nasa-se

NASA Systems Engineering Skill

Version: 1.2.0 Framework: Jerry NASA SE (NSE) Standards: NASA/SP-2016-6105 Rev2, NPR 7123.1D, NPR 8000.4C Constitutional Compliance: Jerry Constitution v1.0

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Document Audience (Triple-Lens)

This SKILL.md serves multiple audiences:

Level	Audience	Sections to Focus On
L0 (ELI5)	Project stakeholders, new users	Purpose, When to Use, Routing Disambiguation, Quick Reference
L1 (Engineer)	Engineers invoking agents	Invoking an Agent, Adversarial Quality Mode, Agent Details
L2 (Architect)	SE workflow designers	Orchestration Flow, State Passing, NPR Processes

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Purpose

The NASA Systems Engineering skill provides a structured framework for applying NASA SE processes through specialized agents. Each agent implements specific NASA Common Technical Processes (NPR 7123.1D) and produces persistent artifacts following NASA work product standards.

Key Capabilities

• Requirements Engineering - Formal "shall" statements, traceability matrices (NPR 7123.1D Process 2, 11)
• Verification & Validation - VCRMs, test planning, evidence collection (NPR 7123.1D Process 7, 8)
• Risk Management - 5x5 risk matrices, risk registers, mitigation tracking (NPR 8000.4C)
• Technical Reviews - SRR/PDR/CDR/FRR packages with entrance/exit criteria (NPR 7123.1D Appendix G)
• System Integration - Interface control documents, integration verification (NPR 7123.1D Process 6, 12)
• Configuration Management - Baseline control, change management (NPR 7123.1D Process 14, 15)
• Technical Architecture - Trade studies, design decisions, logical decomposition (NPR 7123.1D Process 3, 4, 17)
• SE Status Reporting - Technical assessment, progress metrics (NPR 7123.1D Process 16)

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Disclaimer

DISCLAIMER: This guidance is AI-generated based on NASA Systems Engineering
standards. It is advisory only and does not constitute official NASA guidance.
All SE decisions require human review and professional engineering judgment.
Not for use in mission-critical decisions without SME validation.

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When to Use This Skill

Activate when:

• Defining or managing system requirements
• Planning or executing verification/validation activities
• Identifying, assessing, or mitigating risks
• Preparing for technical reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, FRR)
• Managing system interfaces and integration
• Controlling configuration baselines
• Making architectural design decisions
• Reporting on systems engineering status

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Available Agents

Agent	Role	NASA Processes	Output Location
nse-requirements	Requirements Engineer	1, 2, 11	requirements/
nse-verification	V&V Specialist	7, 8	verification/
nse-risk	Risk Manager	13	risks/
nse-reviewer	Technical Review Gate	All (assessment)	reviews/
nse-integration	System Integration	6, 12	integration/
nse-configuration	Config Management	14, 15	configuration/
nse-architecture	Technical Architect	3, 4, 17	architecture/
nse-explorer	Exploration Engineer (Divergent)	5, 17	exploration/
nse-qa	Quality Assurance Specialist	14, 15, 16	qa/
nse-reporter	SE Status Reporter	16	reports/

All agents produce output at three levels:

• L0 (ELI5): Executive summary for non-technical stakeholders
• L1 (Software Engineer): Technical implementation details
• L2 (Principal Architect): Strategic implications and trade-offs

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NASA Common Technical Processes (NPR 7123.1D)

System Design Processes (1-4)

1. Stakeholder Expectations Definition
2. Technical Requirements Definition
3. Logical Decomposition
4. Design Solution Definition

Product Realization Processes (5-9)

5. Product Implementation
6. Product Integration
7. Product Verification
8. Product Validation
9. Product Transition

Technical Management Processes (10-17)

10. Technical Planning
11. Requirements Management
12. Interface Management
13. Technical Risk Management
14. Configuration Management
15. Technical Data Management
16. Technical Assessment
17. Decision Analysis

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Invoking an Agent

Option 1: Natural Language Request

Simply describe what you need:

"Create a requirements specification for the authentication module"
"Assess risks for the deployment phase"
"Prepare CDR entrance checklist for the API service"
"Generate a traceability matrix for Phase 1 requirements"
"Review interfaces between frontend and backend systems"

The orchestrator will select the appropriate agent based on keywords and context.

