---
name: value-prop-canvas
description: Strategyzer-style jobs/pains/gains to features/relievers/creators fit validation
type: research
version: v0.0
argument-hint: "[optional: specific job or segment to focus on]"
---

## Pack Availability Guard

Before telling the user to run a skill from another project-local pack, check `.agents/project.json.enabled_packs`. If the target pack is not enabled, recommend `$pack install <pack>` instead of the target skill. Global skills are always valid. Skills from this same pack are valid because the current skill is already running from that pack.

# Value Proposition Canvas — Solution-Customer Fit Validation

Invoke as `$value-prop-canvas`.

## Report-First Approval Gate

Default to report-only: present findings, evidence coverage, assumptions, recommended artifact path, and proposed file changes in a pre-approval alignment page plus a concise conversation summary for user approval before creating or updating canonical research, spec, or task files.

Do not write or overwrite synthesized deliverables until the user explicitly approves, unless the user invoked an explicit write/update/fix mode or clearly asked to write files upfront. Raw evidence capture may be persisted before analysis when reproducibility requires it; report those raw paths separately and still gate synthesized research/report writes.

When stopping for approval, build and attempt to open the alignment preview page first, then ask the user to review it and approve, question, or request adjustments. Do not include `Recommended next skill`, `Recommended next command`, or downstream routing language. The approval request itself is the next action. Only emit next-skill routing after the approved artifact has been written or updated.

Develops a Strategyzer-style Value Proposition Canvas that maps Customer Profile (jobs, pains, gains) against Value Map (products/services, pain relievers, gain creators) to validate solution-customer fit. This runs after ICP discovery and before positioning — it bridges "who is the customer" to "does our solution actually fit their needs."

Default stance: assume the user has no insider knowledge of the market. The VPC recommendation must stand on research, customer evidence, and codebase reality before asking for user input. Ask for corrections, proprietary differentiators, and hard constraints, not intuition.

## Prerequisites

- **Hard**: `research/icp.md` (or `research/{app}/icp.md`) must exist. If not, tell the user to run `$icp` first and stop.
- **Soft**: Read these if they exist:
  - `research/competitive-analysis.md` — competitor landscape and alternative solutions
  - `research/concept-brief.md` — product concept and hypothesis

## Process

### 0. App Scope Resolution (Monorepo Support)

Before checking prerequisites, determine the app scope:

1. If `$ARGUMENTS` specifies an app name matching a subdirectory of `research/`, use it.
2. If `research/` contains subdirectories (excluding files), list them and ask the user which app to target. If the session is already in Plan mode and there are 2-3 concrete choices, prefer `request_user_input`; otherwise ask in plain text. If only one subdirectory exists, use it automatically.
3. If no subdirectories exist, proceed with flat structure (single-product mode).

When app scope `{app}` is active:
- Read/write research from `research/{app}/` instead of `research/`

### 1. Load Context

- Read `research/icp.md` — ICP segments, jobs, pains, gains, trigger events
- Read `research/competitive-analysis.md` if it exists — competitor landscape, alternative solutions
- Read `research/concept-brief.md` if it exists — product concept and hypothesis
- Read CLAUDE.md, README, and key source files for product context

### 2. Research VPC Methodology

Use WebSearch with **4-6 targeted queries**:

1. **Domain VPC** — "value proposition canvas [domain]"
2. **JTBD mapping** — "jobs to be done [category]"
3. **Strategyzer methodology** — "Strategyzer value proposition design [industry]"
4. **Customer profile patterns** — "customer jobs pains gains [category]"
5. **Value map examples** — "value map pain relievers gain creators examples"

### 3. Build Customer Profile

For the primary ICP segment, construct the Customer Profile:

**Jobs** (functional, social, emotional):
- Functional jobs — tasks they're trying to complete
- Social jobs — how they want to be perceived
- Emotional jobs — feelings they seek or avoid

Rank each job by importance (critical / important / nice-to-have).

**Pains**:
- Undesired outcomes, obstacles, risks
- Rank by severity: extreme / high / moderate

**Gains**:
- Outcomes and benefits they want
- Rank by relevance: required / expected / desired / unexpected

If the session is already in Plan mode and there are 2-3 concrete choices, prefer `request_user_input`; otherwise ask in plain text:
- "Here's the Customer Profile I've built from ICP research. Which jobs, pains, or gains are missing, overstated, or mis-ranked?"

