories.
• Domain impact and shared/foundation task references.

8. Cross-PBI Prioritization

After all PBI loops finish, run /prioritize once across the full generated set. /prioritize is NON-OPTIONAL whenever PBIs were generated — a backlog without priority is incomplete.

The backlog artifact MUST include:

• Rank and recommended implementation order.
• Dependency graph and first-do/blocked/defer groups.
• Foundation/shared tasks first when other PBIs depend on them.
• RICE or MoSCoW rationale.
• DoR status per PBI.
• Remaining open questions.

PRIORITY PROPAGATION (MANDATORY): /prioritize MUST write the resulting rank/priority back into EACH PBI's frontmatter (priority: + numeric rank), not only into the standalone backlog file. Every generated PBI carries its own priority so downstream consumers (/pbi-mockup, /feature-presentation) can surface it without re-deriving the ranking.

8.5 Near-Final Documentation Synchronization

Run /docs-update after /prioritize and before /workflow-end.

Purpose:

• Sync generated PBIs/stories/backlog outputs back into the canonical Feature Specs where applicable.
• Sync Feature Spec §8 Test Specifications with the generated TC needs.
• Verify Feature Specs, derived bucket INDEX.md, and TDD/spec docs do not drift after PBI generation.
• Record skipped sub-phases explicitly when no impacted docs exist.

8.6 Stakeholder Presentation

Run /feature-presentation after /docs-update and before /workflow-end — mirrors workflow-idea-to-pbi so the spec→pbi half is step-for-step IDENTICAL.

The standalone HTML deck MUST:

• Synthesize the generated PBIs, stories, mockups, and design-specs into one stakeholder presentation.
• Surface each PBI's priority/rank in the Scope & backlog slide (ranked order + priority label per PBI card), reusing the priority written back into PBI frontmatter by /prioritize and the ranked backlog artifact.

9. Completion Criteria

Workflow can close only when:

• Every spec source item is represented in the coverage matrix.
• Every generated PBI has dependency and priority fields.
• /prioritize has run and written rank/priority back into EACH PBI's frontmatter (priority propagation), not just the standalone backlog.
• Shared/foundation PBIs are explicit and ordered before dependents.
• Domain-analysis findings are attached where domain changes are implied.
• The final backlog artifact ranks all PBIs and explains what to do first.
• /docs-update has run as the near-final sync gate, with Feature Specs (§8) and derived bucket indexes either updated or explicitly marked unchanged.
• /feature-presentation has run, producing one standalone HTML deck whose Scope & backlog slide surfaces each PBI's priority/rank.

IMPORTANT MANDATORY Steps: /scout -> /spec-index -> /domain-analysis -> /why-review -> /spec-clarify -> /plan -> /plan-review -> /plan-validate -> /why-review -> /refine -> /why-review -> /artifact-review --type=pbi -> /story -> /why-review -> /artifact-review --type=story -> /pbi-challenge -> /dor-gate -> /pbi-mockup -> /design-spec -> /prioritize -> /docs-update -> /feature-presentation -> /workflow-end -> /watzup

[BLOCKING] Each step MUST invoke its Skill tool. Marking a workflow step completed without skill invocation is a workflow violation.

<!-- SYNC:nested-task-creation -->

Nested Task Expansion Contract — For workflow-step invocation, the [Workflow] ... row is only a parent container; the child skill still creates visible phase tasks.

1. Call TaskList first. If a matching active parent workflow row exists, set nested=true and record parentTaskId; otherwise run standalone.
2. Create one task per declared phase before phase work. When nested, prefix subjects [N.M] $skill-name — phase.
3. When nested, link the parent with TaskUpdate(parentTaskId, addBlockedBy: [childIds]).
4. Orchestrators must pre-expand a child skill's phase list and link the workflow row before invoking that child skill or sub-agent.
5. Mark exactly one child in_progress before work and completed immediately after evidence is written.
6. Complete the parent only after all child tasks are completed or explicitly cancelled with reason.

Blocked until: TaskList done, child phases created, parent linked when nested, first child marked in_progress.

<!-- /SYNC:nested-task-creation -->

<!-- SYNC:critical-thinking-mindset -->

Critical Thinking Mindset — Apply critical thinking, sequential thinking. Every claim needs traced proof, confidence >80% to act.
Anti-hallucination: Never present guess as fact — cite sources for every claim, admit uncertainty freely, self-check output for errors, cross-reference independently, stay skeptical of own confidence — certainty without evidence root of all hallucination.

