Slash-command argument convention. Kiro auto-exposes every skill as a
slash command. When invoked as /product-discovery <source>, the body's
$ARGUMENTS substitution resolves to the source path or topic. Typicalsources are a path to raw content like a brief, notes, or tickets, or a
one-line topic. The argument is optional. With no arguments the
orchestrator prompts the user.
Contents
| Reference | When to load | | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | references/orchestrator.md | Running the pipeline. Five routes, parallel Phase 2, critic review, deliver. | | references/write-protocol.md | Canonical write-protocol block. Copied into every subagent prompt. | | references/frameworks/INDEX.md | Routing guide. Discovery and spec decision tables. Composition rules. | | references/frameworks/*.md | Per-framework files. One per framework. | | references/methodology/discovery-rounds.md | Six-phase discovery methodology. | | references/inference-heuristics.md | Signal-to-inference tables for the PRD-route Intent Profile. | | references/quality/prd.md | Per-section PRD quality bar. Cross-section consistency checks. | | references/roles/product-analyst.md | PRD route. Vision, personas, user stories, IA, milestones. | | references/roles/system-architect.md | PRD route. NFRs, data models, API contracts, edge cases. | | references/roles/research-scout.md | PRD route. Market context and open questions. | | references/roles/discovery-lead.md | Discovery-round route. Problem framing and Double Diamond cadence. | | references/roles/hmw-framer.md | HMW-only route. Also the hard-dep entry point for erpaval CL-RIGOR fuzzy. | | references/roles/jtbd-interviewer.md | JTBD-only route. Job stories from PM-provided source material. | | references/roles/ears-specifier.md | EARS-only route. Also the hard-dep entry point for erpaval CL-RIGOR contract-unclear. | | references/roles/prd-synthesizer.md | PRD route Phase 3. Composes the final PRD from three parallel work logs. | | references/roles/discovery-critic.md | Phase 3.5 critic. Rubric-graded review of any synthesized artifact. | | assets/prd-template.md | 15-section PRD skeleton with [FILL] markers. | | assets/worklog-skeleton.md | Per-role work-log skeleton with embedded write-protocol. | | assets/discovery-memo.md | Discovery-round output shape. | | assets/double-diamond-workbook.md | Double Diamond four-stage workbook. | | assets/hmw-skeleton.md | HMW brainstorms file. Lives at brainstorms/NNN-<slug>-requirements.md. | | assets/jtbd-skeleton.md | JTBD job-stories file. | | assets/ears-spec-skeleton.md | EARS spec file. Lives at specs/NNN-<slug>/spec.md. |
Product discovery
One skill, five routes. Takes a problem at any maturity and routes to the right framework pipeline. The maturity range goes from a one-sentence idea through research notes and fuzzy framing to a clear feature. File-first write protocol throughout. Every role is a Markdown prompt copied verbatim into a general-purpose Kiro NL subagent dispatch (> Use a general-purpose agent to ...). Zero custom agent files needed.
Pipeline at a glance
flowchart TD
A[User brief] --> B[Phase 0: Route]
B -->|PRD ask| P1[Phase 1: Intent Profile]
B -->|Discovery round| D1[Phase 1: discovery-lead framing]
B -->|HMW only| H1[Phase 1: framing]
B -->|EARS only| E1[Phase 1: framing]
B -->|JTBD only| J1[Phase 1: framing]
P1 --> P2[Phase 2: parallel product-analyst, system-architect, research-scout]
D1 --> D2[Phase 2: hmw-framer, jtbd-interviewer, or research-scout as routed]
H1 --> H2[Phase 2: hmw-framer]
E1 --> E2[Phase 2: ears-specifier]
J1 --> J2[Phase 2: jtbd-interviewer]
P2 --> P3[Phase 3: prd-synthesizer]
D2 --> D3[Phase 3: discovery-lead composes memo]
H2 --> P35
E2 --> P35
J2 --> P35
P3 --> P35
D3 --> P35
P35[Phase 3.5: discovery-critic] --> P4[Phase 4: Deliver]Full route-by-route runbook, role prompts, check-in cadence, and stuck-detection recovery live in references/orchestrator.md.
When to run which route
| User signal | Route | Primary output | | ------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------- | -------------------------------------------- | | "write a PRD", "draft requirements", one-sentence idea | PRD | {product-slug}-prd.md, 15 sections | | "brainstorm a product", "run discovery", "think through this" | Discovery round | discovery-memo.md | | "turn these notes into HMW", "reframe this" | HMW-only | brainstorms/NNN-{{ slug }}-requirements.md | | "spec this for Kiro or Spec Kit", "write EARS ACs" | EARS-only | specs/NNN-{{ slug }}/spec.md | | "write job stories for [segment] from these tickets" | JTBD-only | jtbd-job-stories.md |
Default-in-doubt: PRD route. It absorbs the most source-material shapes, and the three-role parallel research pattern is the skill's strongest lane.
When the brief is genuinely ambiguous, ask the user up to four clarifying questions in a single message. Then proceed. Do not loop.
Write-protocol discipline
Every role follows the same rhythm. Edit the output file, then read, then edit again. Partial work on disk survives subagent termination. Plans held in working memory do not. The canonical block lives in references/write-protocol.md and is copied verbatim into every role prompt and every task skeleton.
One file is the source of truth per run. The candidates are {product-slug}-prd.md, discovery-memo.md, brainstorms/NNN-.md, specs/NNN-/spec.md, and jtbd-job-stories.md. Nothing else carries the run.
Framework family
The skill ships one routing guide and per-framework files. The orchestrator reads references/frameworks/INDEX.md first. That index covers both discovery frameworks and spec frameworks in one decision table because they compose as a single pipeline. Discovery frameworks operate upstream in problem space. Spec frameworks operate downstream and shape contracts. Each framework's canonical structure, templates, and validation checks live in its own file in the same frameworks/ directory.
Discovery frameworks:
${ERPAVAL_HOME}/skills/product-design-shared/references/double-diamond.mdframeworks/how-might-we.mdframeworks/jtbd-job-stories.md
Spec frameworks:
frameworks/user-stories-invest.mdframeworks/ears.mdframeworks/gherkin.md
Common heuristic across both: discovery (HMW or JTBD) leads to PRD (user stories) leads to spec (EARS for invariants, Gherkin for scenarios). Routes compose. One run can fire multiple frameworks via the orchestrator's Phase 2 f