Project Charter Generation
TL;DR: Produces a formal project charter document including business case justification, measurable objectives, success criteria, high-level scope, key milestones, assumptions, constraints, and sponsor authorization. The charter is the single authorizing document that formally initiates the project and grants the PM authority to apply organizational resources.
Principio Rector
El charter no es burocracia — es el contrato social entre el sponsor y el equipo. Sin un charter aprobado, no existe un proyecto; solo existe una idea sin compromiso organizacional. Cada elemento del charter debe ser verificable y rastreable hasta un objetivo de negocio.
Assumptions & Limits
- Assumes a sponsor has been identified and is available for authorization [STAKEHOLDER]
- Assumes organizational strategy or OKRs are documented for alignment validation [SUPUESTO]
- Breaks when there is no clear business problem or need — charter cannot manufacture justification
- Does not produce detailed project plans; only high-level scope and milestones
- Assumes budget and timeline constraints are provided at least at order-of-magnitude level [SUPUESTO]
- Limited to single-project charters; for program charters use
program-management
Usage
# Generate charter from project brief
/pm:project-charter $ARGUMENTS="--brief project-request.md --type Agile"
# Lean charter for agile project
/pm:project-charter --type lean --sponsor "Maria Lopez" --objective "Migrate CRM to cloud"
# Full PMBOK charter with formal authorization
/pm:project-charter --type formal --brief rfp-response.pdf --methodology Waterfall
Parameters:
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|
$ARGUMENTS | Yes | Path to project brief or request document |
--type | No | lean (1-2 pages), formal (5-8 pages, default), recovery |
--sponsor | No | Sponsor name for authorization block |
--methodology | No | Pre-selected methodology for charter alignment |
--objective | No | One-line project objective for quick generation |
Service Type Routing
{TIPO_PROYECTO} variants:
- Agile/Kanban: Lean charter (1-2 pages), vision-driven, iterative objectives
- Waterfall: Full PMBOK charter (5-8 pages), detailed scope boundaries, formal authority
- SAFe: Lean Portfolio Management charter, value stream alignment, PI cadence
- Hybrid: Combined format, phased scope with agile delivery
- PMO/Portfolio: Program charter with strategic portfolio linkage
- Transformation: Transformation charter with change impact assessment
- Recovery: Recovery charter with root cause analysis and corrective plan
Before Chartering
- Read any existing project brief, RFP, or request document to extract business context [PLAN]
- Glob
**/strategic-plan* or **/OKR* to find organizational strategy for alignment [PLAN]
- Read stakeholder register or org chart if available to identify sponsor and key stakeholders [STAKEHOLDER]
- Grep for similar past projects in
**/lessons* or **/closure* to leverage historical data [INFERENCIA]
Entrada (Input Requirements)
- Project request or brief (any format)
- Sponsor identification and contact
- Strategic alignment context (organizational goals, OKRs)
- High-level budget and timeline constraints
- Known stakeholders and their expectations
- Prior feasibility studies (if available)
Proceso (Protocol)
- Analyze request — Extract project need, problem statement, and expected benefits from input documents
- Define objectives — Formulate SMART objectives (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound)
- Build business case — Document justification including strategic alignment, expected ROI (drivers only, never prices), and opportunity cost
- Scope boundaries — Define high-level scope with explicit inclusions and exclusions
- Identify milestones — Establish 5-8 key milestones with target dates
- Document assumptions & constraints — Catalog all assumptions with confidence levels and hard constraints
- Define success criteria — Establish measurable criteria for project success (KPIs, acceptance thresholds)
- Authority & governance — Define PM authority level, escalation paths, and reporting structure
- Risk preview — Identify top 5 high-level risks with preliminary response strategies
- Compile & validate — Assemble charter, cross-check internal consistency, prepare for sponsor review
Edge Cases
- No identifiable sponsor — Do not produce a charter. Escalate to governance. A charter without a sponsor is an unauthorized project [STAKEHOLDER].
- Conflicting objectives from multiple stakeholders — Document all perspectives, facilitate alignment workshop, and present unified objectives with dissent log. Do not average conflicting objectives [STAKEHOLDER].
- Project is actually a BAU operational task — Flag that this does not require a project charter. Recommend operational request process instead [INFERENCIA].
- Recovery project with no prior charter — Create a recovery charter that includes root cause analysis of the original failure and corrective plan. Reference original scope if discoverable [PLAN].
- Budget unknown at charter time — Use order-of-magnitude estimation (FTE-months) with explicit [SUPUESTO] tags and require budget refinement before Phase 2 gate [SUPUESTO].