### 4. Build Value Map

Map the product's features and services to pain relievers and gain creators:

**Products & Services** — what the product offers (features, capabilities, services)

**Pain Relievers** — for each: which specific pain does it relieve? How completely?

**Gain Creators** — for each: which specific gain does it create? How significantly?

If the session is already in Plan mode and there are 2-3 concrete choices, prefer `request_user_input`; otherwise ask in plain text:
- "Does this Value Map accurately reflect what the product does? Any features missing or claims overstated?"

### 5. Score Fit

For each customer job, evaluate how well the Value Map addresses it:

| Job | Fit Score | Evidence | Risk |
|-----|-----------|----------|------|
| [job] | Strong Fit / Partial Fit / No Fit / Gap | [what supports this score] | [if No Fit or Gap, what's at stake] |

Flag all jobs with **No Fit** or **Gap** as risks requiring attention.

If the session is already in Plan mode and there are 2-3 concrete choices, prefer `request_user_input`; otherwise ask in plain text:
- "Do these fit scores reflect reality? Are there fits I'm overrating or gaps I'm missing?"

### 6. Identify Gaps & Risks

Summarize findings across four dimensions:

1. **Unaddressed jobs** — customer jobs with no corresponding product capability
2. **Partially addressed pains** — pain relievers that don't fully resolve the pain
3. **Missing gain creators** — desired gains with no corresponding product feature
4. **Over-investment areas** — features that don't map to important jobs (wasted effort)

Prioritize by ICP segment importance — gaps in critical jobs matter more than gaps in nice-to-have jobs.

### 7. Populate Next Steps

Include a **Recommended** item (the single highest-impact next step given current project state) with a one-line reason, followed by **Other options** (2-4 alternatives). Use this format in the output:

## Next Steps

**Recommended:** `$positioning` — solution-customer fit validated; positioning determines how to frame this value in the market

Other options:
- IF gaps identified: `$spec-interview [top gap]` — Spec out a solution for the highest-priority gap
- IF no `research/competitive-analysis.md`: `$competitive-analysis` — Understand how alternatives address the same jobs
- IF `research/positioning.md` exists: `$lean-canvas` — Build the business model now that fit is validated

### 8. Write Output

Only after the user confirms, write the output files.

### 9. Downstream Impact Check

After writing, check for downstream research documents that may be affected.

**Downstream documents to check** (use `{app}/` prefix when app scope is active):
- `research/positioning.md`
- `research/lean-canvas.md`

For each existing downstream document:
1. Read it — focus on sections referencing customer jobs, pains, gains, or solution fit
2. Identify conflicts where claims don't align with the new VPC findings
3. Note each conflict: file, section, stale claim, what it should now say

**Classify the impact**:
- **None**: No downstream docs exist, or no conflicts. Skip display.
- **Minor** (1-2 small conflicts): Display inline.
- **Major** (3+ conflicts OR fit scores changed significantly, new gaps identified, customer profile substantially revised): Display and recommend `$reconcile-research`.

## Output

### `research/value-prop.md` (or `research/{app}/value-prop.md`)

```markdown
# Value Proposition Canvas

> Based on: research/icp.md[, research/competitive-analysis.md, research/concept-brief.md]
> Date: [current date]
> Methodology: Strategyzer Value Proposition Canvas

## Summary
[2-3 sentences: the fit thesis — how well the product addresses the customer's most important jobs, where fit is strongest, and where the critical gaps are]

## Customer Profile

### Jobs

| # | Job | Type | Importance | Description |
|---|-----|------|------------|-------------|
| J1 | [job name] | Functional / Social / Emotional | Critical / Important / Nice-to-have | [what they're trying to accomplish] |

### Pains

| # | Pain | Severity | Related Jobs | Description |
|---|------|----------|--------------|-------------|
| P1 | [pain name] | Extreme / High / Moderate | J1, J2 | [undesired outcome, obstacle, or risk] |

### Gains

| # | Gain | Relevance | Related Jobs | Description |
|---|------|-----------|--------------|-------------|
| G1 | [gain name] | Required / Expected / Desired / Unexpected | J1, J3 | [outcome or benefit they want] |

## Value Map

### Products & Services
- [Feature/capability 1] — [what it does]
- [Feature/capability 2] — [what it does]

### Pain Relievers

| Pain Reliever | Addresses Pain | Completeness | How It Relieves |
|---------------|---------------|--------------|-----------------|
| [feature/capability] | P1 | Full / Partial / Minimal | [mechanism of relief] |

### Gain Creators

| Gain Creator | Addresses Gain | Significance | How It Creates |
|--------------|---------------|--------------|----------------|
| [feature/capability] | G1 | High / Medium / Low | [mechanism of creation] |

## Fit Scorecard

| Job | Fit Score | Evidence | Risk |
|-----|-----------|----------|------|
| J1: [job name] | Strong Fit / Partial Fit / No Fit / Gap | [what supports this assessment] | [risk if unaddressed] |

**Overall Fit**: [Strong / Moderate / Weak] — [one-sentence justification]

## Gap Analysis

### Unaddressed Jobs
- [Job] — [why it's unaddressed, impact on customer segment]

### Partially Addressed Pains
- [Pain] — [what's addressed, what's missing]

### Missing Gain Creators
- [Gain] — [no product capability maps to this gain]

### Over-Investment Areas
- [Feature] — [maps to no important job; potential wasted effort]

## Strategic Implications
[What this fit analysis means for product strategy — what to double down on, what to build, what to deprioritize]

<!-- Only include when downstream impact is Minor or Major -->
## Downstream Impact

> Checked: [list of downstream docs checked]
> Impact: Minor | Major

### Conflicts Found

1. **research/[file].md** — [Section Name]
   - **Stale**: "[exact quote]"
   - **Now**: [what VPC findings say instead]

[For Major only:]
> **Recommended action**: Run `$reconcile-research` to audit and fix all affected downstream documents.

## Next Steps

**Recommended:** `$positioning` — solution-customer fit validated; positioning determines how to frame this value in the market

Other options:
- [conditional items from step 7]
```

