Agent skill

Prd V01 Problem Framing

by mattgierhart in mattgierhart/PRD-driven-context-engineering

Transform vague product ideas into evidence-anchored problem statements for PRD v0.1 Spark.

MITAuto-check passedProduct & Project Management

Install Prd V01 Problem Framing

skills CLI
$ npx skills add mattgierhart/PRD-driven-context-engineering --skill prd-v01-problem-framing -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install mattgierhart/PRD-driven-context-engineering prd-v01-problem-framing --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/mattgierhart/PRD-driven-context-engineering.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.claude/skills/prd-v01-problem-framing .claude/skills/prd-v01-problem-framing && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
prd-v01-problem-framing
GitHub stars
180
Token cost
~1.7k tokens
SKILL.md length
649 words
Files
4 (incl. references, assets)
Skills in repo
45
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Transform vague product ideas into evidence-anchored problem statements for PRD v0.1 Spark.

  • Works in 5 steps: Gap Assessment → Evidence Anchoring → Pain Dimension Extraction → …
  • Starting new products/features
  • SKILL.md covers Consumes, Produces, Workflow Overview and Core Output Template, plus 9 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Prd V01 Problem Framing is an agent skill from mattgierhart/PRD-driven-context-engineering. Transform vague product ideas into evidence-anchored problem statements for PRD v0.1 Spark. Triggers on starting new products/features, validating market opportunities, drafting PRD Why sections, or requests like "frame the problem", "define pain points", "write problem statement", "start v0.1", "what problem are we solving". Outputs structured problem tables with CFD evidence IDs.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.7k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 5 other files, including reference files and assets (for example `assets/problem-statement.md`, `references/examples.md` and `references/research-prompts.md`).

It sits in Product & Project Management, covering PRD writing, Physical and earth sciences and Startup and business strategy. The repository describes itself as: PRD-Led Context Engineering — Memory as Infrastructure. An ontology layer for product teams building products that solve real problems — with AI agents that remember. Gated PRD… The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Starting new products/features
  • Validating market opportunities
  • Drafting PRD Why sections
  • Requests like frame the problem

Example prompts

  • “frame the problem”
  • “define pain points”
  • “write problem statement”
  • “/prd-v01-problem-framing”

Requirements

  • Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, WebSearch, WebFetch

Workflow steps

5 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Gap Assessment
  2. Evidence Anchoring
  3. Pain Dimension Extraction
  4. Cost Quantification
  5. Draft Problem Statement

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 30ed1b0. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

    • Read
    • Write
    • Edit
    • Glob
    • Grep
    • WebSearch
    • WebFetch

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Prd V01 Problem Framing loads about 1.7k tokens when it runs, and up to ~4.3k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 102 tokens; SKILL.md has 649 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~102
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.7k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~4.3k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from mattgierhart/PRD-driven-context-engineering at commit 30ed1b0, republished under its MIT licence (© mattgierhart). 649 words, ~1,736 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/prd-v01-problem-framing/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 3 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
prd-v01-problem-framing
description
Transform vague product ideas into evidence-anchored problem statements for PRD v0.1 Spark. Triggers on starting new products/features, validating market opportunities, drafting PRD Why sections, or requests like "frame the problem", "define pain points", "write problem statement", "start v0.1", "what problem are we solving". Outputs structured problem tables with CFD evidence IDs.
allowed-tools
Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, WebSearch, WebFetch
context
fork

Problem Framing Skill

Transform market signals into evidence-anchored problem statements.

Consumes

This skill assumes you have zero prior research. It is the starting point.

