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/incoming-request-advisor

@b68bf96
by Dean Petersdeanpeters/product-manager-skills7.1k stars
851

Decode an incoming message into a structured breakdown separating the literal ask from the job-to-be-done. Use when a loaded Slack ping, email, mandate, or escalation needs a reply.

Ask your Agent

Use this Skill: https://skilld.dev/gh/deanpeters/product-manager-skills/incoming-request-advisor

This session only. Nothing lands on disk.

template.md

≈618 tokens on demand. Your agent reads this file only when SKILL.md points to it.

Incoming Request Breakdown Template

Use this template to decode an incoming message yourself — paste the message at the top, then fill each section. Scale depth to the message: collapse or skip any empty section and mark it "none stated." Keep every bullet to 4-8 words, ASCII only; verbatim quotes from the message are exempt.

Provenance

Adapted from prompts/incoming-request-breakdown.md in the https://github.com/deanpeters/product-manager-prompts repo. Original prompt by Dean Peters (July 8, 2026).

Template

## Incoming Request Breakdown

> Source message (paste verbatim; note if any part is cut off):
> [paste the Slack ping, email, mandate, escalation, or FYI here]

### 1. Classify
- [Message type and channel, one line]
- Types: meeting prep, feedback, feature request, mandate, escalation, FYI, ask for help, other

### 2. Sender Read
- [Who sent it, apparent role]
- [Relationship: upstream, peer, or downstream]
- [Power and stake where they matter]

### 3. Literal Ask
- [What they explicitly want, plain terms]

### 4. Underlying Problem Space
- [The job they are trying to get done]
- [The outcome behind the request]
- [Separate the ask from the need]

### 5. Sentiment and Subtext
- [Tone, urgency, frustration, enthusiasm, politics]
- [Quote the tell if there is one]

### 6. Must-Haves vs Nice-to-Haves
- Must-haves: [hard requirements for the deliverable]
- Nice-to-haves: [soft preferences, clearly separated]

### 7. Hard Negatives
- [What they explicitly do not want]
- "None stated" if none

### 8. Success Criteria
- [Pass/fail bar, metric, or definition of done]
- [How they will judge the result worked]
- Capture only what is stated; mark implied ones as inference
- "None stated" if none

### 9. Hard Constraints
- [Drop-dead dates, budget, non-negotiables]
- "None stated" if none

### 10. Gaps and Ambiguities
- [What is unclear or missing before committing]

### 11. Risks
- [Scope, expectation, political, timeline landmines]

### 12. Recommended Next Steps
- [Move 1]
- [Move 2]
- [2 to 4 concrete moves, ordered]

### Assumptions to Validate
- [Anything inferred rather than stated]
- [Sender read or intent guessed]
- [Success criteria or constraints implied]

Next move

After the breakdown, pick one:

  1. Draft a reply to the sender (usually the right first move)
  2. Build a meeting agenda for this ask
  3. Reframe the ask as a discovery framing
  4. Draft a counter-proposal that protects the outcome

Source: SKILL.md on GitHub

Third-party checks

1 alert1mo3 checks · Risk SAFE
  • Gen Agent Trust Hub1mo

    The skill is safe for its intended purpose of analyzing professional communication. It possesses a minor vulnerability to indirect prompt injection as it processes external messages, though it lacks the capabilities to perform dangerous actions.

  • Socket1mo

    No alerts

  • Snyk1mo

    Risk: HIGH · 2 issues

Provenance

Signed by skilld at b68bf96. This ties the file your Agent reads to that commit on GitHub. It does not review the instructions.

Last checked against GitHub last month.

Activeupdated 2 months ago

Capability

argument-hint
[paste or describe the incoming message + who sent it]
type
interactive
theme
stakeholder-comms
Other metadata
intent
Act as a chief-of-staff-grade analyst that decodes an incoming message into a structured breakdown, separating the literal ask from the job-to-be-done underneath it, reading sender power and stake from a product leader's chair, and opening the conversation toward a reply or next artifact. Trains the PM habit of finding the outcome before responding.
best_for
[
  "Triaging a loaded exec escalation before you fire back a reply",
  "Decoding a vague feature request into the outcome underneath it",
  "Reading power, stake, and subtext in a request from someone senior"
]
scenarios
[
  "My VP just Slacked me 'can we get the dashboard redesign into next sprint?' and I need to read what's really going on",
  "I got a long escalation email from a frustrated customer-success lead and I don't know how to respond",
  "A stakeholder sent a mandate that sounds like a build order and I want the job-to-be-done first"
]
estimated_time
5-10 min

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