### `research/value-prop-search-log.md` (or `research/{app}/value-prop-search-log.md`)
Raw research log — queries, findings, evidence for each VPC decision.

Create the `research/` directory if it doesn't exist.

## Task Classification

When this skill produces follow-up work, file it by execution semantics:

- Immediately actionable implementation or documentation work goes in `tasks/todo.md`.
- Human-only external actions tied to automated steps go in `tasks/manual-todo.md` with `_(blocks: Step N.X)_` or `_(after: Step N.X)_`; repo edits, SDK wiring, generated assets, local commands, tests, audits, and authenticated CLI/API work stay in `tasks/todo.md`.
- One-time condition-gated records, baselines, or future measurements go in `tasks/record-todo.md` with source, condition, non-blocking reason, evidence, and promotion rule.
- Cadence-based reviews, playtests, adoption checks, investor updates, retros, or docs-health checks go in `tasks/recurring-todo.md` with cadence, owner/agent, next due, evidence path, and escalation conditions.
- Do not put non-blocking records or recurring obligations in `tasks/todo.md` unless they have been explicitly promoted into current execution work.

## Constraints

- **Requires ICP.** VPC without knowing the customer is guesswork.
- **Customer-grounded.** Every job, pain, and gain must trace to ICP research or customer evidence, not assumptions.
- **Be honest about fit.** If fit is weak, say so — that's a critical finding, not a failure.
- **Present before writing.** Never write output files until the canvas has been presented and validated.
- **VPC ≠ positioning.** This skill validates solution-customer fit; positioning determines market framing. They are distinct steps.
- **Do not overwrite existing `research/value-prop.md`** without asking the user first.

## Alignment Page

When this skill produces durable deliverables (research, specs, plans, reports, prototypes, or any document output), build a full-depth HTML alignment page at `alignment/value-prop-canvas-{topic}.html`. Use a normalized topic slug derived from the app, feature, research subject, report subject, or output filename.

**Full content requirement.** The alignment page must contain the complete content of every proposed markdown deliverable -- every section, every finding, every detail, every list item. It is a thorough interactive review document, not a summary. Render the full deliverable content in clean, readable HTML with appropriate hierarchy, styling, and navigation. If the skill writes multiple scoped deliverables in one run, build one alignment page that contains all deliverables with anchor-linked navigation. Durable tracker artifacts, such as `research/assumption-tracker.md`, remain canonical markdown outputs but must also be fully rendered into the alignment page before approval.

**Dark-mode styling.** Use a dark color scheme by default. Base CSS variables: `--bg: #0d1117; --surface: #161b22; --border: #30363d; --text: #c9d1d9; --text-muted: #8b949e; --accent: #58a6ff; --green: #3fb950; --red: #f85149; --orange: #d29922; --purple: #bc8cff;`. Apply `background: var(--bg); color: var(--text);` on body. Use `--surface` for cards, nav, and table headers. Use `--border` for all borders. Use `--purple` for question blocks and gate headings. Use `--accent` for links and section headings. Keep headings `color: #fff` or `var(--accent)` for hierarchy. Question block backgrounds should use `#1c2333`.

