Developer tool PRD template

Developer tools have a different audience than consumer apps, and the spec needs to reflect it: the 'user' is another developer, the primary interface might be a CLI or an API rather than a screen, and decisions like rate limiting, versioning, and auth (API keys vs. OAuth) matter from day one. A generic PRD template built for consumer apps skips all of this.

Draftlytic asks the questions that matter for a dev tool build — is this an API, a CLI, an SDK, or some combination; how developers authenticate; what the rate-limit and versioning strategy is — then generates a structured, editable spec with a typed data model, an endpoint map, and a prioritized feature list ready for Claude Code, Cursor, or any AI coding tool.

If your product is an API, the 'navigation map' isn't screens — it's endpoints, and Draftlytic's spec reflects that: every route, its method, and what it does, mapped alongside the data model it operates on. If there's a CLI or dashboard layer on top, both get captured — the API surface for developers to call, and the UI for the humans who manage their account, keys, and usage.

Auth and access control get spec'd explicitly too: API keys vs. OAuth, per-key rate limits, and what a free vs. paid tier unlocks in terms of request volume or feature access. Those land as constraints and pricing-tier fields, not something your AI coding tool has to infer from a vague 'add auth' feature.

Describe your developer tool idea — what problem it solves for other developers, whether it's primarily an API, a CLI, or both, and how you plan to charge (free tier with rate limits, usage-based, or flat subscription per seat). Draftlytic's follow-up questions surface the auth model and the external services your tool depends on (a queue, a database, a third-party API you're wrapping).

The generated spec includes a prioritized feature list with acceptance criteria at Detailed depth, a typed data model for accounts, keys, and usage, and an explicit non-goals list — useful for keeping v1 scoped to the core API instead of an AI coding tool adding a full billing dashboard you're not ready to build. Export as Markdown, PDF, or Word doc, or push straight to a connected GitHub repo, and run an AI Scan to catch gaps like an endpoint with no matching data model field.