Checklist generation

Checklist Generation Skill

Purpose

This skill provides expertise in generating domain-specific quality checklists for specifications. Unlike static templates, it dynamically produces questions and validation items based on the actual content of the specification. The output is a tailored checklist that tests whether the specification adequately addresses the relevant quality domains.

When It Activates

The skill is triggered when the conversation involves:

• Generating quality validation checklists for a specification
• Running completeness checks against requirements
• Preparing review checklists before implementation
• Discussing quality gates or readiness criteria
• Validating specification coverage across specific domains

Dynamic Question Generation Methodology

The skill does NOT use static, one-size-fits-all checklists. Instead, it follows a dynamic generation pipeline:

1. Parse Specification: Extract all requirements (FR/NFR), user stories, data model entities, API endpoints, and success criteria from the specification.
2. Detect Relevant Domains: Determine which quality domains are applicable based on the specification content. Skip domains that have no relevance to the project.
3. Generate Domain Questions: For each relevant domain, produce specific questions derived from the actual requirements and entities in the specification.
4. Add Traceability References: Each question includes a [Spec §X.Y] reference linking it back to the specific section or requirement it validates.
5. Filter and Prioritize: Remove redundant questions and order by importance within each domain.

Available Domains

The skill supports five quality domains:

1. UX Domain

Questions about user experience, interface design, and interaction patterns.

• Accessibility requirements for each user-facing feature
• Error state handling and user feedback mechanisms
• Navigation flows and information architecture
• Responsive design and device support considerations

2. API Domain

Questions about API design, contracts, and integration points.

• Endpoint completeness (CRUD coverage for each entity)
• Request/response schema validation and error codes
• Authentication and authorization per endpoint
• Pagination, filtering, and sorting support

3. Security Domain

Questions about security posture, threat mitigation, and data protection.

• Authentication mechanism specification (method, token lifecycle)
• Authorization model and role-based access definitions
• Input validation and sanitization requirements
• Data encryption requirements (at rest, in transit)

4. Performance Domain

Questions about performance targets, scalability, and resource management.

• Response time targets for critical operations
• Concurrency and throughput requirements
• Caching strategy and invalidation rules
• Database query performance constraints

5. Data Domain

Questions about data modeling, integrity, and lifecycle management.

• Entity relationship completeness and constraint definitions
• Data validation rules for each field
• Migration strategy and backward compatibility
• Retention policies and archival requirements

Question Pattern Types

Questions are generated using five pattern types:

Pattern	Source	Example
Requirement-based	FR/NFR items	"Does FR-003 specify the retry count and backoff strategy?"
User story	US definitions	"Does US2 define the error state when payment fails?"
Entity-based	Data model	"Are all fields of the Order entity typed and constrained?"
Endpoint	API contracts	"Does POST /orders specify the 409 conflict response?"
Success criteria	Metrics	"Is the 99th percentile response time target quantified?"

Output Format

The checklist is output as markdown with checkboxes, grouped by domain:

## UX Checklist

- [ ] Accessibility: Does FR-005 specify keyboard navigation for the dashboard? [Spec §3.5]
- [ ] Error states: Does US3 define the empty state when no results are found? [Spec §4.3]

## API Checklist

- [ ] Does `GET /users` specify pagination parameters and defaults? [Spec §5.1]
- [ ] Does `POST /orders` define validation error response schema? [Spec §5.3]

Each item includes a [Spec §X.Y] reference for traceability.

Relevance Filtering

Not all domains apply to every specification. The skill applies relevance filtering:

• UX: Skipped if the specification has no user-facing interface (e.g., pure backend service)
• API: Skipped if no API contracts or endpoints are defined
• Security: Always included (security is universally relevant)
• Performance: Skipped if no NFRs mention performance, latency, or throughput
• Data: Skipped if no data model or entities are defined

When a domain is skipped, the report notes the reason for exclusion.

References

For domain definitions, question patterns, and configuration options, consult:

• references/checklist-domains.md -- Full domain definitions and applicability rules
• references/question-patterns.md -- Question pattern templates and generation logic