**Alignment gates.** Treat gates as explicit review sections inside the HTML page. A gate blocks finalization until its required inline questions are answered and compiled into YAML. Include every gate that applies to the skill output, and include these gate types whenever relevant: evidence coverage, assumptions/confidence, scope/non-goals, candidate/verdict decisions, artifact destination, proposed file changes, coverage checkpoint, and post-approval route.

**Report-only research gates.** For report-only or pre-approval research skills, the alignment page must explicitly contain evidence coverage, assumptions/confidence, recommended path, proposed file changes, and approval gates before any canonical research, spec, or task file is created or updated.


**Required inline questions.** Each gate must contain at least one required inline question placed directly under the content it governs, inside a visually distinct question block. Each question must use radio-button inputs and include two standing options after the skill-generated choices: "Other / None of the above" backed by a multi-line text box for free-form input, and "Need clarification" backed by an optional notes box where the user can explain what is unclear. When any radio option other than "Other" or "Need clarification" is selected, show an optional "Additional notes" text box beneath it so the user can qualify their choice. Generate questions based on what genuinely needs user input -- do not add filler questions. Do not create a separate bottom "Decisions & Clarifications" section.

**Gate YAML contract.** At the bottom of the page, include a "Compile Answers" button that aggregates answers from all inline gate questions throughout the page, including free-text notes. The button remains disabled until every required question has a selection, shows a count of remaining unanswered questions, and scrolls to the first unanswered question if clicked early. When every question is answered, generate a structured YAML block with one item per gate answer using this stable shape: `section`, `gate_type`, `status` (`answered`, `other`, or `needs-clarification`), `answer`, optional `notes`, and optional `target_artifact` or `target_path` when the gate controls file output. After successful compilation, automatically attempt to copy the YAML to the clipboard with the Clipboard API, display copy status, and display the YAML in a read-only textarea with an explicit "Copy YAML" button. The copy button must retry clipboard copy when supported and fall back to selecting the textarea contents when clipboard access is unavailable or blocked.

**Pre-approval stop.** Before user approval, the next action is review of the HTML alignment page, not downstream routing. Ask the user to review the page and provide the compiled YAML answers. Do not include `Recommended next skill`, `Recommended next command`, or downstream routing language until after compiled YAML has been provided and the approved artifacts have been written or updated.

**Diff highlighting on updates.** When the agent updates an existing alignment page after receiving compiled answers, highlight what changed since the previous version. The agent chooses inline annotation or side-by-side layout per situation.

**Archiving.** Before replacing an existing alignment page, archive it to `docs/history/archive/YYYY-MM-DD/HHMMSS/alignment/value-prop-canvas-{topic}.html`.

**Browser open.** Attempt to open the resulting HTML page in the browser and report whether the open succeeded or was blocked. A blocked browser-open attempt does not make the skill fail when the files were written correctly.

## Archive-First Replacement Policy

- Before replacing or substantively rewriting an existing canonical research/spec document (`research/**/*.md`, `specs/**/*.md`, or `docs/specifications/**/*.md`), copy the current file to `docs/history/archive/YYYY-MM-DD/HHMMSS/<original-relative-path>`.
- Preserve the archived snapshot exactly as it existed before the change; do not edit the archived copy after creating it.
- After the archive snapshot exists, write the updated document to the original canonical path.
- Report both the archive path and the updated canonical path in the final output.
- New files do not need archive snapshots. Append-only updates do not need archive snapshots unless an existing section is regenerated or rewritten.
- Keep any existing user approval requirement before overwriting or replacing a document; archiving does not replace asking when the skill already requires approval.

## Default Shipping Contract

- **Default next-step routing:** when reporting completion, include either `Recommended next skill: <command>` or the two-line pair `**Next work:** <specific task or "none">` and `**Recommended next command:** <one command or route>` so the next operator has a concrete handoff.
- If this skill creates or modifies tracked repository files, finish by committing and pushing all intended changes to the repository primary branch (`main` when present, otherwise `master`) before stopping, even if the user did not explicitly ask for commit/push.
- Do not leave tracked changes or unpushed commits behind. If unrelated tracked work is already present, either include it in sensible commits too or stop and explain the blocker.
- This contract does not override stricter safety rules about secrets, destructive history changes, release publication/tag confirmation, or production deploy confirmation.
