AI Feature Specification

Acknowledgement: Shared by Peter Bamuhigire, techguypeter.com, +256 784 464178.

Use When

• Design a single AI-powered feature end-to-end — model selection, prompt engineering, context window, output schema, fallback behaviour, human oversight, and UX integration. Invoke for each opportunity identified in ai-opportunity-canvas.
• The task needs reusable judgment, domain constraints, or a proven workflow rather than ad hoc advice.

Do Not Use When

• The task is unrelated to ai-feature-spec or would be better handled by a more specific companion skill.
• The request only needs a trivial answer and none of this skill's constraints or references materially help.

Required Inputs

• Gather relevant project context, constraints, and the concrete problem to solve.
• Confirm the desired deliverable: design, code, review, migration plan, audit, or documentation.

Workflow

• Read this SKILL.md first, then load only the referenced deep-dive files that are necessary for the task.
• Apply the ordered guidance, checklists, and decision rules in this skill instead of cherry-picking isolated snippets.
• Produce the deliverable with assumptions, risks, and follow-up work made explicit when they matter.

Quality Standards

• Keep outputs execution-oriented, concise, and aligned with the repository's baseline engineering standards.
• Preserve compatibility with existing project conventions unless the skill explicitly requires a stronger standard.
• Prefer deterministic, reviewable steps over vague advice or tool-specific magic.

Anti-Patterns

• Treating examples as copy-paste truth without checking fit, constraints, or failure modes.
• Loading every reference file by default instead of using progressive disclosure.

Outputs

• A concrete result that fits the task: implementation guidance, review findings, architecture decisions, templates, or generated artifacts.
• Clear assumptions, tradeoffs, or unresolved gaps when the task cannot be completed from available context alone.
• References used, companion skills, or follow-up actions when they materially improve execution.

Evidence Produced

Category	Artifact	Format	Example
Release evidence	AI feature spec	Markdown doc covering model, prompt, output schema, fallback, and unit-economics decisions	docs/ai/feature-spec-assistant.md
Correctness	AI feature evaluation report	Markdown doc covering pre-release evaluation against acceptance criteria	docs/ai/feature-eval-assistant.md

References

• Use the links and companion skills already referenced in this file when deeper context is needed.

Purpose

Produce a complete, implementation-ready blueprint for one AI-powered feature. This is the specification artifact that drives both development and the AI Integration Section of the SRS/HLD.

Invoke this skill: Once per AI opportunity, after ai-opportunity-canvas has ranked it.

---

Feature Blueprint Template

## AI Feature Blueprint: [Feature Name]

**Feature ID:** AI-[NNN]
**Module:** [Parent module]
**Pattern:** [From the 10 patterns in ai-opportunity-canvas]
**AI Module Tier:** Starter / Growth / Enterprise
**Status:** Draft / Approved

### 1. Business Goal
[One sentence: what user problem this solves and the measurable outcome]

### 2. Trigger
[What event or user action initiates the AI call]
- User-initiated: [button click / form submit / page load]
- System-initiated: [scheduled job / data change event]

### 3. Model Selection
[Selected model and rationale — see Model Selection Guide below]

### 4. Input Context
[Exactly what data is assembled and sent to the model]
- System prompt: [purpose and persona]
- Data injected: [table names, field names, row limits]
- Max input tokens: [number]

### 5. Output Schema
[Exact structure the model must return]
- Format: JSON / Markdown / Plain text
- Schema: [field names, types, constraints]
- Validation: [how output is checked before showing to user]

### 6. Prompt Design
[The system prompt text — production-ready]

### 7. Fallback Behaviour
[What the system does if the AI call fails, times out, or returns invalid output]

### 8. Human Oversight
[When a human must review before action is taken]

### 9. Token Estimate
[Input tokens per call, output tokens per call — feeds ai-cost-modeling]

### 10. UX Integration
[Where result appears, loading state, streaming vs batch, feedback mechanism]

---

Model Selection Guide

Choose the cheapest model that reliably handles the task.