  • No prior CFD- entries needed
  • No prior PR D required
  • Assumes: Founder/PM has observed market signals but hasn't validated them

Produces

This skill creates/updates:

  • CFD-* entries (customer feedback) — 1-5 per problem dimension, with confidence scoring (see PRINCIPLES.md)
  • PRD.md Why section — Evidence-anchored problem statement table
  • MVP scope signal — Identifies which problem dimensions will drive MVP feature scope (handed to v0.3)

All CFD- entries should include:

  • confidence: 1-3/5 (pre-product research, no usage data)
  • Evidence source (competitive analysis, interviews, workarounds, etc.)
  • Forward target: "Would move to 4/5 if we observe 10+ paying customers with this pain"

Workflow Overview

  1. Assess gaps → Identify what evidence is missing before you can confidently state a problem
  2. Anchor evidence → Create CFD- entries for each pain point dimension with confidence scoring
  3. Extract dimensions → Pull multiple distinct problems from each source
  4. Quantify costs → Add time/money/risk numbers to make pain concrete
  5. Draft statement → Populate the problem table, tied to CFD- entries

Core Output Template

Populate this table for every problem statement:

ElementDefinitionEvidence
Who is hurting?Specific, findable, countable personaSegment size
What pain exists?Observable behavior or workflow frictionCFD-ID
Cost of problemTime, money, or opportunity lostQuantified
Why now?Market trigger creating urgencyTrend/event
What's impossible?Opportunity cost—what can't they doUser quote

See assets/problem-statement.md for copy-paste template.

Step 1: Gap Assessment

Before drafting, create this status table:

ElementStatusSource
Who is hurting?⚠️ Hypothesis / ✅ Validated / ❌ Missing
What pain exists?⚠️ / ✅ / ❌
Cost of problem⚠️ / ✅ / ❌
Why now?⚠️ / ✅ / ❌
What's impossible?⚠️ / ✅ / ❌

Gate: Require ≥2 elements ✅ Validated before drafting. If ≥3 elements ❌ Missing, run deep research first. See references/research-prompts.md for research templates.

Step 2: Evidence Anchoring

Create CFD entries for each pain point with confidence scoring:

CFD-###: [Pain Point Name]
Source: [Where this evidence came from]
Tier: [1-5 evidence quality]
Confidence: [1-5]/5 (pre-product research)
Quote: "[Verbatim from source]"
Dimensions: [List distinct problems extracted from this source]
Next Target: "Would move to 3/5 if we interview X more customers"

Evidence Tier Hierarchy (strength of observation):

  • Tier 1: Buying behavior (invoices, subscriptions, job budgets) — users spend money to solve this
  • Tier 2: Active workarounds (spreadsheets, hired help, manual processes) — users invest labor
  • Tier 3: Complaints with cost ("costs me X hours/week") — users quantify the pain
  • Tier 4: General complaints ("this is annoying") — users acknowledge it but haven't quantified
  • Tier 5: Speculation — REJECT ("users probably want...")

Confidence Scoring (pre-product, see PRINCIPLES.md):

  • 1/5: PM assumption or single data point
  • 2/5: Secondary research (competitive analysis, market reports)
  • 3/5: Pre-product interviews (3-5 user conversations)
  • 4/5: Beta cohort validation (observed behavior, not questions)
  • 5/5: Production usage (reserved for post-launch)

Example entry with confidence:

CFD-001: Sales teams waste 5+ hours/week on spreadsheet workflow

Source: 3 customer interviews (SaaS sales director, SMB sales rep, enterprise sales manager)
Tier: 2-3 (workaround + cost quantification)
Confidence: 3/5 (source: 3-customer-interviews-jan-2026)
Quote: "I spend 5 hours every Friday reconciling our pipeline with the actual numbers in our CRM"
Dimensions:
  - Manual data reconciliation between systems (workaround)
  - Inventory work (scheduling impact)
  - Single source of truth fragmentation (data quality risk)
Next Target: "Would move to 4/5 if we validate with 5 more sales leaders or observe workflows directly"
Show full SKILL.md (238 more words)Show less

Step 3: Pain Dimension Extraction

Extract multiple problems from each source. One quote often contains 3-4 distinct pain dimensions.

Example: "USB sticks removed for every update, no scheduling, screens don't communicate, priced for 100+ displays" → Sneakernet workflow, No dynamic scheduling, No centralization, Price mismatch

Step 4: Cost Quantification

Every problem needs a number:

TypeCalculation
TimeHours/week × hourly rate
MoneyCurrent spend on workaround
OpportunityRevenue/outcomes missed
RiskPenalty × probability

Step 5: Draft Problem Statement

Use the core output template. Reference CFD-IDs for every claim.

