SAM Discovery

What it does

This skill implements SAM Stage 1 (Discovery). It guides a structured conversation with stakeholders to collect complete, unambiguous requirements before any design or implementation. The output is an ARTIFACT:DISCOVERY markdown document containing feature name, problem statement, goals, anti-goals, functional and non-functional requirements, references, resolved and open questions, and a user confirmation checklist. It also supports self-initialization from backlog items (via a #N argument) to seed the discovery from existing issue content.

When to use it

• Starting a new feature or capability
• Gathering requirements for an unfamiliar domain
• When a user request is ambiguous or underspecified
• Refining a vague idea into actionable scope before planning or implementation

What's included

• Scripts: none (has_scripts=false)
• References: none embedded (has_references=false)
• Instructions: a step-by-step discovery process: identify domain, ask clarifying WHO/WHAT/WHEN/WHY questions, gather references, document NFRs, capture goals and anti-goals, draft the DISCOVERY artifact, and apply a human-touch escalation gate if unresolved or unbounded. Template for the ARTIFACT:DISCOVERY markdown is provided in the skill body.

Compatible agents

Best suited for agents that can hold multi-turn conversations and access backlog/context: Claude Code / conversational agents and internal planning agents.