Option 2: Explicit Agent Request

Request a specific agent:

"Use nse-requirements to define shall-statements for user authentication"
"Have nse-risk create a 5x5 risk matrix for the integration phase"
"I need nse-reviewer to prepare the PDR entrance package"

Option 3: Task Tool Invocation

For programmatic invocation within workflows:

Task(
    description="nse-requirements: Auth Requirements",
    subagent_type="general-purpose",
    prompt="""
You are the nse-requirements agent (v1.0.0).

## NSE CONTEXT (REQUIRED)
- **Project ID:** PROJ-002
- **Entry ID:** e-001
- **Topic:** Authentication Requirements

## MANDATORY PERSISTENCE (P-002)
Create file at: projects/PROJ-002-nasa-systems-engineering/requirements/proj-002-e-001-auth-requirements.md

## REQUIREMENTS TASK
Define formal requirements for user authentication following NPR 7123.1D Process 2.
Include: shall-statements, rationale, verification method, parent traceability.
"""
)

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Orchestration Flow

Technical Review Preparation Example

For preparing a Critical Design Review (CDR):

User Request: "Prepare for CDR on the API service"

1. nse-requirements → Verify all requirements baselined
   Output: requirements/proj-002-e-001-requirements-status.md

2. nse-architecture → Confirm design decisions documented
   Output: architecture/proj-002-e-002-design-summary.md

3. nse-risk → Update risk register, identify RED risks
   Output: risks/proj-002-e-003-risk-status.md

4. nse-verification → V&V planning status
   Output: verification/proj-002-e-004-vv-status.md

5. nse-reviewer → CDR entrance checklist evaluation
   Output: reviews/proj-002-e-005-cdr-entrance.md

Agent Dependency Graph

                    ┌─────────────────┐
                    │  nse-reporter   │ (Terminal - aggregates all)
                    └────────┬────────┘
           ┌─────────────────┼─────────────────┐
    ┌──────▼──────┐   ┌──────▼──────┐   ┌──────▼──────┐
    │ nse-reviewer│   │  nse-risk   │   │nse-config   │
    └──────┬──────┘   └──────┬──────┘   └──────┬──────┘
    ┌──────▼──────┐   ┌──────▼──────┐   ┌──────▼──────┐
    │nse-verific. │   │nse-integr.  │   │nse-archit.  │
    └──────┬──────┘   └──────┬──────┘   └──────┬──────┘
           └─────────────────┼─────────────────┘
                    ┌────────▼────────┐
                    │nse-requirements │ (Foundation)
                    └─────────────────┘

State Passing Between Agents

Agents can reference each other's output using state keys:

Agent	Output Key	Provides
nse-requirements	requirements_output	Requirements baseline, traceability
nse-verification	verification_output	V&V status, VCRM
nse-risk	risk_output	Risk register, mitigation status
nse-reviewer	review_output	Review findings, action items
nse-integration	integration_output	Interface status, ICD
nse-configuration	configuration_output	Baseline status, changes
nse-architecture	architecture_output	Design decisions, trade studies
nse-explorer	exploration_output	Alternatives, trade-offs, concepts
nse-qa	qa_output	Compliance scores, audit findings
nse-reporter	reporter_output	SE metrics, health status

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Tool Invocation Examples

Each agent uses the allowed tools differently. Here are concrete examples:

Requirements Engineering (nse-requirements)

1. Find stakeholder documentation:
   Glob(pattern="projects/${JERRY_PROJECT}/stakeholders/**/*.md")
   → Returns list of stakeholder needs for requirements derivation

2. Search for existing requirements:
   Grep(pattern="REQ-NSE-|shall", path="projects/${JERRY_PROJECT}/requirements/", output_mode="content", -C=2)
   → Find existing requirements for traceability matrix

3. Read NASA standards for compliance:
   WebFetch(url="https://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/displayDir.cfm?Internal_ID=N_PR_7123_001D_",
            prompt="Extract requirements management guidance from NPR 7123.1D")
   → Reference authoritative NASA source

4. Create requirements output (MANDATORY per P-002, P-043):
   Write(
       file_path="projects/${JERRY_PROJECT}/requirements/proj-002-e-101-auth-requirements.md",
       content="---\nDISCLAIMER: This guidance is AI-generated...\n---\n\n# Requirements: Authentication\n\n## L0: Executive Summary\n..."
   )
   → Persist with mandatory disclaimer - transient output VIOLATES P-002 and P-043

Risk Assessment (nse-risk)

1. Find existing risk artifacts:
   Glob(pattern="projects/${JERRY_PROJECT}/risks/**/*.md")
   → Discover existing risk register and assessments

