# user-story-writing

Structures product requirements into user stories with Given-When-Then acceptance criteria. Helps during sprint planning and backlog refinement.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 787 installs · ★ 371
- Author: aj-geddes
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts/tree/HEAD/skills/user-story-writing/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-03-04
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/user-story-writing

## What it does

This skill guides the AI to frame feature requirements from the end-user perspective instead of drafting technical implementation steps. It enforces the standard "As a / I want to / So that" template along with user role context and explicit goals. Acceptance criteria follow the Given-When-Then format, giving developers and QA teams clear conditions of done.

Under the hood, the skill references guides for story refinement, splitting, estimation, and acceptance criteria examples. It deliberately prohibits creating multi-sprint stories or purely technical tasks. Because it insists on business value over implementation details, you will need a different approach for low-level infrastructure tasks.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts --skill user-story-writing -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/user-story-writing/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/user-story-writing/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts --skill user-story-writing -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/user-story-writing/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts --skill user-story-writing -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/user-story-writing/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts user-story-writing
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/user-story-writing/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts --skill user-story-writing -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts --path skills/user-story-writing
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/user-story-writing/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts --skill user-story-writing -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts/tree/HEAD/skills/user-story-writing/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- Structure user stories for product backlog refinement
- Generate Given-When-Then acceptance criteria
- Split large requirements into single-sprint tasks
- Define testable boundary and error scenarios

## Example prompts
- Write a user story with acceptance criteria for email password reset.
- Split this large checkout requirement into stories that fit into a single sprint.
- Add edge cases and error handling scenarios to the login story acceptance criteria.

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 4bf9d59db98be3df.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 4bf9d59db98be3df
````text
---
name: user-story-writing
description: >
  Write effective user stories that capture requirements from the user's
  perspective. Create clear stories with detailed acceptance criteria to guide
  development and define done.
---

# User Story Writing

## Table of Contents

- [Overview](#overview)
- [When to Use](#when-to-use)
- [Quick Start](#quick-start)
- [Reference Guides](#reference-guides)
- [Best Practices](#best-practices)

## Overview

Well-written user stories communicate requirements in a user-focused way, facilitate discussion, and provide clear acceptance criteria for developers and testers.

## When to Use

- Breaking down requirements into development tasks
- Product backlog creation and refinement
- Agile sprint planning
- Communicating features to development team
- Defining acceptance criteria
- Creating test cases

## Quick Start

Minimal working example:

```markdown
# User Story Template

**Title:** [Feature name]

**As a** [user role/persona]
**I want to** [action/capability]
**So that** [business value/benefit]

---

## User Context

- User Role: [Who is performing this action?]
- User Goals: [What are they trying to accomplish?]
- Use Case: [When do they perform this action?]

---

## Acceptance Criteria

Given [precondition]
When [action]
Then [expected result]

Example:
// ... (see reference guides for full implementation)
```

## Reference Guides

Detailed implementations in the `references/` directory:

| Guide | Contents |
|---|---|
| [Story Refinement Process](references/story-refinement-process.md) | Story Refinement Process |
| [Acceptance Criteria Examples](references/acceptance-criteria-examples.md) | Acceptance Criteria Examples |
| [Story Splitting](references/story-splitting.md) | Story Splitting |
| [Story Estimation](references/story-estimation.md) | Story Estimation |

## Best Practices

### ✅ DO

- Write from the user's perspective
- Focus on value, not implementation
- Create stories small enough for one sprint
- Define clear acceptance criteria
- Use consistent format and terminology
- Have product owner approve stories
- Include edge cases and error scenarios
- Link to requirements/business goals
- Update stories based on learning
- Create testable stories

### ❌ DON'T

- Write technical task-focused stories
- Create overly detailed specifications
- Write stories that require multiple sprints
- Forget about non-functional requirements
- Skip acceptance criteria
- Create dependent stories unnecessarily
- Write ambiguous acceptance criteria
- Ignore edge cases
- Create too large stories
- Change stories mid-sprint without discussion
````
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 4bf9d59db98be3df

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the 4bf9d59db98be3df tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

© aj-geddes · MIT · https://github.com/aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts/tree/HEAD/skills/user-story-writing/SKILL.md

## Similar
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