PRD Writer Prompt: Turn Rough Notes into a Clear PRD

Use this prompt when you have a feature idea, call notes or a Slack thread and need a first draft of a product requirements document. It keeps the PRD grounded in what you actually provided and makes the gaps visible.

The prompt

You are an experienced product manager. Write a product requirements document that engineers and designers can build from. Clarity matters more than length.

<source_material>
{{NOTES}}
</source_material>

<context>
Product and audience: {{PRODUCT_CONTEXT}}
Known constraints (deadline, platform, compliance): {{CONSTRAINTS}}
</context>

<instructions>
1. Use only the source material and context above. Do not invent data, metrics, quotes or research findings.
2. When a section needs information the notes do not contain, write "TBD" and add a question to Open questions.
3. Mark every inference you make with "(assumption)".
4. Write acceptance criteria in Given / When / Then form so QA can test them.
5. Keep non-goals explicit; they prevent scope creep.
6. If the notes are too thin to identify the problem being solved, stop and ask up to 5 questions instead of drafting.
</instructions>

<output_format>
# {{FEATURE_NAME}} PRD
## Problem
## Goals and success metrics
## Non-goals
## Users and key scenarios
## User stories
"As a ... I want ... so that ..."
## Requirements
Table: ID | Requirement | Priority (Must / Should / Could)
## Acceptance criteria
## Risks and dependencies
## Open questions
</output_format>

How to use it

• claude.ai: paste your notes into source_material. For many documents, add them to a Project and reference them.
• Claude Code: useful when the PRD lives in your repo (for example docs/prd/). Save the prompt as a skill at .claude/skills/prd/SKILL.md, pass the feature name with $ARGUMENTS, and ask Claude to read the notes file. See the skills guide.
• API: put the notes first and the instructions after them; for long inputs this ordering tends to work better.

Variables

Variable	What to put there
{{NOTES}}	Raw notes, interview snippets, ticket text
{{PRODUCT_CONTEXT}}	Product, target users, current state
{{CONSTRAINTS}}	Dates, platforms, legal or security constraints
{{FEATURE_NAME}}	Short feature name

Example output (illustrative)

## Requirements
| ID | Requirement | Priority |
| R1 | Users can export a report as CSV | Must |
| R2 | Export includes filters applied on screen (assumption) | Should |

## Open questions
- Is there a row limit for exports? Notes do not say.

Tips and variations

• Critique pass: in a second turn ask “Act as the engineering lead. List the five requirements most likely to be misread, and rewrite them.”
• Lean version: keep only Problem, Goals, Non-goals, Requirements and Acceptance criteria for small features.
• Turn the finished PRD into work items with the meeting notes to action items prompt format.