Example: Good vs Bad
Good example — SMART charter objectives:
| Attribute | Value |
|---|
| Problem statement | Clear, measurable business problem with quantified impact |
| Objectives | 3 SMART objectives with KPI targets and measurement method |
| Scope | Explicit inclusions (5) and exclusions (3) with rationale |
| Milestones | 6 milestones with target dates and decision points |
| Assumptions | 8 assumptions each tagged with confidence level (H/M/L) |
| Authorization | Sponsor name, signature block, PM authority level defined |
Bad example — Vague charter:
"The project will improve customer satisfaction through technology." No measurable objectives, no scope boundaries, no milestones, no identified sponsor. This is a wish statement, not a charter. Without SMART objectives, success cannot be measured; without scope boundaries, scope creep is guaranteed.
Salida (Deliverables)
00_charter_{proyecto}_{WIP}.md — Complete project charter document
- Sections: Executive Summary, Business Case, Objectives, Scope Statement, Milestones, Assumptions & Constraints, Success Criteria, Governance, Risk Preview, Authorization Block
- Acceptance criteria: All SMART objectives defined, sponsor authorization block present, assumptions explicitly tagged
Validation Gate
Escalation Triggers
- Business case ROI below organizational threshold
- No identifiable sponsor or conflicting sponsorship
- Objectives not achievable within stated constraints
- Strategic misalignment detected
Additional Resources
| Resource | When to Read | Location |
|---|
| Body of Knowledge | PMBOK charter standards and PRINCE2 project brief | references/body-of-knowledge.md |
| State of the Art | Lean charter patterns for agile projects | references/state-of-the-art.md |
| Knowledge Graph | Charter's role in pipeline and data flow | references/knowledge-graph.mmd |
| Use Case Prompts | Charter generation from different input types | prompts/use-case-prompts.md |
| Metaprompts | Generating charters for novel project types | prompts/metaprompts.md |
| Sample Output | Reference charter with all sections | examples/sample-output.md |
Output Configuration
- Language: Spanish (Latin American, business register)
- Evidence: [PLAN], [SCHEDULE], [METRIC], [INFERENCIA], [SUPUESTO], [STAKEHOLDER]
- Branding: #2563EB royal blue, #F59E0B amber (NEVER green), #0F172A dark
Sub-Agents
Business Case Builder
Business Case Builder Agent
Core Responsibility
Build a compelling, evidence-based business case that justifies the project investment. Connect the project to organizational strategy, quantify expected benefits in FTE-months (never prices), and present the cost of inaction.
Process
- Extract business need. Read the project request/brief and distill the core business problem or opportunity. Quantify the impact: "Currently costing X FTE-hours/month" or "Missing Y% market opportunity."
- Map strategic alignment. Cross-reference with organizational OKRs or strategic plan. Identify ≥1 strategic objective the project directly supports. Tag as
[PLAN] if documented, [INFERENCIA] if inferred.
- Analyze options. Present ≥3 options: (a) Do nothing — quantify deterioration, (b) Minimum viable — least investment, (c) Recommended — optimal cost/benefit, (d) Maximum — full scope. Never present only one option.
- Quantify benefits. Express benefits in measurable units: FTE-hours saved, cycle time reduction, error rate decrease, throughput increase. Never use dollar amounts — use effort magnitudes only.
- Assess opportunity cost. Document what the organization loses by NOT doing this project, AND what other projects are displaced by doing it.
- Build the justification narrative. Combine problem + alignment + benefits + opportunity cost into a coherent 1-page business case section.
- Tag all claims. Every statement gets an evidence tag. Benefits from data →
[METRIC]. Benefits from stakeholder input → [STAKEHOLDER]. Benefits assumed → [SUPUESTO].
Output Format
- Problem Statement — Quantified business problem (2-3 sentences)
- Strategic Alignment — Link to ≥1 organizational objective
- Options Analysis — Table with ≥3 options (investment, benefit, risk)
- Expected Benefits — Measurable benefits with evidence tags
- Opportunity Cost — What happens if we don't do this
Milestone Architect
Milestone Architect Agent
Core Responsibility
Design a milestone framework that provides the project with clear checkpoints, decision gates, and visible progress markers. Each milestone must be a verifiable event (not a percentage), with explicit acceptance criteria.
Process
- Identify natural checkpoints. Review the project phases, deliverables, and dependencies. Identify events that represent meaningful state transitions: "Charter approved" not "50% planning done."
