How to run a product spec squad

A spec mission runs as a closed loop on the Product Management Squad. You draw the path in the mission goals: the user, the problem, and what is out of scope. The Mission Commander works inside that path and assigns the PRD to Spec. Steering is the approval step. Spec does not put the work on a roadmap by itself.

The squad you import

The template is the Product Management Squad, on /squads. It ships with four agents:

Spec, Product Writer, writes a PRD with the problem, the users, the scope, the requirements, and the success metrics, asks the hard questions first, and splits the spec into tickets.
Voice, Feedback Analyst, groups interviews and tickets into themes. That is a different mission.
Roadmap, Roadmap Planner, keeps now, next, and later. Spec does not make that call.
Ship, Release Manager, drafts release notes after something has merged. Not this mission.

The template has no required connection. Put the rough idea and any quotes you will allow in the mission folder.

You do this in the xSquads desktop app, on a folder of your own files. Mac now, with Windows coming soon. The product page is xSquads for Work.

How the mission runs

Step 1. Import the Product Management Squad

Open the squad templates and import the Product Management Squad onto the mission. Keep Spec. Remove Voice, Roadmap, and Ship if this mission is the PRD and the ticket split.

Step 2. Leave the connector list empty

This template has no required connection. Do not connect treg or Vapi. The spec is written from the idea, the constraints, and the quotes in the folder.

Step 3. Create the mission and set the goals

Create the mission and write the goals in plain language. Those goals are the path: who it is for, what problem it solves, and what will not be built. Point the mission at the local folder. The commander does not get to widen that path. A goal you can start from, as written on the squad page: write a PRD for this feature idea and split it into tickets. Name the feature in the goals so Spec does not expand it.

Step 4. Let the Mission Commander assign the work

Save the mission. The Mission Commander creates tasks on the task board and assigns them only inside the goals you wrote. Spec takes the questions first, then the PRD, then the ticket split. Roadmap should not rewrite now, next, and later. Ship should not draft release notes. Voice should not mine a feedback dump unless that goal is present.

Step 5. Add a task, steer, and approve before the spec is treated as decided

Steering is the approval step. Add a task on the board, or correct the Mission Commander in the group chat, when a requirement is a non-goal. A useful task to add yourself: move notifications out of scope and add a success metric you can count from the folder. Spec proposes. You decide. Start by approving the PRD before anyone builds from the tickets.

How much to review

Start by approving everything. Autonomy is a dial, not a switch you flip because the headings look like a PRD.

Always sign off the user, the problem, and the non-goals yourself. Raise the dial only when specs stop pulling in work you cut. Success metrics have to be ones you can check. Priorities stay with you. xSquads does not ship the feature.

What the goals have to name

The feature, the user, and the problem, in your words.
Non-goals. Spec asks hard questions before writing. The non-goals are how you answer them in advance.
Requirements and the success metric. A metric that is not measurable from something you named goes back.
What is out: the roadmap update, release notes, and a fresh feedback study.
You approve before the tickets are treated as ready to build.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who writes the PRD?

Spec, on the Product Management Squad. The squad-page mission is a PRD for the feature idea, split into tickets.

What has to be in the spec?

The problem, the users, the scope, the requirements, and the success metrics. Spec is also supposed to ask the hard questions before the draft, so a thin idea comes back as questions, not as a fake scope.

Does Spec set the roadmap?

No. Roadmap keeps now, next, and later, and only if that goal is in the mission. This mission leaves Roadmap off the board. You decide priority.

Can I add a requirement after the draft exists?

Yes. Add a task, or correct the Mission Commander in the group chat. The spec still waits in Review.

Does the squad need a connector?

No. The Product Management Squad page lists no required connection.