product-discovery

Product Discovery

Synthesize a discovery brief from Jira tickets, Confluence docs, and conversation context. Present the brief for user validation before transitioning to design.

Step 1: Detect Available Tools

Check which MCP tools are available:

Tier 1 — Atlassian MCP: If you have access to searchJiraIssuesUsingJql, getJiraIssue, searchConfluenceUsingCql, or getConfluencePage as MCP tools, use Tier 1.

Tier 2 — Manual Context: If no Atlassian MCP tools are available, ask the user to provide context directly:

"I don't have Atlassian MCP access. Please share any of the following:

• Jira ticket IDs or URLs for the work you're considering
• Problem statements or user pain points
• Acceptance criteria or success metrics
• Links to relevant Confluence docs or ADRs"

Step 2: Gather Context

Tier 1 (Atlassian MCP available):

1. Ask the user what area, project, or problem they want to explore
2. Query Jira for relevant issues:
   • searchJiraIssuesUsingJql with project, status, priority, labels
   • getJiraIssue for full details on top candidates
3. Query Confluence for related docs:
   • searchConfluenceUsingCql for design docs, ADRs, prior decisions
   • getConfluencePage to read full content of relevant pages
4. Note any linked issues, parent epics, or blocked dependencies

Tier 2 (Manual):

1. Ask the user to describe the problem space
2. Ask for any existing ticket IDs, doc links, or context
3. Synthesize from what the user provides

Step 3: Synthesize Discovery Brief

Present a structured brief covering:

Discovery Brief

Problem Statement: What user pain point or business need are we addressing?

Prior Art: What has been tried before? What related work exists? (from Jira history, Confluence docs)

Acceptance Criteria: What does success look like? (from Jira tickets or user input)

Constraints: Known limitations — timeline, dependencies, technical constraints

Hypotheses:

H1: [description]

We believe [intervention] will [outcome].

• Metric: [specific metric name or event, e.g., "checkout_completion_rate"]
• Baseline: [current value or "unknown" — can be refined during DESIGN/PLAN]
• Target: [directional — "increase", "decrease >20%", or specific threshold]
• Window: [validation timeframe — "2 weeks post-ship", "next sprint"]

Add H2, H3, etc. for additional hypotheses. All structured fields are nullable at discovery time.

Open Questions: What needs to be answered before design can begin?

Step 4: User Validation

Present the brief and ask:

"Does this discovery brief capture the problem accurately? Should I adjust anything before we move to design?"

Wait for user confirmation. If they request changes, revise and re-present.

Step 5: Persist Discovery State

After the user approves the brief — this is mandatory. The LEARN-phase outcome-review skill reads a baseline written at SHIP time, which in turn depends on discovery_path and hypotheses being present in session state.

1. Write the brief to docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>-discovery.md using the Write tool. Derive <slug> as kebab-case from the primary feature name.

2. Read the session token:

   TOKEN="$(cat ~/.claude/.skill-session-token 2>/dev/null)"
   

3. Source the state helpers from the auto-claude-skills plugin root (typically $CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/hooks/lib/openspec-state.sh):

   . "$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/hooks/lib/openspec-state.sh"
   

4. Persist the discovery path:

   openspec_state_set_discovery_path "$TOKEN" "<slug>" "docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>-discovery.md"
   

5. Persist structured hypotheses as a JSON array. Each H from Step 3 becomes one object:

   HYPS='[{"id":"H1","description":"We believe ...","metric":"checkout_completion_rate","baseline":"0.12","target":"increase >20%","window":"2 weeks post-ship"}]'
   openspec_state_set_hypotheses "$TOKEN" "<slug>" "$HYPS"
   

   Use null for fields unknown at discovery time. Keep them as JSON literals — the helper validates the shape.

If any helper call fails (missing token, jq unavailable), note it in chat but continue to Step 6. The loop degrades gracefully; the session still produces a valid discovery artifact.

Step 6: Transition to Design

Once discovery state is persisted:

"Discovery complete. Invoke Skill(superpowers:brainstorming) to begin design."

This is a hard transition. Do not begin design work within the discovery skill.