terms-of-service-drafter
Agent: Product Counsel
L2 product counsel (1x) responsible for legal review of business models, positioning, pricing, product compliance, and security audit oversight.
Department ethos: ideal-legal.md
Skill Description
Drafts and maintains the terms of service and related user agreements by translating product functionality, business model, and legal requirements into enforceable, user-comprehensible terms that protect the company while maintaining user trust.
When to Use
- When the company is launching a new product or service that requires initial terms of service.
- When product changes (new features, pricing model changes, data practices changes) make existing terms inaccurate or insufficient.
- When entering a new jurisdiction that requires terms modifications (consumer protection, language requirements, mandatory clauses).
Workflow
- Scope Definition: Identify all product functionality, user interactions, data practices, and business model elements. Map each to required legal protections per the core sections in
references/tos-drafting-framework.md. Deliverable: terms scope matrix.
- Jurisdictional Requirements: Apply the jurisdictional requirements from
references/tos-drafting-framework.md — US (California ARL, COPPA, state consumer protection), EU (Unfair Contract Terms Directive, Consumer Rights Directive, DSA, GDPR), UK (CRA 2015), Australia (ACL). Deliverable: jurisdictional requirements checklist.
- Drafting: Draft terms using the structure in
assets/terms-of-service-template.md: account terms, acceptable use, intellectual property, payment terms (with auto-renewal compliance), liability, dispute resolution, termination, and modifications. Use clear, accessible language. Deliverable: draft terms of service.
- Internal Review: Route to product, engineering, and business stakeholders. Verify accuracy of product descriptions, data practices, and commercial terms. Deliverable: stakeholder-reviewed draft.
- Enforceability Optimization: Select acceptance mechanism per the comparison in
references/tos-drafting-framework.md (clickwrap preferred). Verify the mechanism creates a binding agreement. Design change notification process. Deliverable: acceptance mechanism specification.
- Publication and Versioning: Publish with versioning, effective date, and change summary. Archive previous versions. Implement user notification for material changes. Deliverable: published terms with version history. [GATE]
Anti-Patterns
- Copy-paste from competitors: Adopting another company's terms without customization. Why: terms must reflect the specific product, business model, and jurisdictional exposure; borrowed terms may include inapplicable provisions and miss critical protections.
- Legalese maximalism: Drafting terms in dense legal language that no user can understand. Why: courts in many jurisdictions disfavour incomprehensible terms; clear language improves enforceability and user trust.
- Set-and-forget terms: Drafting terms once and never updating them as the product evolves. Why: outdated terms create gaps between what the terms permit and what the product does, reducing legal protection and potentially misleading users.
- Silent updates: Changing terms materially without notifying users or providing opt-out mechanisms. Why: silent changes may be unenforceable; many jurisdictions require affirmative consent for material changes.
Output
On success: Produces published terms of service with jurisdictional compliance, acceptance mechanism specification, change notification plan, and version history. Delivered for launch and updated per product changes.
On failure: Report which product areas lack terms coverage, which jurisdictional requirements are unmet, and what the legal exposure is from operating under incomplete terms. Escalate to General Counsel.
Related Skills
content-moderation-advisor -- Content moderation policies must be consistent with the acceptable use provisions in the terms of service.privacy-impact-assessor -- Privacy practices described in the terms must align with the privacy impact assessment findings.
1---2name: terms-of-service-drafter3description: This skill drafts and maintains the terms of service and related user agreements. Use when asked to draft ToS, update terms for a product change, or review terms for legal adequacy. Also consider when the product's functionality changes in ways that make current terms inaccurate. Suggest when the user is launching new features not covered by existing terms.4---56# terms-of-service-drafter78## Agent: Product Counsel910L2 product counsel (1x) responsible for legal review of business models, positioning, pricing, product compliance, and security audit oversight.1112Department ethos: [ideal-legal.md](../../../../departments/legal/ideal-legal.md)1314## Skill Description1516Drafts and maintains the terms of service and related user agreements by translating product functionality, business model, and legal requirements into enforceable, user-comprehensible terms that protect the company while maintaining user trust.1718## When to Use1920- When the company is launching a new product or service that requires initial terms of service.21- When product changes (new features, pricing model changes, data practices changes) make existing terms inaccurate or insufficient.22- When entering a new jurisdiction that requires terms modifications (consumer protection, language requirements, mandatory clauses).2324## Workflow25261. **Scope Definition**: Identify all product functionality, user interactions, data practices, and business model elements. Map each to required legal protections per the core sections in `references/tos-drafting-framework.md`. Deliverable: terms scope matrix.272. **Jurisdictional Requirements**: Apply the jurisdictional requirements from `references/tos-drafting-framework.md` — US (California ARL, COPPA, state consumer protection), EU (Unfair Contract Terms Directive, Consumer Rights Directive, DSA, GDPR), UK (CRA 2015), Australia (ACL). Deliverable: jurisdictional requirements checklist.283. **Drafting**: Draft terms using the structure in `assets/terms-of-service-template.md`: account terms, acceptable use, intellectual property, payment terms (with auto-renewal compliance), liability, dispute resolution, termination, and modifications. Use clear, accessible language. Deliverable: draft terms of service.294. **Internal Review**: Route to product, engineering, and business stakeholders. Verify accuracy of product descriptions, data practices, and commercial terms. Deliverable: stakeholder-reviewed draft.305. **Enforceability Optimization**: Select acceptance mechanism per the comparison in `references/tos-drafting-framework.md` (clickwrap preferred). Verify the mechanism creates a binding agreement. Design change notification process. Deliverable: acceptance mechanism specification.316. **Publication and Versioning**: Publish with versioning, effective date, and change summary. Archive previous versions. Implement user notification for material changes. Deliverable: published terms with version history. [GATE]3233## Anti-Patterns3435- **Copy-paste from competitors**: Adopting another company's terms without customization. *Why*: terms must reflect the specific product, business model, and jurisdictional exposure; borrowed terms may include inapplicable provisions and miss critical protections.36- **Legalese maximalism**: Drafting terms in dense legal language that no user can understand. *Why*: courts in many jurisdictions disfavour incomprehensible terms; clear language improves enforceability and user trust.37- **Set-and-forget terms**: Drafting terms once and never updating them as the product evolves. *Why*: outdated terms create gaps between what the terms permit and what the product does, reducing legal protection and potentially misleading users.38- **Silent updates**: Changing terms materially without notifying users or providing opt-out mechanisms. *Why*: silent changes may be unenforceable; many jurisdictions require affirmative consent for material changes.3940## Output4142**On success**: Produces published terms of service with jurisdictional compliance, acceptance mechanism specification, change notification plan, and version history. Delivered for launch and updated per product changes.4344**On failure**: Report which product areas lack terms coverage, which jurisdictional requirements are unmet, and what the legal exposure is from operating under incomplete terms. Escalate to General Counsel.4546## Related Skills4748- [`content-moderation-advisor`](../content-moderation-advisor/SKILL.md) -- Content moderation policies must be consistent with the acceptable use provisions in the terms of service.49- [`privacy-impact-assessor`](../privacy-impact-assessor/SKILL.md) -- Privacy practices described in the terms must align with the privacy impact assessment findings.
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