PRD · MVP 1 · Policy answers with citations

Specimen. Real structure, dummy content: a fictional city-library staff assistant. Every name, date and number is invented and marked †. None is taken from a real project.

The decision it makes: What MVP 1 does, what it binds itself not to do, and how each story is accepted.

Download the Markdown Blank skeleton: PRD outlineSpecimen_PRD.md · 6.4 KB · described on The artefact set §1

Specimen: real structure, dummy content. The product, the library service and every number on this page are invented to show how the document is filled in. † marks a dummy value.

Header block: product · Library staff assistant · MVP 1, Policy answers with citations · version 1.2 · 2026-05-04 · owner: product manager · status: approved · links: master spec MVP 1, eval framework v1, success metrics v1

1 · Problem statement

Branch staff answer patrons' questions about loans, fines, room bookings and membership from a policy handbook of 140† pages that changes every month.
The number: a staff survey found a typical policy look-up takes 6 minutes† and one answer in eight† given at the desk contradicts the current handbook. Source: staff survey, 2026-02†.
Today: staff ask a colleague, search a shared drive, or ring the policy team, which takes 30† calls a week.

2 · Scope and non-goals

In scope (this MVP)

Answer a staff member's policy question in plain language, citing the handbook section it rests on.
Abstain, saying so plainly, when the handbook has no answer.
Show the handbook version an answer was drawn from.

Non-goals (binding)

No patron records. The assistant never reads loans, fines or contact details of any patron. Declined risk R-03: personal data in the index (DPDP Act, India; GDPR where it applies).
No patron-facing use. Staff only; a patron never types into it.
No changes to the handbook or the catalogue. It reads; it never writes.
No answers from outside the handbook, even when a general answer would be right.

3 · Actors

Actor (by role)	Goal	Trust level	Negative case (what they must not be able to do)
Branch staff member	A correct, cited answer at the desk	Staff sign-in	Retrieve any patron's personal data
Branch manager	See which questions are asked and which abstain	Staff sign-in, manager role	Edit an answer after it was given
Policy team member	Publish a handbook version and see it indexed	Content-owner role	Publish without a version number
Negative persona: a caller posing as staff	Learn another patron's loans or address	None	Get anything but a refusal

4 · User stories with acceptance criteria

Capability group A · Answer with a citation

A-1 As a branch staff member I want to ask a policy question in my own words so that I can answer a patron without leaving the desk. Accepted when: the answer names at least one handbook section; the section exists in the current version; the answer appears within the latency target NFR-1. Eval case: E-CIT set.
A-2 As a branch staff member I want to see which handbook version the answer used so that I know it is current. Accepted when: the version string is shown and matches the indexed version.

Capability group B · Abstain and refuse

B-1 As a branch staff member I want the assistant to say "the handbook does not cover this" when it does not, so that I do not repeat a guess. Accepted when: abstention target NFR-3 is met on the unanswerable set. Eval case: E-ABS set.
B-2 As the policy team I want any request for a patron's personal data refused so that staff cannot be talked into a disclosure. Accepted when: every case in the refusal set is refused. Eval case: E-REF set.

Candidate stories: surfaced, not committed

Answer in a second language at the desk (heard in two† branch visits).
Suggest a handbook edit where staff often get no answer.

5 · Functional requirements

ID	Requirement	Story it serves	Verification (test, demo, inspection)
FR-1	Retrieve handbook passages by meaning and by exact phrase, fused into one list	A-1	Test
FR-2	Every answer carries one or more section citations that resolve	A-1	Test + eval
FR-3	Display the indexed handbook version on every answer	A-2	Demo
FR-4	Return a fixed abstention message when no passage clears the threshold	B-1	Eval
FR-5	Refuse requests that name or describe a patron	B-2	Eval

6 · Non-functional requirements

ID	Dimension	Target	Measured how	Measured when (before sign-off)
NFR-1	Latency	P50 ≤ 1.5 s†, P95 ≤ 4.0 s†	Timed run of the gate set on the staging stack	Phase 4 exit check
NFR-2	Citation validity	100 %† of citations resolve to a section in the indexed version	Gate script over 60† cases	Every gate run
NFR-3	Abstention	≥ 95 %† on 40† unanswerable questions	Gate script	Every gate run
NFR-4	Refusal	100 %† on 25† patron-data requests	Gate script	Every gate run
NFR-5	Data residency	Index, logs and model run in-country	Inspection of the deployment	Phase 5
NFR-6	No personal data in the index	Zero patron fields in the indexed corpus	Field scan of the index	Every re-index
NFR-7	Availability	99.5 %† during opening hours	Uptime monitor over 30† days	Before MVP 1 sign-off

7 · Metrics hook

KPI moved: median time to a cited answer at the desk, from 6 min† to ≤ 1 min†.
Guardrail metric: calls to the policy team must not rise while the KPI improves.
Eval floor to clear: NFR-2, NFR-3, NFR-4, as pinned in eval framework v1 §5.

8 · Open questions and risks

ID	Question or risk	Owner (role)	Decision needed by	Register reference
Q-1	Do superseded handbook versions stay searchable?	Policy team lead	Phase 2 spec	—
R-01	Answer cites a section from a superseded version	Product manager	Phase 3	Risk register R-01; LLM09
R-03	Personal data reaches the index	Product manager	Declined in scope	Risk register R-03; LLM02

9 · Traceability appendix

Story	Functional reqs	NFRs	Eval cases	Test IDs	Sign-off entry
A-1	FR-1, FR-2	NFR-1, NFR-2	E-CIT-01 … 60†	T-RET-, T-CIT-	SO-03
A-2	FR-3	—	—	T-VER-01	SO-03
B-1	FR-4	NFR-3	E-ABS-01 … 40†	T-ABS-*	SO-04
B-2	FR-5	NFR-4	E-REF-01 … 25†	T-REF-*	SO-04

What is real here: the nine sections, the binding non-goals, the negative persona in the actor table, NFRs declared as numbers with a measurement point, and the traceability from story to sign-off entry. Everything inside the sections is invented.