---
description: 'BRD-author view of the BRD-to-PRD handoff payload contract emitted at Govern exit for PRD Builder consumption - Brought to you by microsoft/hve-core'
---

# BRD-to-PRD Handoff Payload — BRD Author View

This document is the brd-author skill's authoritative description of the payload the BRD Builder emits at Govern exit and that the PRD Builder accepts via its `from-brd-handoff` entry mode. The payload itself is governed by the schema in [brd-to-prd-handoff-v1.md](brd-to-prd-handoff-v1.md); this file restates the schema in the BRD author's vocabulary so the canonical template, Govern exit gate, and BRD Quality Reviewer all reference a single contract.

The brd-author bundle feeds the `brd:`, `business_goals:`, `partitions:`, `known_open_items:`, and `prd_consumer_notes:` fields. The `quality_report:`, `counts:`, `traceability:`, and `signoff:` fields are assembled at Govern exit from the approved BRD, final quality report, traceability matrix, and signoff evidence.

## Required versus optional

Required and optional flags below match the upstream schema. The brd-author bundle MUST populate every required field before requesting Govern exit; the orchestrator rejects the handoff if a required field is missing or fails validation.

## Field summary (brd-author authoring view)

The fields below are the ones an author or BRD template placeholder feeds directly. They map 1:1 onto the `BRD_TO_PRD_HANDOFF_V1` schema.

| Author-facing field   | Schema field path                          | Type                        | Required           | Source artifact                                     |
|-----------------------|--------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|--------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| `brd_id`              | `brd.id`                                   | string                      | yes                | BRD frontmatter overlay `brd_id`                    |
| `brd_version`         | `brd.version`                              | string (`>= 1.0.0`)         | yes                | BRD frontmatter overlay `version`                   |
| `brd_title`           | `brd.title`                                | string                      | yes                | BRD frontmatter overlay `title`                     |
| `brd_artifact_path`   | `brd.artifact_path`                        | string (workspace-relative) | yes                | Orchestrator (workspace path at signoff)            |
| `brd_artifact_sha256` | `brd.artifact_sha256`                      | string (64 lowercase hex)   | yes                | Orchestrator (computed at signoff)                  |
| `scope_statement`     | `prd_consumer_notes` (preface paragraph)   | string                      | yes                | BRD §Scope of Work                                  |
| `business_goals[]`    | `business_goals[]`                         | array, length ≥ 1           | yes                | BRD §Business Goals                                 |
| `requirements[]`      | `counts.{functional,non_functional,…}`     | array (FR + NFR + CON)      | yes                | BRD §FR + §NFR + §Constraints                       |
| `traceability_matrix` | `traceability.matrix_ref`                  | string (workspace-relative) | yes                | BRD §Traceability Matrix or sibling matrix artifact |
| `open_questions[]`    | `known_open_items[]`                       | array                       | yes (may be empty) | BRD §Open Questions                                 |
| `assumptions[]`       | `prd_consumer_notes` (assumptions section) | array                       | yes (may be empty) | BRD §Assumptions                                    |

Fields outside this table are written by the orchestrator (`signoff`, `quality_report`, `counts`) or by the assessor (`business_goals[].smart_status`); the BRD template does not bind to them directly.

## YAML shape (subset emitted by brd-author)

The shape below is the brd-author-owned subset of the full payload, in the same field order the upstream schema uses, so the orchestrator can splice the two without reordering.

```yaml
schema_version: BRD_TO_PRD_HANDOFF_V1
brd:
  id: <BRD_ID>                          # required, matches frontmatter brd_id
  version: <BRD_VERSION>                # required, semver >= 1.0.0
  title: <BRD_TITLE>                    # required
  artifact_path: <BRD_ARTIFACT_PATH>    # required, written by orchestrator
  artifact_sha256: <SHA256_HEX>         # required, written by orchestrator
business_goals:
  - id: <BG_ID>                         # required, matches traceability-naming BG-### scheme
    statement: <SMART_GOAL_STATEMENT>   # required, evaluated by SMART rubric
    priority: <MUST|SHOULD|COULD|WONT>  # required, MoSCoW per prioritization-schemes
    kpi: <KPI_STATEMENT>                # required, free text
    smart_status: <PASS|FAIL>           # written by assessor, surfaced here for handoff
partitions:                             # optional unless BRD is partitioned
  - id: <PARTITION_ID>
    title: <PARTITION_TITLE>
    summary: <PARTITION_SUMMARY>
known_open_items:                       # required (may be empty)
  - id: <OPEN_ITEM_ID>                  # unique within payload
    summary: <OPEN_ITEM_SUMMARY>
    rationale_for_deferral: <DEFERRAL_RATIONALE>
    target_phase: <PRD|Implementation|Operations|Future-Release>
prd_consumer_notes: <CONSUMER_NOTES>    # optional string with scope and assumptions notes
```

## Field rules the brd-author is responsible for

* `brd.id` MUST be recorded in the BRD frontmatter overlay before Govern exit.
* `brd.version` MUST advance to `1.0.0` or higher at signoff; drafts (`0.x.y`) are rejected by upstream validation.
* `business_goals[].id` MUST match the `BG-###` namespace described in [`traceability-naming`](../_shared/traceability-naming.md).
* `business_goals[].priority` MUST be drawn from the MoSCoW labels defined in [`prioritization-schemes`](../_shared/prioritization-schemes.md).
* `business_goals[].smart_status` is verified by the BRD Quality Reviewer per [quality-rubric.md](../_shared/quality-rubric.md); the brd-author MUST NOT emit a goal whose statement does not meet the SMART rubric before requesting signoff.
* `known_open_items[].target_phase` MUST be one of the four upstream-allowed values; deferring to anything else is rejected.
* `partitions[]` MUST be present when the BRD declares partitions in its frontmatter overlay; otherwise it MUST be omitted.
* `prd_consumer_notes` is a plain string. Use concise prose for scope and assumption notes instead of nested YAML.

## Fields the orchestrator and assessor write (informational)

These fields are not authored from the BRD template, but the template's quality fields determine the values written by the pipeline. They are listed here so the BRD author can predict what consumers will see.

* `signoff.{status,approvers,waivers}` - assembled from Govern approval evidence.
* `quality_report.{report_ref,overall_status,govern_exit_decision}` - assembled from the final BRD Quality Reviewer output.
* `counts.{functional_requirements,non_functional_requirements,business_rules,constraints,acceptance_criteria,business_goals}` - computed from a structural pass over the BRD artifact.
* `traceability.{matrix_ref,fr_to_ac_coverage_pct,fr_to_bg_coverage_pct}` - computed from the traceability matrix snapshot at signoff.

## Validation surface

The brd-author bundle's contribution to the payload is validated by:

1. Frontmatter pre-validation confirms `brd_id`, `version`, `title`, `business_goal_ids`, `business_goal_smart_status`, `fr_to_ac_coverage_threshold_pct`, and `requirement_id_prefixes` are present and well-formed on the BRD source.
2. The pre-handoff structural check confirms counts, `business_goals[].id` cardinality, and traceability metrics match the BRD and matrix snapshot.
3. The upstream `BRD_TO_PRD_HANDOFF_V1` schema validator owned by [brd-quality-formats](brd-quality-formats.md) is the final authority on the assembled payload.

## License

This file is original Microsoft content licensed under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The upstream `BRD_TO_PRD_HANDOFF_V1` schema definition lives in the `brd-quality-formats` skill bundle; this file is a brd-author view of that schema and never replaces it.

> Brought to you by microsoft/hve-core