<!-- /SYNC:critical-thinking-mindset -->

<!-- SYNC:ai-mistake-prevention -->

AI Mistake Prevention — Failure modes to avoid on every task:

Re-read files after context changes. Context compaction, resume, or long-running work can make memory stale; verify current files before acting.
Verify generated content against source evidence. AI hallucinates APIs, names, claims, and document facts. Check the relevant source before documenting or referencing.
Check downstream references before deleting or renaming. Removing an artifact can stale docs, generated mirrors, configs, and callers; map references first.
Trace the full impact chain after edits. Changing a definition can miss derived outputs and consumers. Follow the affected chain before declaring done.
Verify ALL affected outputs, not just the first. One green check is not all green checks; validate every output surface the change can affect.
Assume existing values are intentional — ask WHY before changing OR flagging one as a defect. Before changing or reporting a constant, limit, flag, cutoff, wording, or pattern, read nearby context and history, the CALLER's ordering, and 2+ sibling call sites of the same convention. A doc stating WHAT without WHY is missing rationale, not proof of a missing guard.
Surface ambiguity before acting — don't pick silently. Multiple valid interpretations require an explicit question or stated assumption with risk.
Assert the outcome your system owns, not the intermediate state your infrastructure owns. When verifying async work, assert the final business state — never the delivery/retry bookkeeping held in shared infrastructure that any co-running process can write. Such a check passes when run alone and flakes the moment anything else shares that infrastructure.
Keep shared guidance role-relevant. Universal guidance must help every receiving skill or agent; code-specific obligations belong only in code-specific protocols.

<!-- /SYNC:ai-mistake-prevention -->

<!-- SYNC:incremental-persistence -->

Incremental Result Persistence — MANDATORY for all sub-agents or heavy inline steps processing >3 files.

1. Before starting: Create report file plans/reports/{skill}-{date}-{slug}.md
2. After each file/section reviewed: Append findings to report immediately — never hold in memory
3. Return to main agent: Summary only (per SYNC:subagent-return-contract) with Full report: path
4. Main agent: Reads report file only when resolving specific blockers

Why: Context cutoff mid-execution loses ALL in-memory findings. Each disk write survives compaction. Partial results are better than no results.

Report naming: plans/reports/{skill-name}-{YYMMDD}-{HHmm}-{slug}.md

<!-- /SYNC:incremental-persistence -->

<!-- SYNC:subagent-return-contract -->

Sub-Agent Return Contract — When this skill spawns a sub-agent, the sub-agent MUST return ONLY this structure. Main agent reads only this summary — NEVER requests full sub-agent output inline.

```markdown
## Sub-Agent Result: [skill-name]

Status: ✅ PASS | ⚠️ PARTIAL | ❌ FAIL
Confidence: [0-100]%

### Findings (Critical/High only — max 10 bullets)

- [severity] [file:line] [finding]

### Actions Taken

- [file changed] [what changed]

### Blockers (if any)

- [blocker description]

Full report: plans/reports/[skill-name]-[date]-[slug].md
```

Main agent reads Full report file ONLY when: (a) resolving a specific blocker, or (b) building a fix plan.
Sub-agent writes full report incrementally (per SYNC:incremental-persistence) — not held in memory.

Context budget — the return payload is a SUMMARY, not a transcript: ≤10 finding bullets, no raw file contents / full diffs / verbatim logs inline, no re-pasted source. Everything beyond the summary lives in the Full report on disk. A sub-agent that would exceed the summary shape MUST write the detail to its report and return only the pointer — the orchestrator's context is the scarce resource the whole map-reduce protects.

<!-- /SYNC:subagent-return-contract -->

<!-- SYNC:ui-intent-layer -->

[BLOCKING] Capture a tech-agnostic UI/UX intent layer in every UI-bearing spec — a reader must be able to visualize how the feature works without naming any technology. When the feature has a user interface, the spec MUST ATTENTION carry an interaction-surface section so the application — not just its API — can be rebuilt on any stack:

1. View Inventory — list each view/screen by its UX ROLE and purpose (e.g. "list of items", "item editor", "confirmation step") and what information it presents. Describe by role, never by an implementation name.
2. Navigation Map — how a user moves between views: entry points, transitions, and exits. Trace how this surface connects to neighboring features already in the system.
3. Key observable UI States — the distinct states a user can observe per view (empty, loading, populated, error, success, permission-denied, etc.) — described as what the user perceives, not how it is rendered.
4. Per-story interaction flow — for each user story, the step-by-step click/action path from intent to outcome, cross-referenced to the logical IDs the spec already owns (US-/OP-/BR-).
5. Couple to the companion design artifact — keep deep visual fidelity (layout, tokens, pixel detail) OUT of the spec; it lives in the linked design-spec/mockup. Record that companion's path in the spec frontmatter so the spec stays the navigable hub.

