SDD Requirements Documentation

VerifiedSafe

Create requirements documents that align to Foundation anchors. Helps define success criteria and write verifiable requirements with proper traceability. Useful when starting a new project or adding features that need clear, testable acceptance criteria.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
DevelopmentIntermediate
6/2/2026
Claude Code
#sdd#requirements#foundation-anchors#traceability#verification

Recommended for

Automated summary

This skill generates requirements documents aligned to Foundation anchors, using unique IDs and a coverage matrix to ensure traceability.

Strengths

  • Ensures full traceability between requirements and foundational decisions (anchors).
  • Provides a structured format with unique IDs and verification criteria.
  • Includes a coverage matrix to identify gaps.

Limitations

  • Requires the Foundation to be verified beforehand.
  • Matrix complexity can grow with the number of requirements.
  • Does not address change management or versioning.
When to use it

Use this skill when you need to write verifiable and traceable requirements for a system built with the SDD methodology.

When not to use it

Do not use it for informal agile projects where formal traceability is not required.

Security analysis

Safe
Quality score95/100

The skill is purely documentation-oriented, providing a template and instructions for writing requirements documents. It does not involve any code execution, command invocation, or tool use that could pose a security risk.

No concerns found

How this analysis is made

Examples

Create root requirements
Create requirements for the root level with cross-cutting concerns, aligned to the Foundation anchors defined in foundation.md.
Create package requirements for React sample
Write requirements for the React sample package, linking to the appropriate Foundation anchors (e.g., DEMO-TODO-APP, PATTERN-HOOKS) and including verification criteria.

name: sdd-requirements description: | Create Requirements documents with alignment to Foundation anchors. Use when: defining success criteria, writing verifiable requirements. Triggers: "create requirements", "write reqs", "sdd requirements"

Web Playground Requirements

Create Requirements documents that define success criteria aligned to Foundation anchors.

Prerequisites

Foundation must be verified before writing requirements.

Check .sdd/state.yaml:

documents:
  foundation:
    status: verified  # must be verified

REQ ID Formats

| Level | Format | Example | |-------|--------|---------| | Root | REQ-{NNN} | REQ-001, REQ-002 | | Package | REQ-{PKG}-{NNN} | REQ-REACT-001, REQ-NEST-001 |

Instructions

1. Choose Level

  • Root: spec/requirements.md (cross-cutting requirements)
  • Package: packages/{pkg}/spec/requirements.md (sample-specific)

2. Write Frontmatter

---
title: "{Package} Requirements"
version: 1.0.0
status: draft
depends_on:
  - foundation.md@1.0.0  # or root::foundation.md@1.0.0 for packages
---

3. Write Each Requirement

## REQ-001: {Title}

{Description of what the system must do}

`@aligns-to:` {ANCHOR-NAME}

**Status:** draft

**Verification:** {How to verify this requirement is met}

4. Add Alignment Links

Every requirement must have @aligns-to linking to Foundation anchors.

Root requirements: Link to root anchors

`@aligns-to:` SCOPE-MONOREPO, QUALITY-TYPESCRIPT

Package requirements: Can link to root or package anchors

`@aligns-to:` PATTERN-HOOKS, root::QUALITY-TESTED

5. Build Coverage Matrix

Track which anchors are addressed:

## Coverage Matrix

| Anchor | Requirements |
|--------|--------------|
| SCOPE-MONOREPO | REQ-001 |
| QUALITY-TYPESCRIPT | REQ-001, REQ-003 |
| PATTERN-HOOKS | REQ-REACT-001, REQ-REACT-002 |

6. Update State

Claim ownership and update .sdd/state.yaml:

documents:
  requirements: { status: draft, version: 1.0.0, owner: claude }

Example: Package Requirements

---
title: "React Sample Requirements"
version: 1.0.0
status: draft
depends_on:
  - foundation.md@1.0.0
  - root::foundation.md@1.0.0
---

# React Sample Requirements

## REQ-REACT-001: Todo CRUD Operations

User can create, read, update, and delete todo items.

`@aligns-to:` DEMO-TODO-APP, root::SCOPE-SHOWCASE

**Status:** draft

**Verification:**
- Create: new item appears in list
- Read: items persist across page reload (localStorage)
- Update: can edit item text, toggle completion
- Delete: item removed from list

---

## REQ-REACT-002: Hooks-Only State

All component state uses React hooks (useState, useReducer, useContext).

