# Product Manager: Typical Structure > The directory layout that works for product manager projects. - Skill: `tools-only/product-manager-typical-structure` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tools-only/product-manager-typical-structure` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tools-only/product-manager-typical-structure/raw - Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS) - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: tools-only (https://skillmd.com/u/tools-only) - Updated: 2026-09-29 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tools-only/product-manager-typical-structure --- # Product Manager: Typical Structure The directory layout that works for product manager projects. --- ## Core Structure ``` [project-name]/ ├── CLAUDE.md # PM personality, methodology, context hierarchy ├── README.md # Workflow guide for the human │ ├── context/ # Project context (from intake, living) │ ├── requirements.md # Purpose, users, success criteria, PM voice │ ├── decisions.md # Strategic decisions with rationale │ ├── constraints.md # Technical, timeline, organizational limits │ ├── questions.md # Open questions backlog (formalized) │ └── domain.md # Deep product domain context (optional) │ ├── product/ # Product knowledge (built over time) │ ├── vision.md # Product vision and strategy │ ├── user-segments.md # User segments with validation state │ ├── feature-concepts.md # Feature ideas (explored vs. raw) │ └── competitive-landscape.md # Competitive analysis │ ├── tracking/ # Session continuity (living documents) │ ├── hypothesis.md # The strategy anchor (central artifact) │ ├── insights-log.md # Accumulated product insights │ ├── session-log.md # What happened each session │ ├── next-actions.md # Prioritized queue for next session │ └── patterns-discovered.md # Command evolution learnings │ ├── docs/ │ ├── specs/ # PRDs and feature specs (shaped artifacts) │ ├── mockups/ # UI mockups when ready │ ├── research/ # Competitive analysis, user research │ └── plans/ # Implementation specs, tickets.yaml, build-progress.md │ └── .claude/ └── commands/ ├── explore.md # Open-ended PM ideation (reverse prompting) ├── process.md # Ingest transcripts/documents ├── research.md # Analyze comparable products ├── synthesize.md # Find patterns across context ├── hypothesis.md # Manage the strategy anchor ├── spec.md # Write feature specs/PRDs ├── plan.md # Break specs into tickets ├── status.md # Quick session-start orientation ├── gaps.md # Assess what's captured vs. needed └── checkpoint.md # End-of-session capture ``` --- ## Required Files These files must exist for the core commands to work: | File | Purpose | Created By | |------|---------|------------| | `CLAUDE.md` | PM personality, methodology, context hierarchy | Foundation ticket | | `README.md` | Human-facing project guide | Foundation ticket | | `tracking/hypothesis.md` | Strategy anchor (may start empty) | Foundation ticket, populated via `/hypothesis` | | `tracking/insights-log.md` | Accumulated insights | Foundation ticket, updated by commands | | `tracking/session-log.md` | Session history | Foundation ticket, updated by `/checkpoint` | | `tracking/next-actions.md` | What to do next | Foundation ticket, updated by `/checkpoint` | | `product/vision.md` | Product vision | Foundation ticket, populated via `/explore` | | `product/user-segments.md` | User segments | Foundation ticket, populated via `/explore` | | `product/feature-concepts.md` | Feature ideas | Foundation ticket, populated via `/explore` | | `product/competitive-landscape.md` | Competition | Foundation ticket, populated via `/research` | | `.claude/skills/*/SKILL.md` | All skills | Skill tickets | --- ## Context Files (From Intake) Context files are created during intake and serve as the project's foundation. They should be treated as living documents that get updated as understanding deepens. | File | What It Captures | |------|------------------| | `context/requirements.md` | Purpose, users, success criteria, PM voice definition, core functionality | | `context/decisions.md` | Strategic decisions with rationale (numbered, with status) | | `context/constraints.md` | Technical constraints, SDLC model, team limits, cross-project architecture | | `context/questions.md` | Formalized open questions with "what we know / don't know / how to explore" | | `context/domain.md` | Deep domain context — reference implementations, prior art, conversation insights (optional) | --- ## Product Files (Built Over Time) Product files accumulate product thinking across sessions. They start as templates and fill in through `/explore`, `/process`, and `/research`. **vision.md** — Product vision and strategy - What the product is and why it exists - The hypothesis (references tracking/hypothesis.md) - Go-to-market phases - What's in scope, what's explicitly not **user-segments.md** — User segment definitions - Each segment with description, key pain, and Phase 1 fit assessment - Validation state (assumed → talked to → validated) - Prioritization rationale **feature-concepts.md** — Feature ideas at various stages - Raw ideas (brainstormed, not yet explored) - Explored ideas (discussed in sessions, with insights) - Spec-ready ideas (ready for `/spec`) **competitive-landscape.md** — Competitive understanding - Direct competitors with positioning - Adjacent products - What to borrow, what to avoid - Where our hypothesis creates differentiation --- ## Tracking Files (Living Documents) Tracking files maintain continuity across sessions. They should always reflect current state. **hypothesis.md** — The strategy anchor - Current hypothesis statement - Confidence level (speculative → proposed → tested → validated) - Test plan with stacked metrics - Evidence for/against - History of revisions **insights-log.md** — Accumulated product insights - Dated entries from `/process`, `/synthesize`, `/explore` - Tagged by source (conversation, research, exploration) - Connected to hypothesis and feature concepts **session-log.md** — Session history - Dated entries from `/checkpoint` - What was discussed, decided, and what's next - Which commands were used **next-actions.md** — Prioritized queue - What to do in the next session - Ranked by impact on hypothesis validation - Updated by `/checkpoint` **patterns-discovered.md** — Command evolution - What's working and what's not - Ideas for new commands or command modifications - "Start wrong, iterate to right" learnings --- ## Cross-Project References (If Applicable) When a sibling dev project exists: ``` companions/[client]/ ├── [product]-pm/ # This PM companion │ └── docs/specs/ # PM writes specs here │ └── feature-a.md # Dev companion reads these │ └── [product]-dev/ # Sibling dev companion └── docs/specs/ # May reference PM specs ``` **CLAUDE.md should document:** - Path to sibling project: `../[product]-dev/` - What the PM project produces that the dev project consumes - Linear as the bridge for tickets and status - Document ownership: each project owns its files, references the other's --- ## Git Configuration The project should have its own git repository. Suggested `.gitignore`: ``` .DS_Store *.swp *.swo .claude/settings.local.json ``` --- ## CLAUDE.md Sections The CLAUDE.md for a product manager project typically includes: 1. **Project identity** — What this is, what product it manages 2. **PM personality** — Named behaviors (Skeptic, Connector, Narrower, Tester, Shaper) 3. **Methodology** — Three-phase approach (Seeding, Cultivation, Shaping) applied to PM 4. **Strategy anchor** — How the hypothesis works as the decision lens 5. **Commands** — Overview of all commands and when to use each 6. **Context hierarchy** — Which files to read first and in what order 7. **Cross-project references** — Sibling dev project paths and handoff model 8. **Key principles** — "Only write what we know", testability, focus 9. **Session checklist** — What to do at start/end of session