Task Complexity	Recommended Model	Fallback
Summarisation, classification, short extraction	Claude Haiku 4.5 / Gemini 2.0 Flash / GPT-4o mini	DeepSeek V3
Multi-step reasoning, structured JSON output, analysis	Claude Sonnet 4.6 / GPT-4o	Claude Haiku 4.5
Complex document analysis, long context (> 50K tokens)	Claude Sonnet 4.6 (200K context)	Gemini 1.5 Pro
Image / document OCR + extraction	Claude Sonnet 4.6 / GPT-4o Vision	Gemini 2.0 Flash
Cost-critical, high volume (> 1,000 calls/day)	DeepSeek V3 / Gemini 2.0 Flash	GPT-4o mini

Rule: Always start with the cheapest adequate model. Upgrade only when output quality is demonstrably insufficient.

Provider abstraction: Always code against a provider-agnostic interface so the model can be swapped without rewriting feature logic. See ai-architecture-patterns.

---

Prompt Engineering Standards

System Prompt Structure

You are [role] for [system name].
Your task: [one precise sentence].
Output format: [JSON schema / markdown structure / plain text].
Constraints:
- [constraint 1]
- [constraint 2]
Language: [English / Luganda / Swahili — match user locale]

Rules

1. Role-first — Open with a clear role statement. It anchors model behaviour.
2. One task per prompt — Do not ask the model to summarise AND classify in one call.
3. Explicit output format — Always specify format. For JSON, embed the schema in the prompt.
4. Inject only relevant data — Do not send entire tables. Pre-filter in SQL before sending.
5. Set a token budget — Tell the model its output limit: "Reply in under 200 words."
6. Language instruction — Specify the output language explicitly for African deployments.
7. No PII in prompt unless necessary — See ai-security for PII scrubbing rules.

Few-Shot Pattern (for classification tasks)

Examples:
Input: "Paid via MoMo on 15 March" → Category: "Mobile Money Payment"
Input: "Returned goods, credit note issued" → Category: "Credit Note"
Input: [user_input] → Category:

---

Output Schema Design

For structured outputs, always use JSON with a validation step before displaying to users.

Example — Predictive Alert:

{
  "alert_level": "high|medium|low",
  "summary": "string (max 100 chars)",
  "reason": "string (max 300 chars)",
  "recommended_action": "string (max 200 chars)",
  "confidence": "high|medium|low",
  "data_points_used": ["string"]
}

Validation rule: If the model returns an unparseable response or a field fails its constraint, log the failure, return the fallback, and flag for review. Never display raw model output directly.

---

Fallback Behaviour Patterns

Failure Mode	Fallback Action
API timeout (> 10s)	Show cached last result with timestamp; offer retry
Invalid JSON output	Log error, show "Analysis unavailable — try again"
Budget exceeded (gate blocked)	Show "AI module limit reached — contact admin"
Model returns refusal	Show neutral placeholder; do not expose model refusal text to end user
API provider outage	Queue the request, process when restored; notify user

---

Human Oversight Patterns

Apply oversight based on action severity:

Decision Type	Oversight Level
Display only (summary, report)	None — show directly
Suggestion (recommend reorder)	Soft — user can accept/dismiss
Action with cost (send alert, flag account)	Hard — require explicit confirm
Irreversible action (delete, blacklist, approve loan)	Mandatory human approval gate

---

Token Estimation Worksheet

Input tokens  = system_prompt_tokens
              + injected_data_tokens
              + user_query_tokens

Output tokens = expected_response_tokens

Total per call = input + output

Calls per user per day = [estimate from use case]
Monthly tokens per user = total_per_call × calls/day × 30

Feed these numbers into ai-cost-modeling for cost and pricing calculations.

---

Anti-Patterns

• Never send more data than the model needs — pre-filter in the application layer.
• Never display raw model output without validation and sanitisation.
• Never make irreversible actions AI-initiated without a human confirmation step.
• Never hardcode a specific model — use a configurable provider abstraction.
• Never skip the fallback — AI APIs have non-trivial failure rates.

---

See also:

• ai-opportunity-canvas — Source of AI features to spec
• ai-cost-modeling — Token cost and pricing from estimates here
• ai-architecture-patterns — Provider abstraction and gate implementation
• ai-security — PII rules and output sanitisation
• ai-ux-patterns — UX for loading, streaming, feedback