design-doc-interviewer
Conducts a structured interview to capture requirements and logic, outputting a formal design document.
Install
mkdir -p .claude/skills/design-doc-interviewer && curl -L -o skill.zip "https://agentskills.codes/api/skills/download/4278" && unzip -o skill.zip -d .claude/skills/design-doc-interviewer && rm skill.zipInstalls to .claude/skills/design-doc-interviewer
Activation
This is the description your AI agent reads to decide when to run this skill — the better it matches your request, the more reliably it fires.
Interview the user to turn a proposed product/engineering change into a structured design document. Use when the user asks to be interviewed, wants help clarifying a design, or wants a design doc produced from Q&A. Emphasize numbered questions (few at a time), capture requirements/constraints/UX/data/logic/testing, and output a clean design doc.Key capabilities
- →Conduct structured interviews with numbered question batches
- →Draft design documents using a standard template
- →Incorporate existing design context from repository files
- →Identify high-impact gaps in requirements and constraints
- →Save final documents to package-specific directories
How it works
The skill guides the user through small, numbered batches of questions to elicit design details, then synthesizes the responses into a template-based document.
Inputs & outputs
When to use design-doc-interviewer
- →Drafting a technical design document
- →Clarifying product requirements
- →Collecting feedback for a design change
About this skill
Design Doc Interviewer
Overview
Elicit the minimum set of decisions and details needed to produce a clear design document, using short, numbered question batches and progressive refinement.
Workflow
1) Align on format and scope
- Ask for the intended audience, affected systems, and whether there is a preferred template or example to mirror.
- If the user provided a sample doc, follow its section order and tone.
- Identify the target package in this monorepo. If unclear, ask the user to pick one of the packages managed here before proceeding.
1.5) Pre-flight repo context
- Search
design/*with emphasis ondesign/ideas/for related context before asking detailed questions. - Summarize any relevant findings and confirm whether they should be incorporated.
2) Run a structured interview in small batches
- Ask 2–4 numbered questions per turn.
- Keep questions concise, unambiguous, and grouped by section.
- After each response, confirm key points and update the working outline.
Use the question bank when needed: references/question-bank.md.
3) Draft the design doc incrementally
- Populate sections as soon as sufficient information is available.
- Mark unknowns as Open Questions rather than blocking progress.
- Use the template for consistent structure:
references/design-doc-template.md.
4) Review for completeness and risk
- Check for missing: goals/non-goals, data model/API changes, compatibility, rollout, testing.
- Ask final clarifying questions only for high-impact gaps.
5) Deliver the final document
- Output a clean, single-pass doc with headings and code fences where needed.
- Preserve the user’s terminology and system names.
- Always save the final design doc at
design/{package}/where{package}is a package managed in this monorepo. Create the directory if it does not exist.
Interview Style Rules
- Number all questions.
- Keep question batches small (2–4).
- Prefer concrete, scenario-based prompts over abstract ones.
- Avoid asking about sections the user explicitly scoped out.
References
references/design-doc-template.mdfor the canonical structure.references/question-bank.mdfor section-specific prompts.
When not to use it
- →When the user has not identified a target package in the monorepo
- →When the user requests a design document without participating in an interview
Prerequisites
Limitations
- →Requires the user to select a package before proceeding
- →Limited to the structure defined in the provided template
How it compares
Unlike manual drafting, this skill enforces a structured, iterative interview process to ensure all critical design sections are addressed.
Compared to similar skills
design-doc-interviewer side by side with the closest alternatives in the catalog.
| Skill | Installs | Updated | Safety | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| design-doc-interviewer (this skill) | 1 | 6mo | No flags | Intermediate |
| pmbok-project-management | 38 | 9mo | No flags | Intermediate |
| project-planner | 32 | 9mo | Review | Intermediate |
| spec-kit-workflow | 11 | 8mo | No flags | Intermediate |
Try saying
Example prompts that trigger this skill in your AI assistant.
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