See references/examples.md for good/bad examples with explanations.

Quality Gates

Pass Checklist
  • ≥1 Tier 1-2 evidence item
  • Cost quantified (time, money, or risk)
  • "Who" specific enough to build prospect list
  • "Why now" has at least Tier 3 hypothesis
Testability Check
  • Can find 10 people with this problem in 48 hours?
  • Can observe the pain behavior?
  • Can quantify cost without leading questions?

Anti-Patterns

PatternExampleFix
Vague "Who""Small businesses"→ "SMBs with 1-10 screens"
Feature-as-problem"Need a dashboard"→ "Can't see status"
Solution creep"MVP must solve X"→ Stay on problem (v0.4)
Missing cost"This is annoying"→ "Costs X hrs/week"
Speculation"Users might want"→ Find evidence or reject

Bundled Resources

  • references/research-prompts.md — Deep research templates by gap type. Use when gap assessment shows ≥3 missing elements.
  • references/examples.md — Good/bad problem statement examples with explanations.
  • assets/problem-statement.md — Copy-paste template for problem tables and CFD entries.

Handoff

Problem statement complete when quality gates pass. Next: v0.2 Market Definition (segments, sizing, ICP).

© mattgierhart, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 3 other files (references, assets) in .claude/skills/prd-v01-problem-framing of mattgierhart/PRD-driven-context-engineering.

  • SKILL.md
  • assets/problem-statement.md
  • references/examples.md
  • references/research-prompts.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 30ed1b0

Compare with similar skills

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Questions about Prd V01 Problem Framing

What does Prd V01 Problem Framing do?

Transform vague product ideas into evidence-anchored problem statements for PRD v0.1 Spark. Prd V01 Problem Framing is an agent skill from mattgierhart/PRD-driven-context-engineering.1 Spark.

When should I use Prd V01 Problem Framing?

Prd V01 Problem Framing fits situations like: starting new products/features; validating market opportunities; drafting PRD Why sections; requests like frame the problem.

How do I install Prd V01 Problem Framing in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add mattgierhart/PRD-driven-context-engineering --skill prd-v01-problem-framing -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.claude/skills/prd-v01-problem-framing in mattgierhart/PRD-driven-context-engineering) into .claude/skills/prd-v01-problem-framing in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Prd V01 Problem Framing in Codex?

Run `npx skills add mattgierhart/PRD-driven-context-engineering --skill prd-v01-problem-framing -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.claude/skills/prd-v01-problem-framing in mattgierhart/PRD-driven-context-engineering) into .agents/skills/prd-v01-problem-framing in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Prd V01 Problem Framing in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add mattgierhart/PRD-driven-context-engineering --skill prd-v01-problem-framing -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/prd-v01-problem-framing, .gemini/skills/prd-v01-problem-framing, .github/skills/prd-v01-problem-framing and .opencode/skills/prd-v01-problem-framing in your project.

What does Prd V01 Problem Framing need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Prd V01 Problem Framing is instructions for the agent only. Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, WebSearch, WebFetch.

Does Prd V01 Problem Framing access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Prd V01 Problem Framing safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Prd V01 Problem Framing use?

Prd V01 Problem Framing is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Prd V01 Problem Framing use?

About 1.7k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 6.9k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 2.6k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Prd V01 Problem Framing?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Prd V01 Problem Framing: CCPM Project Management (automazeio/ccpm, 8.4k stars), Ralph Tui Create Beads (subsy/ralph-tui, 2.5k stars), Trellis Brainstorm (anjiemo/SunnyBeach, 178 stars) and TAM SAM SOM Calculator (deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills, 7.2k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Prd V01 Problem Framing?

mattgierhart (a GitHub user) maintains it in mattgierhart/PRD-driven-context-engineering, which has 180 GitHub stars. The repository holds 45 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on August 31, 2026.

Source: mattgierhart/PRD-driven-context-engineering on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.