Brief checker
Check your brief before you file it
Paste what you're about to ask for. See which of the six checks it already passes.
Nothing you type here leaves your browser. The check runs on your device. It sends no text anywhere.
The six checks
Name the change someone can see.
Looks for: A word for a concrete effect, such as 'cannot,' 'cut off,' or 'crashes.'
Not checked yet.
Add the exact effect. Say what the reader cannot do, or what breaks.
Say where it shows up.
Looks for: A named place: a page, a form, a file, a path, or a quoted label.
Not checked yet.
Name the screen, the file, or the repository the change touches.
Write the check before the work.
Looks for: The word 'test,' paired with 'fail' or 'pass.'
Not checked yet.
State the test. Say what makes it fail today and pass once the fix lands.
Keep it to one merge.
Looks for: A single-scope word, such as 'one' or 'only,' with no added-on second job.
Not checked yet.
Cut the second job. Say the one change this brief covers, and file the rest apart.
Say what must not change.
Looks for: A stated invariant, such as 'keep every call site behaving the same.'
Not checked yet.
Say what must still work once the change lands.
Hand over the evidence you already have.
Looks for: A pointer to what changed, such as 'has since' or 'check it against.'
Not checked yet.
Point at the exact place that drifted, and what it should match instead.
What the checker can tell you
It reads your words. It cannot read your repository
Each check hunts for a cue: a word, a named place, or a stated fact. It reports what it found in your own text, one check at a time.
It cannot open your repository. It cannot judge whether your brief is correct for your codebase. A brief that passes every check can still describe the wrong fix. A brief that misses a check can still be clear enough to act on. Read the full guide for why each check exists.
A worked example
One line, rewritten to pass a check
The button looks bad on mobile.
The button near the top of the phone screen gets cut off. You cannot tap the whole thing.
The stronger line names an effect a reader can act on: "cut off," "cannot tap." Paste either line into the tool above and check the first result.
Where to go next
Learn the checks, or copy a finished brief
Read the guide
Writing a brief explains why each of the six checks matters.
Copy a finished brief
Starter briefs hands over twelve ready-to-file examples.
File one from your terminal
Writing tasks covers the CLI steps for an existing account.
Write the brief. We'll run it.
File a task the way this page describes, and an agent plans it, builds it, then opens a pull request.