`@aligns-to:` PATTERN-HOOKS, TECH-REACT-18

**Status:** draft

**Verification:** No class components in codebase; grep for `extends Component` returns empty.

---

## Coverage Matrix

| Anchor | Requirements |
|--------|--------------|
| DEMO-TODO-APP | REQ-REACT-001 |
| PATTERN-HOOKS | REQ-REACT-002 |
| TECH-REACT-18 | REQ-REACT-002 |
| root::SCOPE-SHOWCASE | REQ-REACT-001 |

Verification

After writing requirements:

  • [ ] Frontmatter has depends_on pointing to verified foundation
  • [ ] Every REQ has unique ID in correct format
  • [ ] Every REQ has @aligns-to with valid anchor(s)
  • [ ] Cross-level refs use root:: prefix
  • [ ] Coverage matrix shows no unaddressed anchors
  • [ ] Each REQ has verification criteria

Alignment Check

| Check | Pass | Fail | |-------|------|------| | Coverage | Every anchor has >= 1 REQ | Anchor unaddressed | | Scope | REQ within Foundation scope | Outside scope | | Non-contradiction | Consistent with constraints | Violates constraint |

State Update

After all requirements verified:

documents:
  requirements: { status: verified, version: 1.0.0, owner: human }
current_phase: design

Transfer ownership when complete. If blocked on scope decision, escalate:

escalations:
  - id: ESC-001
    description: "REQ-003 unclear if within scope"
    status: pending

Next Phase

When requirements are verified, proceed to design:

  • Create design items with @derives links to requirements
  • Document significant decisions as DEC-NNN

Reference

For full details: .claude/skills/sdd-guidelines/reference/guidelines-v4.4.md sections 1.2, 2, 3.2

From the file to a first result

The download contains exactly the content displayed on this page. This copy may differ from the latest version in the source repository.

View the source and supporting files

This download contains SKILL.md only. Any scripts, references, templates and dependencies are not included. Get the required files from the source, preserving their directory structure, before continuing.

1. Download the file

Download SKILL.md

From the root of a test project, save the file as .skill-downloads/sdd-requirements-documentation-mmbizklv/SKILL.md, or use the command below. This folder is for inspecting the skill before installation.

Command for macOS/Linux or WSL: requires a POSIX shell and curl. On Windows without WSL, use the download button and create the folder manually.

mkdir -p '.skill-downloads/sdd-requirements-documentation-mmbizklv' && curl --fail --show-error --location 'https://skills-guides.com/api/skills/sdd-requirements-documentation-mmbizklv/download' --output '.skill-downloads/sdd-requirements-documentation-mmbizklv/SKILL.md.part' && mv '.skill-downloads/sdd-requirements-documentation-mmbizklv/SKILL.md.part' '.skill-downloads/sdd-requirements-documentation-mmbizklv/SKILL.md'

2. Check prerequisites

Read SKILL.md before using it. If it references scripts or external services, inspect them and prepare the required access in your test environment.

Original excerpt: Prerequisites

Foundation must be verified before writing requirements.

Check .sdd/state.yaml:

documents:
  foundation:
    status: verified  # must be verified

The platforms on this page are catalog indications. The paths below follow tool documentation; they do not prove this skill has been run in those tools. No minimum tool version is confirmed for this listing.

3. Load the skill

After inspection, copy the complete folder into your project using one of the commands below, then open a new tool session. The command stops if a folder with the same name already exists: compare the files before replacing it.

Claude Code
test -f '.skill-downloads/sdd-requirements-documentation-mmbizklv/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/sdd-requirements-documentation-mmbizklv/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.claude/skills' && test ! -e '.claude/skills/sdd-requirements' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/sdd-requirements-documentation-mmbizklv' '.claude/skills/sdd-requirements'

OpenSkills

OpenSkills must already be installed. The local install/read procedure is checked with OpenSkills 1.5.0, which requires Node.js ≥ 20.6.0. Catalog slugs are not resolved automatically.

Official OpenSkills installation
openskills install './.skill-downloads/sdd-requirements-documentation-mmbizklv'

openskills read 'sdd-requirements-documentation-mmbizklv'

Reading should display the installed file content and its base directory. It does not run the skill or install its dependencies.

For an agent that reads AGENTS.md, then sync the index. This command changes AGENTS.md: review the diff before using it.

openskills sync

Manual method or another tool: attach SKILL.md to a conversation, or open it in an agent that can read files. Include any required supporting resources. No universal folder is recognized by every tool.

4. Try a first task

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Read .skill-downloads/sdd-requirements-documentation-mmbizklv/SKILL.md and apply its instructions to this example: [describe a test input]. Identify any missing files, dependencies or access. Produce the result requested by the skill without inventing data or running unreviewed scripts.

Expected result: output matching the skill instructions, or a precise list of missing prerequisites. A read confirmation alone does not validate a first use. If an external resource is unavailable, that path remains untested.

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