Refine Scope

Purpose / When to Activate

Activate when:

• Artefacts are ambiguous or incomplete
• Acceptance criteria are missing or unclear
• Human or peer feedback highlights gaps
• New information alters original intent
• Discovery action plan indicates unresolved risks

This skill is not for first-draft creation — it deepens clarity and reduces uncertainty in existing artefacts.

Process

1. Load relevant context (artefacts + partial plan + memory)
2. Identify gaps, contradictions, or missing acceptance criteria
3. For each numbered feedback item: (a) identify the target artefact field or section, (b) apply the feedback as a direct modification to that field, (c) record what was changed and why in the refinement log.
4. Adjust scope, acceptance criteria, or artefact structure
5. Produce a refined Discovery plan or refined artefacts
6. Verify that all modified fields still comply with the Quality Checks below. If a field fails, mark it for re-refinement in the next iteration. Do NOT invoke validate-artefacts — that is the agent's responsibility after this skill completes.
7. Stop when all feedback items from Step 3 have been applied and all modified fields pass the Quality Checks. If any feedback item cannot be applied without changing product intent, flag it as requiring human escalation.

Outputs

Written outputs:

• contexts/artefacts/ — refined artefacts written back to their original locations

Inline outputs:

• refined_discovery_plan — returned inline to the invoking agent

Refined Discovery Action Plan

Goal:
<clarified objective based on feedback>

Steps:
1. <updated skill step> — improved focus
2. <updated skill step> — adjusted checkpoint

Artefact Updates:
- <Epic ID> — updated outcome wording
- <Story ID> — acceptance criteria strengthened

Validation:
- all gates passed: yes | no
- blockers: <if any>

Quality Checks

• Acceptance criteria are present and testable
• Artefact scope is clear and bounded
• Cross-dependencies are explicit
• Risks and assumptions are documented
• All governance rules are satisfied

Non-Goals

This skill must NOT:

• Invent new product direction
• Override human intent
• Generate completely new artefacts unconnected to context
• Bypass governance rules

It enhances, not replaces, existing outputs. Quality drives clarity — refinement reduces ambiguity before execution.