# Arc Creating User Stories

> User-story backlog creation for GitHub Issues using job stories with verifiable checklist acceptance criteria. Use when asked to create development stories, write GitHub issues from a plan, build a feature backlog, or turn feature ideas into tracked user stories. Do not use for implementation planning after issues already exist.

- Skill: `andysolomon/arc-creating-user-stories` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 5 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add andysolomon/arc-creating-user-stories`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/andysolomon/arc-creating-user-stories/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Product & Planning
- Author: andysolomon (https://skillmd.com/u/andysolomon)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/andysolomon/arc-creating-user-stories

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# Arc Creating User Stories

Create a tracked backlog of independently deliverable user stories. The leading word is **verifiable**: every acceptance criterion must name the concrete method that proves it.

This skill owns the canonical story format for the arc skill family. For the story-body template, numbering, and acceptance-criteria rules, load [STORY_FORMAT.md](STORY_FORMAT.md). For `gh` commands, labels, Projects, and auth details, load [GITHUB.md](GITHUB.md) when you are ready to create issues.

## Steps

1. **Inspect the request and repo.**
   - Identify whether the user wants story creation, not just implementation planning or generic brainstorming.
   - Read enough repo files, PRD/specs, existing issues, and project context to avoid duplicate or imaginary work.

   Completion criterion: every proposed epic is grounded in a user request, existing artifact, or observed codebase gap.

2. **Draft the backlog before creating issues.**
   - Group stories into epics/themes.
   - Make each story independently deliverable and small enough to be implemented by one agent or developer.
   - Assign priority (`P0`/`P1`/`P2`) and size (`S`/`M`/`L`/`XL`).
   - Use sequential `W-000001` IDs; inspect existing issues first and increment from the highest existing `W-` number.

   Completion criterion: every story has an ID, title, epic, priority, size, a job-story sentence, and checklist acceptance criteria where each criterion carries a `Verify:` method per [STORY_FORMAT.md](STORY_FORMAT.md).

3. **Review the backlog with the user before mutation.**
   - Present the proposed epics and stories.
   - Ask for approval before creating labels, issues, or project items unless the user explicitly asked you to proceed without review.

   Completion criterion: either the user approves issue creation, or the response stops at the proposed backlog.

4. **Create GitHub tracking artifacts after approval.**
   - Create missing epic, priority, and size labels.
   - Create issues with `gh issue create --body-file`; never inline markdown bodies with `--body`.
   - Create or find the repo GitHub Project, link it to the repo, and add each issue.

   Completion criterion: every approved story has a GitHub issue, the issue has the expected labels, and each issue is added to the linked project or a blocking GitHub permission error is reported.

5. **Verify and summarize.**
   - Run `gh issue list --limit 50 --state open` or an equivalent query to confirm created issues.
   - Report issue URLs/numbers, project status, and any follow-up such as required auth scopes.
   - When later implementing these issues, PR bodies should include `Closes #<number>`.

   Completion criterion: the user receives a concise created-work summary with links and any unresolved blockers.

## Boundaries

- Use `arc-planning-work` when the user asks to plan implementation of an existing issue.
- Use `arc-defining-work` when the destination tracker has not been chosen yet; it routes here once the user picks GitHub Issues.
- Use `arc-prd-to-issues` when the source is a PRD and the user wants tracer-bullet vertical slices.
- Use `arc-linear-issue-creator` when the destination is Linear; it consumes this skill's [STORY_FORMAT.md](STORY_FORMAT.md).