Gap Analysis Worksheet
Analyzes an initial requirements document for gaps, ambiguities, and missing information. Produces gap-analysis-worksheet.md — a structured worksheet for a business analyst to complete before proceeding to /business-requirements-interview.
Purpose
Initial requirements from stakeholders typically contain:
- Vague or ambiguous statements
- Missing personas or user types
- Undefined scope boundaries
- Unstated assumptions
- Missing non-functional requirements
- Undefined success criteria
This skill surfaces those gaps as targeted questions, ensuring the formal requirements interview builds on validated, complete inputs.
Prerequisites
- An initial requirements document in any format: plain text, Markdown, YAML, PDF summary, meeting notes, product brief, or similar
Usage
/gap-analysis-worksheet path/to/requirements [base-directory]If no base directory is provided, auto-detect by looking for requirements/ folder in the current directory.
If not found, prompt the user: "Where should I create the gap analysis worksheet?"
Wait for the user to provide a path before proceeding. Store as base_directory.
Process
Step 1: Load & Read the Requirements
Read the input document in full. Identify all stated requirements, goals, personas, constraints, and assumptions.
Step 2: Analyze for Gaps by Category
For each category below, scan the document and identify gaps. A gap is any of:
- Missing — Information that should be present but isn't stated at all
- Ambiguous — A statement that could be interpreted multiple ways
- Incomplete — A requirement that is only partially specified
- Contradictory — Statements that conflict with each other
- Assumed — Something implied but never explicitly stated
Gap Categories (evaluate all ten):
- Problem & Goals — Is the core problem clearly defined? Are goals specific and measurable?
- Personas & Users — Are all user types identified? Are their needs and pain points described?
- Scope — What is explicitly in scope vs. out of scope? Where are the boundaries?
- Functional Requirements — Are all features described with enough detail to build? Are edge cases addressed?
- Non-Functional Requirements — Performance, security, scalability, accessibility, reliability expectations?
- Success Criteria — How will success be measured? What does "done" look like?
- Assumptions — What is being assumed but not stated? What dependencies are implied?
- Constraints — Technical, timeline, budget, regulatory, or team constraints?
- Dependencies & Integrations — External systems, APIs, third-party services, or team dependencies?
- Risks — What could go wrong? Are any mitigation strategies needed?
Skip any category that has no gaps — do not include empty sections in the output.
Step 3: Write gap-analysis-worksheet.md
Write {base_directory}/requirements/gap-analysis-worksheet.md.
Create directory if it doesn't exist:
mkdir -p {base_directory}/requirementsOutput Format
Write {base_directory}/requirements/gap-analysis-worksheet.md.
The output is a Markdown document with a header (document path, generated date, status, total gaps) followed by sections for each gap category. Each gap includes a requirement snippet, a specific question, and an answer field.
See references/output-spec.md for the complete document specification with all categories, gap structure, and validation rules.
See references/example.yaml for a full example.
Writing Good Gap Questions
Be specific — Reference the exact requirement or missing area.
Good:What is the maximum file size a user can upload?Bad:Are there any limits?
Be answerable — The business analyst should be able to respond with a concrete answer.
Good:Should unauthenticated users be able to view public workflows, or is login required for all access?Bad:What about authentication?
One gap per question — Do not combine multiple gaps into one question.
Good:What should happen when a workflow task fails — should the entire workflow stop, or continue with remaining tasks?Bad:What should happen with errors and timeouts and retries?
Prioritize critical gaps — Questions about core functionality, personas, and scope come before nice-to-have clarifications.
Requirement Snippet Guidelines
- Use a direct quote from the document when possible — keep it under 15 words
- If the gap is about something entirely missing, use:
"Not addressed in requirements" - If the gap applies to a whole section rather than a specific line, reference the section:
"[Goals section]"
Example Output
See references/example.yaml for a complete sample based on the spec example input.
Self-Review
After generating the worksheet, perform the following checks and output a brief summary inline.
Checks
- All 10 categories were evaluated (skipped categories had no gaps worth capturing)
- Every question is specific and answerable by a business analyst
- No two questions address the same gap
- Critical gaps (scope, personas, core functionality) are listed first within their category
- Requirement snippets accurately reflect the source document
- No category with real gaps was omitted
Inline Summary
## Worksheet Summary
**Input:** [requirements file]
**Output:** gap-analysis-worksheet.md
**Total Gaps Found:** [n]
By Category:
Problem & Goals: [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
Personas & Users: [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
Scope: [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
Functional Requirements: [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
Non-Functional Requirements: [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
Success Criteria: [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
Assumptions: [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
Constraints: [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
Dependencies & Integrations: [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
Risks: [n gaps or "✓ no gaps"]
Next step → Complete the worksheet, then run:
/business-requirements-interview