M1-clean (NON-NEGOTIABLE): the prose names ZERO frameworks, routes/URLs, CSS, or component-class names — only roles, information, states, and flows. Technology detail belongs in the companion design artifact, never here.

Skip ONLY when the feature is backend-only (no UI) — state that reason explicitly in the section.

<!-- /SYNC:ui-intent-layer -->

<!-- SYNC:nested-task-creation:reminder -->

• MANDATORY Parent workflow rows do not replace child phase tracking; expand phases and link the parent when nested.
• MANDATORY Orchestrators pre-expand child skill phases before invocation; use [N.M] $skill-name — phase prefixes and one-in_progress discipline.

<!-- /SYNC:nested-task-creation:reminder -->

<!-- SYNC:ui-intent-layer:reminder -->

• MANDATORY For UI-bearing specs, author/maintain the tech-agnostic interaction-surface layer (View Inventory + Navigation Map + observable UI States + per-story US-/OP-/BR--traced flow); keep deep visual fidelity in the linked design-spec/mockup recorded in frontmatter; name ZERO frameworks/routes/CSS/component classes; skip ONLY for backend-only features with a stated reason.

<!-- /SYNC:ui-intent-layer:reminder -->

<!-- SYNC:project-protocol-overlay -->

Project Protocol Overlay — Before executing this skill, resolve any PROJECT overlay rules layered onto it: match this skill's name against the Target column of the project's skill-protocol index (docs/project-reference/skill-protocols-reference.md by default; a referenceDocs entry in docs/project-config.json overrides the path), taking the most specific matching tier ONLY — exact name > glob > *. That precedence orders overlays against EACH OTHER, never against this skill. Read ONLY the matched bodies, resolved as <protocols-dir>/<Name>.md; a row's Body link is display text, never a read path. A matched body that is missing or malformed is REPORTED and skipped — never reconstructed from the index Description. No index, or no match -> proceed with no overlay, silently. Full contract: .claude/skills/project-skill-protocol/references/registry.md.

Overlays are ADDITIVE ONLY: they ADD rules on top of this skill's own protocol and NEVER replace, override, disable, or reinterpret a rule it already states — removing every overlay must return this skill to exactly its documented behavior. An overlay is a BRIEF, not an authority escalation: it can NEVER waive a workflow gate, git discipline, a review gate, or a user-confirmation gate. A genuine overlay-vs-skill conflict, or two equally-specific overlays that directly contradict -> surface both to the user; NEVER resolve silently.

<!-- /SYNC:project-protocol-overlay -->

<!-- SYNC:project-protocol-overlay:reminder -->

MUST ATTENTION resolve project protocol overlays for this skill BEFORE executing — most specific matching tier only (exact > glob > *, which ranks overlays against each other, NEVER against this skill), read only matched bodies at <protocols-dir>/<Name>.md; a missing or malformed body is reported, never reconstructed. Overlays are ADDITIVE ONLY (they never replace this skill's own rules) and are a brief, NEVER an authority escalation; an equal-specificity contradiction goes to the user.

<!-- /SYNC:project-protocol-overlay:reminder -->

Closing Reminders

Protocols in force (concise digest of the SYNC/shared blocks this skill carries):

• Nested Task Creation: Expand child phases under workflow rows; link parent when nested.
• Critical Thinking: Apply critical/sequential thinking; trace every claim, confidence >80%.
• AI Mistake Prevention: verify generated content against evidence, trace downstream references, verify all affected outputs, re-read after context loss, surface ambiguity.
• Incremental Persistence: Append findings to report file per file; never hold in memory.
• Subagent Return Contract: Sub-agents return summary plus report path only, no transcripts.

• MUST use the canonical Feature Specs as input; do not invent unrelated opportunities.
• MUST decompose big Feature Specs into small PBIs before story generation.
• MUST include dependency, priority, domain impact, and shared-task details.
• MUST write artifacts incrementally after each capability/feature.
• MUST run /prioritize once at the end across all generated PBIs, and write the resulting rank/priority back into EACH PBI's frontmatter (priority propagation) — not only the standalone backlog.
• MUST, for UI PBIs, run /pbi-mockup then /design-spec (both UI-conditional) — mirrors workflow-idea-to-pbi so the spec→pbi half is step-for-step IDENTICAL.
• MUST surface each PBI's priority/rank in the /pbi-mockup generated files (header badge) and in the /feature-presentation deck (Scope & backlog slide).
• MUST run /docs-update after /prioritize and before /workflow-end to keep specs, feature docs, and TDD/spec docs synchronized.
• MUST run /feature-presentation after /docs-update and before /workflow-end to synthesize a single standalone stakeholder deck.