scope-work

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Scope Work

Spine position: Step 1 — scope-work → slice-tasks → plan-work.

Turn the current conversation into a bounded PRD at specs/product/SCOPE_LATEST.yaml. Without a scope boundary, implementation drifts — stories expand, estimates blow up, and "done" becomes undefined.

Pre-flight

• [ ] Do you have a clear user need or problem statement? If not, run elaborate-spec first.
• [ ] Does specs/product/VISION_LATEST.yaml exist? If yes, read it for north-star alignment.
• [ ] Is there an existing SCOPE_LATEST.yaml? If yes, you're refining, not creating from scratch.

Process

0. Read planning-context.yaml — If specs/planning-context.yaml exists, read it before doing anything else:

   test -f specs/planning-context.yaml && echo "Context found" || echo "No context — starting fresh"
   

   Pre-populate feature_name, constraints, and out_of_scope from the file. Skip re-asking questions already answered by elaborate-spec. If the file is absent, proceed normally.

1. Gather context — Read existing specs/ artifacts (release-plan.yaml, plans/TECH_STACK_LATEST.md, requirements/VISION_LATEST.yaml if any). Understand what the project is building and why.

2. Interview (if needed) — Clarify: What is the goal? Who are the users? What is definitely in scope? What is explicitly out of scope? What constraints exist (time, budget, tech)? How will success be measured?

3. Write specs/product/SCOPE_LATEST.yaml with these fields:

   • core_value — one-sentence value proposition
   • summary — 2-3 paragraph scope overview
   • in_scope[] — list of what this initiative covers (each maps to an epic/story)
   • out_of_scope[] — explicit exclusions (prevents scope creep)
   • constraints — tech, time, resource boundaries
   • success_criteria — observable outcomes that prove the scope is delivered
   • references — links to related specs, ADRs, or documents

4. Lightweight trade-off analysis — For each out_of_scope item, note why it's excluded (deferred, not valuable, too risky, depends on external factor). This protects against "what about X?" questions later.

5. Run research-first if external dependencies are proposed — verify the dependency exists, is maintained, and fits the scope before committing to it.

HARD GATE — Every in_scope item must map to a future epic/story ID or explicit deferred note in out_of_scope. If an item can't be mapped, the scope is too vague — refine before proceeding.

HARD GATE — Do NOT include implementation details in SCOPE_LATEST.yaml. Scope is what and why, not how. Implementation detail belongs in epic capsules and slice-tasks.

Common Anti-Patterns

• "Everything is in scope" — If nothing is out of scope, you haven't defined a scope. You've described a universe. Cut aggressively.
• "We'll figure it out later" — Ambiguity in scope propagates to every downstream decision. Resolve now or explicitly defer in writing.
• Scope as architecture — Saying "we need a PostgreSQL database" is architecture, not scope. Scope says "we need to store user profiles and transaction history."

Output

specs/product/SCOPE_LATEST.yaml — the bounded PRD. Subsequent skills (slice-tasks, plan-work) reference this as the source of truth for what to build.

Verify

→ verify: test -f specs/product/SCOPE_LATEST.yaml && grep -q out_of_scope specs/product/SCOPE_LATEST.yaml