Menu

Individual skill

pm-user-story

0upvotes

Write or critique a user story — a small unit of user value framed from a real persona's need, not a restated task. Frames stories around who/what/why, keeps them INVEST and testable, maps them across the journey, and resists writing stories that add no clarity. Applies the always-true core and gates context-dependent decisions (strict formula vs. free-form, whether to write a story at all, acceptance-criteria depth, splitting into a map, communication framing). Trigger when asked to write user stories, turn a persona or need into stories, frame requirements as stories, build a story map, apply INVEST, or review/strengthen existing stories.

pm/foundations/user-story/SKILL.md

Read pinned source

Source commit 5007cd0241ccaa51ae2e4681f9618912dc10e239

What was checked

Matches the observed repository HEAD
Yes
Scanner rules are current
No
Repository scan complete
No
Skill scan complete
Yes
Observed behavior
Not checked yet
Last checked
Nov 6, 2026

These are observations at the recorded commit, not a guarantee of safety. Review the source before running it.

Install this skill

Choose an agent in your Stack or copy a command below. Commands fetch the pinned commit and copy only this skill directory. Existing destinations are refused. Copying a command does not install anything.

An install command is unavailable: current rules, complete repository and skill scans, an eligible behavior level and a permitted license are required.

Repository context

Repository stars (not skill ratings)
40
Repository last updated
Jul 2, 2026
License
MIT

Observed agent integration: No specific integration evidence. Standard SKILL.md installation does not imply verified compatibility.

Files and excerpt

File metadata and permitted, redacted excerpts come from the recorded scan. Source links are pinned to that commit.

Browse files
Read excerpt

# User Story Skill

## How this skill behaves (read first)

This is a **generative** skill, and user stories are where requirements quietly turn back into a task list. The default move is to restate a feature as a story — "Add login feature," or the hollow "As a user, I want a button so I can submit" — describing *what to build* instead of *who needs what and why*. A real user story is **a small, testable unit of user value, grounded in a real persona's need**, that gives the team a shared who/what/why — and the discipline to *not* write one when it adds nothing the spec already says. So this skill gates:

1. **Establish whose need this is, whether it's real, and what the story feeds** — a story with no grounded user is an assumption in costume.
2. **Apply the always-true core** — frame from user value, keep the story small with detail pushed to acceptance criteria, make it INVEST/testable, map stories across the journey, and cut stories that add no clarity.
3. **Surface the context-dependent decisions** (strict formula vs. free-form, write-a-story-at-all, acceptance-criteria depth, splitting into a map, communication framing) with trade-offs.

Then it **hands off to `pm-spec-quality-audit`** (which flags task-stories, untestable stories, and broken traceability) and **`pm-assumption-rigor-audit`** (is the user need evidenced or assumed?).

Scope: this skill owns the **user-story artifact**. It defers **building the persona** to `pm-personas-jtbd`, **framing the underlying problem** to `pm-problem-statement`, and the **full spec/PRD and acceptance-criteria depth** to `pm-product-spec` (audited by `pm-spec-quality-audit`). **Agile ceremonies, backlog grooming, and sprint mechanics** are out of scope.