design

/design -- Product Validation Gate

Quick Ref: Validates that a proposed goal aligns with the product's strategic direction before discovery begins major work. Council-gated with --preset=product.

Quick Start

/design "add caching layer for CLI"           # validate goal against PRODUCT.md
/design --quick "add caching layer"           # inline check, no council spawning
/design --strict "redesign hook system"       # higher threshold (avg >= 2.5)
/design                                       # infers goal from recent context

Execution Steps

Step 0: Check for PRODUCT.md

Locate PRODUCT.md in the repo root.

ls PRODUCT.md 2>/dev/null

If absent: Output a warning and return PASS with note: "No PRODUCT.md found -- skipping product validation gate. Run /product to generate one."

If present: Continue to Step 1.

Step 1: Load Product Context

Read PRODUCT.md and extract:

• Mission -- the product's core purpose
• Personas -- defined user types and their needs
• Gaps -- known product gaps or roadmap items
• Competitive landscape -- how the product differentiates

If any section is missing, note it as unavailable and score that dimension conservatively (1).

Step 2: Score Alignment Matrix

Evaluate the proposed goal against five dimensions. Use the scoring rubric in [references/alignment-matrix.md](references/alignment-matrix.md).

| Dimension | Score (0-3) | Rationale | |-----------|-------------|-----------| | Gap Alignment | | Does this goal address a known product gap? | | Persona Fit | | Does this serve defined personas? | | Competitive Diff | | Does this strengthen competitive position? | | Precedent | | Has similar work been done before? What can we learn? | | Scope Fit | | Is this appropriately scoped for the current phase? |

Compute the average score across all five dimensions.

Step 3: Run Council

Invoke council with the product preset. See [references/product-council-preset.md](references/product-council-preset.md) for judge configuration.

Skill(skill="council", args="--preset=product validate design alignment for: <goal>")

Pass the alignment matrix from Step 2 as context to the council judges.

If --quick flag is set, skip council spawning and perform inline assessment instead.

Step 4: Write Design Artifact

Write the design artifact to .agents/design/:

mkdir -p .agents/design

Filename: <date>-design-<goal-slug>.md (e.g., 2026-03-30-design-add-caching-layer.md)

Artifact contents:

• Goal statement
• Alignment matrix with scores and rationale
• Council verdict (or inline assessment if --quick)
• Final verdict and recommendation

Step 5: Output Verdict

Determine the final verdict based on scores:

| Condition | Verdict | |-----------|---------| | Average score >= 2.0 AND no dimension at 0 | PASS -- goal aligns with product direction | | Average score >= 1.5 OR one dimension at 0 with others strong | WARN -- goal has alignment concerns, review before proceeding | | Average score < 1.5 OR multiple dimensions at 0 | FAIL -- goal does not align with product direction |

When --strict is set, raise the PASS threshold to average >= 2.5.

Output the verdict in this format:

DESIGN VERDICT: <PASS|WARN|FAIL>
  Gap Alignment:     <score>/3 -- <one-line rationale>
  Persona Fit:       <score>/3 -- <one-line rationale>
  Competitive Diff:  <score>/3 -- <one-line rationale>
  Precedent:         <score>/3 -- <one-line rationale>
  Scope Fit:         <score>/3 -- <one-line rationale>
  Average:           <avg>/3.0
  Artifact:          .agents/design/<filename>.md

Flags

| Flag | Effect | |------|--------| | --quick | Inline check without council spawning. Faster but less thorough. | | --strict | Raise PASS threshold from avg >= 2.0 to avg >= 2.5. Use for high-stakes changes. |

Reference Documents

• [references/design.feature](references/design.feature) — Executable spec: goal-vs-PRODUCT.md council verdict before discovery, --quick inline, --strict threshold (soc-qk4b)

• [references/alignment-matrix.md](references/alignment-matrix.md) -- Scoring rubric for the five alignment dimensions
• [references/project-reality-check.md](references/project-reality-check.md) -- Quick reality-check prompts before committing to a project direction
• [references/product-council-preset.md](references/product-council-preset.md) -- Council --preset=product judge configuration and verdict rules

See Also

• [skills/council/SKILL.md](../council/SKILL.md) -- Multi-model consensus council
• [skills/product/SKILL.md](../product/SKILL.md) -- Generate PRODUCT.md
• [skills/discovery/SKILL.md](../discovery/SKILL.md) -- Discovery phase orchestrator
• [skills/pre-mortem/SKILL.md](../pre-mortem/SKILL.md) -- Plan validation gate