GAP Analysis

Find implicit requirements and incomplete code. 90% of AI failures are due to specification gaps.

Mode A: Planning (Before Implementation)

Step 1: Explicit Requirements

EXPLICIT REQUIREMENTS

Task: [one sentence] What's specified:

• [requirement 1 -- quote]
• [requirement 2 -- quote] Constraints: [limitations]

Step 2: Fit-Gap Analysis

Check each category:

Category Questions Example Gaps

Data Formats? Null/empty? Boundaries? max length, encoding, special chars

UX Loading state? Error state? Empty state? skeleton, retry button, placeholder

Integration What else affected? Side effects? cache invalidation, events

Security Access rights? Validation? authorization, input sanitization

Performance Data volume? Pagination? batch limits, timeouts

Errors What if fails? Retry? graceful degradation, error messages

Step 3: Pre-mortem

Ask: "A week passed, the feature broke. Why?"

• Missed edge case (empty data, null, large volumes)

• Uncovered error scenario (API unavailable, timeout)

• Forgot state handling (loading, error, empty)

• Didn't check access rights

• Didn't test mobile/responsive

Step 4: Report

GAP ANALYSIS REPORT

Category: [DATA/UX/ERRORS/etc]

TOTALS:

• HIGH (blockers): [count]
• MED (desirable): [count]
• LOW (later): [count]

For HIGH gaps -- ASK user, don't assume!

Mode B: Codebase Scan

Run scan script for automated detection:

bash .cursor/skills/gap-analysis/scripts/scan-gaps.sh

Manual checks:

Check How to find GAP if

Buttons without actions onClick={() => {}}

Button does nothing

Forms without submit onSubmit missing or empty Form doesn't send data

Links to nowhere href="#" or href=""

Link leads nowhere

Loading without timeout isLoading without error boundary May hang forever

Error without recovery catch {} empty Error swallowed

Partial CRUD Create exists but no Update/Delete Incomplete

Business Logic

FEATURE COMPLETENESS

GAP Severity

Severity Criteria Action

HIGH Without it, feature doesn't work BLOCKER -- fix before implementation

MED Works but bad UX/quality Fix during implementation

LOW Nice-to-have Backlog or ask user

Key Principle

Before creating a new feature:

• rg "X" -- maybe it already exists?

• rg "TODO.*X" -- maybe there's a stub?

• Check UI -- maybe button exists but doesn't work?

If found stub -> COMPLETE existing, don't create new!