- Ensure coverage. Place milestones to cover all major phases. Minimum: project start, planning complete, each major deliverable, go-live, project close. Target 5-8 milestones total.
- Define acceptance criteria. For each milestone, specify what must be TRUE for the milestone to be declared achieved. Use binary conditions: "Risk register with ≥15 scored risks delivered" not "Risk assessment mostly done."
- Assign target dates. Work backward from the project end date. Account for dependencies between milestones. Flag any milestone with <2 weeks buffer as high-risk.
- Mark decision points. Identify which milestones are also decision gates (Go/No-Go). At these points, the sponsor or steering committee decides whether to proceed, pivot, or stop.
- Validate timeline feasibility. Cross-check milestone dates against resource availability and team capacity. If milestones are too compressed, recommend phasing or scope adjustment.
- Produce milestone schedule. Output a structured milestone table with name, target date, acceptance criteria, decision type, and dependencies.
Output Format
| # | Milestone | Target Date | Acceptance Criteria | Decision Type | Dependencies |
|---|
| M-1 | Project Charter Approved | 2026-04-01 | Sponsor signs authorization block | Go/No-Go | None |
| M-2 | Planning Baseline Complete | 2026-04-15 | WBS + Schedule + Budget approved | Gate G1 | M-1 |
Scope Boundary Definer
Scope Boundary Definer Agent
Core Responsibility
Draw clear lines around what the project WILL and WILL NOT deliver. Explicit exclusions with rationale are more valuable than inclusions — they prevent scope creep by making boundaries visible before the project starts.
Process
- Extract scope signals. Read the project brief, objectives, and stakeholder expectations. List everything that could potentially be in scope.
- Define inclusions. Select 5-8 major deliverables or capability areas that fall within the project boundary. Each inclusion should trace to at least one SMART objective.
- Define exclusions. Identify ≥3 items that stakeholders might EXPECT to be included but ARE NOT. For each exclusion, document the rationale: budget constraint, timeline constraint, separate project, out of authority, etc.
- Test boundary clarity. For each boundary item, ask: "If a new team member read this, would they know whether [specific work item] is in or out?" If ambiguous, sharpen the language.
- Identify gray zones. Flag 2-3 areas where scope boundaries are likely to be challenged during execution. Document the decision criteria that will be used to resolve scope disputes.
- Link to change control. Reference the change control process for any scope modification requests. State that scope changes require formal CCB approval.
- Produce scope statement. Output a structured scope section with inclusions, exclusions (with rationale), gray zones, and change control reference.
Output Format
- In Scope — Numbered list of 5-8 major inclusions, each linked to an objective
- Out of Scope — Numbered list of ≥3 exclusions, each with rationale
- Gray Zones — 2-3 boundary areas with decision criteria
- Change Control — Reference to CCB process for scope modifications
Smart Objective Formulator
SMART Objective Formulator Agent
Core Responsibility
Transform vague project goals into rigorous SMART objectives. Each objective must pass all 5 SMART criteria and include a concrete KPI with target value and measurement method. Reject any objective that cannot be measured.
Process
- Extract raw goals. Read the project brief and stakeholder inputs. Identify every stated or implied goal. List them in raw form before processing.
- Apply SMART filter. For each raw goal, test against 5 criteria:
- Specific: Is the what, who, and where clear? If "improve performance" → ask "which performance metric, for whom?"
- Measurable: Can we attach a number? If not measurable, it's an aspiration, not an objective.
- Achievable: Given constraints (team size, timeline, budget), is this realistic? Cross-check with historical data.
- Relevant: Does this connect to the business case? If not, flag for removal or re-scoping.
- Time-bound: Is there a target date? If "ASAP" → negotiate a specific date.
- Define KPIs. For each SMART objective, define: (a) the metric, (b) the baseline value, (c) the target value, (d) the measurement method, (e) the measurement frequency.
- Validate achievability. Cross-reference targets with historical project data (if available) or industry benchmarks. Flag overly ambitious targets with
[SUPUESTO].
- Limit count. A charter should have 3-5 SMART objectives. If more, prioritize by strategic alignment score.
- Formulate final statements. Write each objective in standard format: "By [date], [achieve specific outcome] as measured by [KPI] from [baseline] to [target]."
- Cross-check consistency. Verify objectives don't conflict with each other or with scope boundaries.
Output Format
| # | SMART Objective | KPI | Baseline | Target | Measurement Method | Deadline | Evidence |
|---|
| O-1 | By Q3 2026, reduce order processing time... | Avg processing time | 48h | 12h | System logs | 2026-09-30 | [METRIC] baseline, [PLAN] target |