--- title: "The Story Critic Skill for Coaching User Stories and Better Refinement" url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-story-critic-skill-for-coaching-user-stories-and-better-refinement-pndck5p9d source_url: https://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog/story-critic-skill-better-backlog-items type: article source: "The Mountain Goat Software" published: 2026-04-28T13:29:19.892Z updated: 2026-04-28T13:29:45.911Z tags: ["chatgpt", "agile"] reading_time: 13 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # The Story Critic Skill for Coaching User Stories and Better Refinement **[The Mountain Goat Software](https://daily.dev/sources/mountaingoatsoftware)** · 13 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Story Critic is an AI skill for ChatGPT and Claude, developed by Mountain Goat Software, that coaches teams on writing better product backlog items. It evaluates each item on two dimensions: a headline coaching assessment (six levels from 'Not Yet a Story' to 'Ready for Implementation') and backlog placement guidance (whether the detail level is appropriate for near-term or lower-backlog items). The skill focuses on outcome clarity, scope focus, testability, and backlog fit rather than rigid formatting rules. It supports quick critique, full critique, batch review, and rewrite-only output modes. Teams can customize the skill by editing its rubric, adding domain-specific examples, and tuning vocabulary, strictness, and story-splitting preferences. It is available as a downloadable zip for ChatGPT/Claude or through a free Mountain Goat Essentials account. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [AI in Focus: A new Claude Skill for Rails code audits](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-in-focus-a-new-claude-skill-for-rails-code-audits-rz5imfffg) · thoughbot · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Improving skill-creator: Test, measure, and refine Agent Skills](https://daily.dev/posts/improving-skill-creator-test-measure-and-refine-agent-skills-obmf0r4sa) · Claude · 74 upvotes · 3 comments - [Building an AI Blog Editor with Claude Skills](https://daily.dev/posts/building-an-ai-blog-editor-with-claude-skills-wlnarm7rp) · RUBYLAND · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#chatgpt](https://daily.dev/tags/chatgpt), [#agile](https://daily.dev/tags/agile) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/the-story-critic-skill-for-coaching-user-stories-and-better-refinement-pndck5p9d)