2. Search for risk keywords in project:
   Grep(pattern="risk|threat|vulnerability|5x5", path="projects/${JERRY_PROJECT}/", output_mode="content", -C=2)
   → Find risk-related discussions across project

3. Read project context for risk identification:
   Read(file_path="projects/${JERRY_PROJECT}/requirements/requirements-spec.md")
   → Load requirements to identify verification risks

4. Create risk register (MANDATORY per P-002, P-043):
   Write(
       file_path="projects/${JERRY_PROJECT}/risks/proj-002-e-201-risk-register.md",
       content="---\nDISCLAIMER: This guidance is AI-generated...\n---\n\n# Risk Register: Deployment Phase\n\n## L0: Executive Summary\n..."
   )
   → Persist risk findings with mandatory disclaimer

Technical Review (nse-reviewer)

1. Find review artifacts to evaluate:
   Glob(pattern="projects/${JERRY_PROJECT}/requirements/**/*.md")
   → Discover requirements for review gate assessment

2. Search for review readiness indicators:
   Grep(pattern="Status: (Approved|Baselined)|TBD|TBR", path="projects/${JERRY_PROJECT}/", output_mode="content", -C=2)
   → Find approval status and unresolved items

3. Read verification status:
   Read(file_path="projects/${JERRY_PROJECT}/verification/VCRM.md")
   → Load VCRM for review entrance criteria check

4. Create review package (MANDATORY per P-002, P-043):
   Write(
       file_path="projects/${JERRY_PROJECT}/reviews/proj-002-e-301-PDR-entrance.md",
       content="---\nDISCLAIMER: This guidance is AI-generated...\n---\n\n# PDR Entrance Checklist\n\n## L0: Executive Summary\n..."
   )
   → Persist review findings with mandatory disclaimer

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Mandatory Persistence (P-002)

All agents MUST persist their output to files. This ensures:

1. Context Rot Resistance - Findings survive session compaction
2. Knowledge Accumulation - Artifacts build project knowledge base
3. Auditability - SE decisions can be traced and reviewed
4. NASA Compliance - Work products align with NASA-HDBK-1009A

Output Structure

projects/PROJ-002-nasa-systems-engineering/
├── requirements/       # nse-requirements outputs
│   └── {proj-id}-{entry-id}-{topic}.md
├── verification/       # nse-verification outputs
│   └── {proj-id}-{entry-id}-{topic}.md
├── risks/              # nse-risk outputs
│   └── {proj-id}-{entry-id}-{topic}.md
├── reviews/            # nse-reviewer outputs
│   └── {proj-id}-{entry-id}-{review-type}.md
├── integration/        # nse-integration outputs
│   └── {proj-id}-{entry-id}-{topic}.md
├── configuration/      # nse-configuration outputs
│   └── {proj-id}-{entry-id}-{topic}.md
├── architecture/       # nse-architecture outputs
│   └── {proj-id}-{entry-id}-{topic}.md
├── exploration/        # nse-explorer outputs (DIVERGENT)
│   └── {proj-id}-{entry-id}-{topic}.md
├── qa/                 # nse-qa outputs
│   └── {proj-id}-{entry-id}-qa-report.md
└── reports/            # nse-reporter outputs
    └── {proj-id}-{entry-id}-{report-type}.md

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Adversarial Quality Mode

Source: EPIC-002 EN-305 (NASA-SE Skill Enhancement), EN-303 (Situational Applicability Mapping) SSOT: .context/rules/quality-enforcement.md (canonical constants)

The NASA SE skill integrates adversarial quality controls into systems engineering processes. All SE review gates, V&V activities, and risk assessments incorporate structured adversarial challenge through creator-critic-revision cycles.

V&V Enhancement with Adversarial Review

Verification and validation activities are enhanced with adversarial challenge at each stage:

V&V Activity	Adversarial Enhancement	Strategies Applied
Requirements Review	Challenge completeness, ambiguity, testability	S-002 (Devil's Advocate), S-013 (Inversion)
Design Verification	Challenge design assumptions and failure modes	S-004 (Pre-Mortem), S-012 (FMEA)
Test Planning	Challenge test coverage and boundary conditions	S-013 (Inversion), S-011 (CoVe)
Validation	Challenge fitness for purpose against stakeholder needs	S-003 (Steelman), S-007 (Constitutional AI)

Quality Scoring Integration

All NSE deliverables at C2+ criticality require quality scoring per the SSOT:

