PRD templates

stable

Write a static Markdown PRD skeleton for one of seven project archetypes, with the project name, author, and date substituted into the headings.

Author: Poul Kjeldager

Usage: pks prd template <PROJECT_NAME> [options]

Category: infrastructure

Examples

$ pks prd template MyProject --type web

Write a web-app skeleton to docs/PRD.md

$ pks prd template MyProject --list

Show the seven archetypes and their descriptions

$ pks prd template Acme-API -t api -o docs/api-prd.md

API skeleton written to a custom path

pks prd template writes a fixed Markdown PRD skeleton for one of seven project archetypes. Every section arrives as a heading with a bracketed placeholder prompt underneath, such as [Provide a brief overview...], and three values are substituted in: project name, author, and date. It is the most predictable subcommand in the branch — pure string templating with no content generation.

1. Prerequisites

A project name. It is a required positional argument and appears in the document title.
A writable output directory. The default is ./docs/PRD.md.

2. See the archetypes

pks prd template MyProject --list

A table prints the seven template types with their descriptions and the command exits without writing anything. The accepted values are standard, technical, mobile, web, api, minimal, and enterprise, matched case-insensitively.

Note. The project-name argument is declared as required, so pks prd template --list on its own can be rejected at parse time before the listing branch runs. Pass any placeholder name alongside --list if that happens.

3. Write the skeleton

pks prd template Shopfront --type web

docs/PRD.md now contains the web archetype's headings with Shopfront in the title. Pick an archetype by what the project is, not by how detailed you want the document:

Type	Fits
`standard`	A general product with no strong platform bias.
`technical`	An internal component where implementation detail dominates.
`mobile`	An iOS or Android application.
`web`	A browser-delivered application.
`api`	A service consumed by other software.
`minimal`	A short document for a small piece of work.
`enterprise`	A document with the wider governance sections.

4. Choose an output path

pks prd template Acme-API -t api -o docs/api-prd.md

Use a distinct path when a repository holds more than one PRD. The default path is shared with pks prd generate, so the two overwrite each other otherwise.

Do not commit. The file at the output path is replaced without warning. This subcommand has no --force flag and no confirmation prompt — writing over a PRD you have already filled in is silent and unrecoverable. Check the path before running it in a repository that already contains a document.

5. Verify

pks prd load docs/PRD.md --show-metadata

The metadata table prints the project name, template, and section count for the file that was written.

Options

Flag	Default	Description
`-t <TEMPLATE_TYPE>`, `--type <TEMPLATE_TYPE>`	`standard`	Archetype: `standard`, `technical`, `mobile`, `web`, `api`, `minimal`, `enterprise`.
`-o <OUTPUT_PATH>`, `--output <OUTPUT_PATH>`	`./docs/PRD.md`	Output path for the template file.
`--list`	—	List the seven template types with descriptions and exit.
`-v`, `--verbose`	—	Detailed output.
`--output-format <FORMAT>`	`markdown`	Output format: `markdown` or `json`.
`--config <CONFIG_FILE>`	—	Declared but never read. No effect.
`--no-color`	—	Declared but never read. No effect.

Troubleshooting

An existing PRD was replaced. There is no overwrite guard on this subcommand. Recover the file from version control and rerun with -o pointing somewhere else.

--list is rejected with a missing-argument error. The positional project name is mandatory in the command grammar. Run pks prd template placeholder --list.

The document is all brackets. That is the design. Templates carry placeholder prompts only. For a skeleton with some seeded content, use Generate a PRD from an idea.