Acceptance Criteria

A technology-agnostic skill for defining clear, measurable acceptance criteria.

Core Purpose

Transform requirements into verifiable acceptance criteria that:

• Are specific and unambiguous

• Can be objectively measured

• Guide implementation

• Enable evaluation

Acceptance Criteria Format

Given-When-Then (GWT)

format: given_when_then structure: given: "Initial context or precondition" when: "Action or trigger" then: "Expected outcome or result"

example: given: "User is logged in with valid credentials" when: "User clicks the 'Export' button" then: "System generates a CSV file with all user data"

SMART Criteria

specific: definition: "Clear and unambiguous" bad: "System should be fast" good: "API response time under 200ms for 95% of requests"

measurable: definition: "Quantifiable outcome" bad: "Good test coverage" good: "Test coverage >= 80%"

achievable: definition: "Technically feasible" check: "Can this be implemented with current resources?"

relevant: definition: "Aligned with business goals" check: "Does this contribute to user value?"

time_bound: definition: "Has clear completion point" check: "When is this considered done?"

Criteria Categories

Functional Criteria

type: functional focus: "What the system must do"

templates:

• "User can [action] to [achieve outcome]"
• "System [processes/calculates/displays] [data] when [trigger]"
• "Given [state], when [action], then [result]"

examples:

• criteria: "User can reset password via email" given: "User has registered email" when: "User requests password reset" then: "Reset link sent within 5 minutes"

Non-Functional Criteria

type: non_functional focus: "How the system should perform"

categories: performance: - "Response time < 200ms" - "Supports 1000 concurrent users"

security: - "All passwords hashed with bcrypt" - "No SQL injection vulnerabilities"

reliability: - "99.9% uptime" - "Automatic failover within 30s"

usability: - "Form can be completed in < 2 minutes" - "Error messages are descriptive"

Quality Criteria

type: quality focus: "Code and implementation standards"

categories: code_standards: - "No linting errors" - "All functions documented"

test_coverage: - "Unit test coverage >= 80%" - "All edge cases tested"

maintainability: - "Cyclomatic complexity < 10" - "No duplicate code blocks"

Criteria Generation Process

Step 1: Extract Requirements

from_user_request:

• Identify explicit requirements
• Infer implicit requirements
• Note constraints

from_goals:

• Map achievement indicators to criteria
• Define verification methods

Step 2: Transform to Criteria

for_each_requirement:

• Define specific outcome
• Add measurable threshold
• Specify verification method
• Assign priority

Step 3: Validate Criteria

validation_checklist:

• Is it specific enough to implement?
• Can it be objectively measured?
• Is it achievable with current resources?
• Does it align with user value?
• Is the scope bounded?

Output Format

acceptance_criteria: functional: - id: "AC-FUNC-001" description: "User login functionality" given: "User has valid credentials" when: "User submits login form" then: "User is authenticated and redirected to dashboard" priority: must verification: "Integration test"

non_functional: - id: "AC-PERF-001" description: "Login response time" criterion: "Login completes within 2 seconds" threshold: "< 2000ms" priority: should verification: "Load test"

quality: - id: "AC-QUAL-001" description: "Code coverage" criterion: "Test coverage for auth module" threshold: ">= 80%" priority: must verification: "Coverage report"

Integration

Used By Agents

primary_users:

• goal-clarifier: "Criteria generation"

secondary_users:

• deliverable-evaluator: "Evaluation reference"