• Threshold: >= 0.92 weighted composite score (ref: .context/rules/quality-enforcement.md H-13)
• Scoring mechanism: S-014 (LLM-as-Judge) with dimension-level rubrics
• Minimum cycle count: 3 iterations (creator -> critic -> revision) (ref: H-14)
• Self-review: Required before presenting any deliverable (ref: H-15, S-010)

Dimension	Weight	NSE Focus
Completeness	0.20	All NPR 7123.1D processes addressed
Internal Consistency	0.20	Requirements/design/V&V alignment
Methodological Rigor	0.20	NASA standards compliance
Evidence Quality	0.15	Traceability, evidence links
Actionability	0.15	Clear next steps, RFAs
Traceability	0.10	Bidirectional trace integrity

Criticality-Based Review Intensity

Review intensity scales with decision criticality (ref: .context/rules/quality-enforcement.md Criticality Levels):

Criticality	Review Intensity	Required Strategies	NSE Context Examples
C1 (Routine)	Self-check only	S-010 (Self-Refine)	Minor requirement wording updates
C2 (Standard)	Standard critic cycle	S-007, S-002, S-014	New requirements, routine V&V
C3 (Significant)	Deep review	C2 + S-004, S-012, S-013	API changes, new interfaces, risk mitigations
C4 (Critical)	Tournament review	All 10 selected strategies	Architecture decisions, safety-critical requirements

Review Gate Integration

NPR 7123.1D review gates map to adversarial review levels:

Review Gate	NPR 7123.1D	Minimum Criticality	Primary Strategies	Focus
SRR	Appendix G.1	C2	S-002, S-003, S-013, S-014	Requirements completeness, ambiguity
PDR	Appendix G.2	C2	S-004, S-012, S-014	Design approach soundness, failure modes
CDR	Appendix G.3	C3	S-002, S-004, S-007, S-012, S-013, S-014	Design completeness, V&V readiness
TRR	Appendix G.4	C2	S-011, S-013, S-014	Test coverage, verification gaps
FRR	Appendix G.5	C3	S-001, S-004, S-012, S-014	Readiness, residual risk

Auto-Escalation: Artifacts touching docs/governance/JERRY_CONSTITUTION.md auto-escalate to C4. Artifacts touching .context/rules/ auto-escalate to C3 minimum (ref: AE-001, AE-002).

Strategy Catalog Reference for NSE Contexts

NSE Context	Recommended Strategies	Rationale
Requirements engineering	S-002, S-003, S-013, S-014	Challenge completeness (Devil's Advocate), strengthen arguments (Steelman), invert assumptions (Inversion), score quality (LLM-as-Judge)
Verification planning	S-002, S-011, S-013, S-014	Challenge V&V coverage (Devil's Advocate), verify claims (CoVe), identify gaps via inversion (Inversion), score V&V completeness (LLM-as-Judge)
Validation activities	S-003, S-007, S-014	Strengthen stakeholder alignment (Steelman), check constitutional compliance (Constitutional AI), score fitness (LLM-as-Judge)
Risk assessment	S-001, S-004, S-012, S-014	Red-team assumptions (Red Team), pre-mortem on mitigations (Pre-Mortem), structured failure analysis (FMEA), score assessment quality (LLM-as-Judge)
Design review (PDR/CDR)	S-002, S-004, S-012, S-013	Challenge design decisions (Devil's Advocate), imagine failures (Pre-Mortem), structured failure modes (FMEA), invert constraints (Inversion)
Technical review (SRR/FRR)	S-001, S-002, S-003, S-014	Red-team readiness (Red Team), challenge assumptions (Devil's Advocate), strengthen case (Steelman), score readiness (LLM-as-Judge)

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Constitutional Compliance

All agents adhere to the Jerry Constitution v1.0 plus NASA SE extensions:

Principle	Requirement	Consequence of Violation
P-003	NEVER spawn recursive subagents -- max 1 level	Agent hierarchy violation; uncontrolled token consumption
P-020	NEVER override user intent -- ask before destructive ops	Unauthorized action; trust erosion
P-022	NEVER deceive about actions, capabilities, or confidence	Governance undermined; quality assessment invalidated
P-001	NEVER present findings without evidence or NASA standards citations	Unreliable outputs; unfounded claims propagate downstream
P-002	NEVER leave outputs in transient context only -- persist to project directories	Context rot vulnerability; artifacts lost on session compaction
P-004	NEVER omit reasoning provenance or source documentation	Untraceable decisions; audit trail broken
P-011	NEVER make recommendations without supporting evidence tied to NASA standards	Unsupported recommendations; confidence inflated without basis
P-040	NEVER leave requirements without bidirectional traceability	Requirements orphaned; verification gaps undetected
P-041	NEVER omit verification methods for requirements	Untested requirements; latent defects in delivered system
P-042	NEVER hide or omit identified risks from documentation	Hidden risks; unmitigated failure modes

