Discovery — Phase 0 Validation Gate

Structured Discovery & Validation before committing to a feature. Prevents building unvalidated ideas by gating entry into the story and design pipeline with four sequential modes.

Usage

/discovery                   # Show overview of all 4 modes
/discovery problem           # Problem framing: who has it, how urgent, what evidence
/discovery competitive       # Competitive landscape: what exists, differentiators, moat
/discovery feasibility       # Feasibility: technical, economic, time constraints
/discovery checkpoint        # Go/no-go gate: 5-criteria verdict before /story create

Workflow

Step 1: Determine Mode

Parse $ARGUMENTS for explicit mode. If no arguments provided, show overview:

no args         → read templates/overview.md
problem         → read templates/problem/summary.md
competitive     → read templates/competitive/summary.md
feasibility     → read templates/feasibility/summary.md
checkpoint      → read templates/checkpoint/summary.md
<anything else> → show usage error + list valid modes + read templates/overview.md

Step 2: Present Guidance (Progressive Disclosure)

Level 1 — Summary (default, ~20 lines): Read and present the summary template. This is the entry point — frames the questions to answer.

Level 2 — Patterns (on request, ~60 lines): When the user asks for more depth, "show me patterns", "how do I score this", or "give me examples" — read the patterns template.

Level 3 — Full Analysis (on request): No template — dive into specific questions with the user based on context provided.

Step 3: Run Modes Sequentially

Recommended sequence: problem → competitive → feasibility → checkpoint

Each mode builds on the previous:

• problem → frames who, what, and why
• competitive → validates market gap
• feasibility → validates buildability
• checkpoint → synthesizes all three into a go/no-go verdict

You can run individual modes out of order when the user has already done partial research.

Step 4: Checkpoint Verdict

After the checkpoint mode:

• Go → "Run /story create to define the feature scope."
• Conditional go → Flag caveats, suggest mitigations, then allow forward.
• No-go → Explain which criteria failed, suggest what needs to change before re-evaluating.

Template Locations

Summary Templates (~20 lines each — L1 default)

Mode	File
overview	~/.claude/skills/discovery/templates/overview.md
problem	~/.claude/skills/discovery/templates/problem/summary.md
competitive	~/.claude/skills/discovery/templates/competitive/summary.md
feasibility	~/.claude/skills/discovery/templates/feasibility/summary.md
checkpoint	~/.claude/skills/discovery/templates/checkpoint/summary.md

Patterns Templates (~60 lines each — L2 on request)

Mode	File
problem	~/.claude/skills/discovery/templates/problem/patterns.md
competitive	~/.claude/skills/discovery/templates/competitive/patterns.md
feasibility	~/.claude/skills/discovery/templates/feasibility/patterns.md
checkpoint	~/.claude/skills/discovery/templates/checkpoint/patterns.md

Progressive Disclosure Rules

1. Always start at L1 — never present all 4 modes' full patterns at once
2. Read templates on demand — use the Read tool; don't memorize template content
3. User drives depth — "show me how to score", "give me the rubric", "examples?" triggers L2
4. Don't hard-block the user — if they skip modes, accept partial input but flag explicitly which criteria are scored on assumptions rather than evidence
5. Checkpoint is the exit gate — nothing moves to /story create without a checkpoint verdict

Integration

Position in pipeline: Phase 0 → before everything else

/discovery (Phase 0)
  → /story create (Phase 1 — only after checkpoint go)
    → /design (Phase 2)
      → /implementation (Phase 3)

Invoked by: User directly (/discovery) Invokes: Nothing — produces validated problem definition consumed by /story create Connected skills:

• /story create — next step after checkpoint go
• /design — invoked by user after /story prp generates a PRP; uses the validated problem scope from discovery
• /product-assess — deeper product assessment for complex ideas (optional, before /discovery checkpoint)

Examples

Full sequence on a new idea:

User: /discovery problem → frames who/urgency/evidence User: /discovery competitive → maps alternatives User: /discovery feasibility → checks buildability User: /discovery checkpoint → verdict: Go → "Great, run /story create to define the feature."

Skipping straight to checkpoint:

User: /discovery checkpoint → Present checkpoint summary, fill criteria based on what user already knows → Flag any missing evidence as risks

L2 escalation:

User: /discovery problem → Show problem/summary.md User: "show me how to score urgency" → Read and show problem/patterns.md (pain-point scoring section)