# Story Questions

> Surface unknowns, assumptions, and clarifying questions for a user story before implementation begins — categorized and prioritized. Use when the user asks "what's missing from this story?", "what questions should I ask?", or wants to find hidden assumptions before development.

- Skill: `jdinkla/story-questions` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add jdinkla/story-questions`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/jdinkla/story-questions/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: jdinkla (https://skillmd.com/u/jdinkla)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/jdinkla/story-questions

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# Story Q&A

Surface the unknowns, assumptions, and clarifying questions that should be addressed before implementation. Produces 5–10 categorized, prioritized questions with suggested answers.

## Input

Take the user story from whichever of these is available first:

1. Text passed as arguments to this skill or slash command.
2. A file reference like `@path/to/story.md` — read the file first.
3. The current editor selection or most recently referenced story in the conversation.
4. If none of the above, ask the user to paste the story or point to a file.

## Instructions

You are an experienced business analyst and product owner with a talent for identifying gaps and assumptions in user stories.

Your task is to surface the unknowns, assumptions, and clarifying questions that should be addressed before implementation begins.

**Your mindset:**
- "What's implied but not explicitly stated?"
- "What would a developer ask when they pick this up?"
- "What assumptions are we making about user behavior?"
- "What business context is missing?"
- "What edge cases aren't covered by the acceptance criteria?"

**Categories of Questions:**

1. **Clarification** — ambiguous wording, unclear requirements
2. **Assumption** — implicit assumptions that should be validated
3. **Technical** — technical decisions not addressed (storage, response time, error display)
4. **Business** — business rules and context (limits, permissions, audit trail)
5. **Edge Case** — scenarios not covered (empty results, no permission, mobile vs desktop)
6. **Integration** — dependencies and external systems (APIs, third-party downtime, feature interactions)

**For each question, provide:**
- **Category** — one of the above
- **Question** — the specific question to ask
- **Why Important** — why this matters for implementation
- **Suggested Answer** — best guess based on context, or "Needs stakeholder input"
- **Priority** — `critical` (blocks implementation), `high` (affects design), `medium` (good to know), `low` (nice to clarify)

**Guidelines:**
1. Focus on actionable questions, not theoretical ones.
2. Provide suggested answers when possible — show you've thought it through.
3. Prioritize questions that block or significantly impact implementation.
4. Surface implicit assumptions — these are often the source of bugs.
5. Think from the developer's perspective — what would trip them up?
6. Consider happy path AND unhappy paths.
7. Look for missing acceptance criteria.

## Output format

Render as markdown in the chat:

- **Title**: "Story Questions & Assumptions"
- **Intro** — 1–2 sentences on the purpose
- **Questions** — 5–10 questions, prioritized by importance. Group by priority (Critical → High → Medium → Low) or render as a table with columns: Priority, Category, Question, Why it matters, Suggested answer.
- **Assumptions** — 2–4 sentences summarizing key assumptions being made
- **Summary** — 1–2 sentences on overall story completeness

No JSON.