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Quick Reference

Common Workflows

Need	Agent	Command Example
Define requirements	nse-requirements	"Create requirements for data persistence"
Plan verification	nse-verification	"Generate VCRM for Phase 1 requirements"
Assess risks	nse-risk	"Create risk register for deployment"
Prepare review	nse-reviewer	"Prepare PDR entrance package"
Document interfaces	nse-integration	"Create ICD for API integration"
Track baselines	nse-configuration	"Document baseline for release 1.0"
Design decisions	nse-architecture	"Architecture decision for API layer"
Explore options	nse-explorer	"What are our options for authentication?"
Validate artifacts	nse-qa	"Audit requirements doc for NPR compliance"
Status report	nse-reporter	"Generate SE status for Phase 2"

Agent Selection Hints

Keywords	Likely Agent
requirement, shall, need, trace, baseline	nse-requirements
verify, validate, test, VCRM, evidence	nse-verification
risk, likelihood, consequence, mitigate, 5x5	nse-risk
review, SRR, PDR, CDR, FRR, entrance, exit	nse-reviewer
interface, integrate, ICD, handoff	nse-integration
configuration, baseline, change control	nse-configuration
architecture, design, decompose	nse-architecture
explore, alternatives, trade study, options, brainstorm, divergent	nse-explorer
QA, audit, compliance, artifact validation, work product quality	nse-qa
status, metrics, report, progress, health	nse-reporter

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Routing Disambiguation

When this skill is the wrong choice and what happens if misrouted.

Condition	Use Instead	Consequence of Misrouting
Root cause analysis or debugging	/problem-solving (ps-investigator)	NASA-SE methodology applied to investigation tasks produces requirements artifacts instead of causal chains; compliance vocabulary (shall statements, VCRMs) obscures root cause isolation
General research or technology survey	/problem-solving (ps-researcher)	NASA-SE produces formal requirements and review packages; divergent research methodology for landscape exploration is in ps-researcher, not nse-explorer (which explores design options within a requirements context)
Adversarial quality review or tournament scoring	/adversary	NASA-SE nse-reviewer conducts formal technical reviews (SRR/PDR/CDR), not adversarial strategy-template-based quality assessment; S-014 rubric not loaded
Transcript parsing or meeting note extraction	/transcript	NASA-SE has no VTT/SRT parser; meeting content extraction requires transcript-specific agents
Offensive security testing	/red-team	NASA-SE produces V&V artifacts, not attack narratives; MITRE ATT&CK methodology absent
Security-hardened software design	/eng-team	NASA-SE addresses systems engineering risk (NPR 8000.4C), not software security (STRIDE/DREAD, OWASP); security-specific governance layers not available
Simple single-agent task without formal SE rigor	/problem-solving	NASA-SE loads 10 agents with NPR-compliant methodology; excessive overhead for tasks not requiring formal systems engineering process

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Agent Details

For detailed agent specifications, see:

• skills/nasa-se/agents/nse-requirements.md
• skills/nasa-se/agents/nse-verification.md
• skills/nasa-se/agents/nse-risk.md
• skills/nasa-se/agents/nse-reviewer.md
• skills/nasa-se/agents/nse-integration.md
• skills/nasa-se/agents/nse-configuration.md
• skills/nasa-se/agents/nse-architecture.md
• skills/nasa-se/agents/nse-explorer.md (DIVERGENT)
• skills/nasa-se/agents/nse-qa.md (QUALITY ASSURANCE)
• skills/nasa-se/agents/nse-reporter.md

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References

• NASA/SP-2016-6105 Rev2 - NASA SE Handbook
• NPR 7123.1D - SE Processes & Requirements
• NPR 8000.4C - Risk Management
• NASA-HDBK-1009A - SE Work Products Handbook
• INCOSE SE Handbook v5.0 - Industry Best Practices

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Skill Version: 1.2.0 Constitutional Compliance: Jerry Constitution v1.0 + P-040, P-041, P-042, P-043 Enhancement: EN-708 adversarial quality mode integration (EPIC-002 design) Last Updated: 2026-02-14