Taskmaster

--- title: PRD Creation and Parsing sidebarTitle: "PRD Creation and Parsing" --- # Writing a PRD A PRD (Product Requirements Document) is the starting point of every task flow in Task Master. It defines what you're building and why. A clear PRD dramatically improves the quality of your tasks, your model outputs, and your final product — so it’s worth taking the time to get it right. <Tip> You don’t need to define your whole app up front. You can write a focused PRD just for the next feature or module you’re working on. </Tip> <Tip> You can start with an empty project or you can start with a feature PRD on an existing project. </Tip> <Tip> You can add and parse multiple PRDs per project using the --append flag </Tip> ## What Makes a Good PRD? - Clear objective — what’s the outcome or feature? - Context — what’s already in place or assumed? - Constraints — what limits or requirements need to be respected? - Reasoning — why are you building it this way? The more context you give the model, the better the breakdown and results. --- ## Writing a PRD for Task Master <Note> Two example PRD templates are available in `.taskmaster/templates/`: - `example_prd.md` - Simple template for straightforward projects (`.md` recommended for better editor support) - `example_prd_rpg.md` - Advanced RPG (Repository Planning Graph) template for complex projects with dependencies **Why `.md`?** While both `.txt` and `.md` work, Markdown files provide syntax highlighting, proper rendering in VS Code/GitHub, and better collaboration through formatted documentation. </Note> You can co-write your PRD with an LLM model using the following workflow: 1. **Chat about requirements** — explain what you want to build. 2. **Show an example PRD** — share the example PRD so the model understands the expected format. The example uses formatting that work well with Task Master's code. Following the example will yield better results. 3. **Iterate and refine** — work with the model to shape the draft into a clear and well-structured PRD. This approach works great in Cursor, or anywhere you use a chat-based LLM. ### Choosing Between Templates **Use `example_prd.md` when:** - Building straightforward features - Working on smaller projects - Dependencies are simple and obvious **Use `example_prd_rpg.md` when:** - Building complex systems with multiple modules - Need explicit dependency management - Want structured guidance on architecture decisions - Planning a large codebase from scratch The RPG template teaches you to think about: 1. **Functional decomposition** (WHAT the system does) 2. **Structural decomposition** (HOW it's organized in code) 3. **Explicit dependencies** (WHAT depends on WHAT) 4. **Topological ordering** (build foundation first, then layers) <Tip> For complex projects, using the RPG template with a code-context-aware ai agent produces the best results because the AI can understand your existing codebase structure. [Learn more about the RPG method →](/capabilities/rpg-method) </Tip> --- ## Where to Save Your PRD Place your PRD file in the `.taskmaster/docs` folder in your project. - You can have **multiple PRDs** per project. - Name your PRDs clearly so they're easy to reference later. - Examples: `dashboard_redesign.md`, `user_onboarding.md` - Tip: Use `.md` extension for better editor support and syntax highlighting --- # Parse your PRD into Tasks This is where the Task Master magic begins. In Cursor's AI chat, instruct the agent to generate tasks from your PRD: ``` Please use the task-master parse-prd command to generate tasks from my PRD. The PRD is located at .taskmaster/docs/<prd-name>.md. ``` The agent will execute the following command which you can alternatively paste into the CLI: ```bash task-master parse-prd .taskmaster/docs/<prd-name>.md ``` This will: - Parse your PRD document - Generate a structured `tasks.json` file with tasks, dependencies, priorities, and test strategies Now that you have written and parsed a PRD, you are ready to start setting up your tasks.