Onboard an Existing Product

Most products have far more code than documentation. When your docs are sparse, outdated, or scattered across forgotten wikis, the Product Graph MCP can analyze your codebase to build a structured Product Artifact hierarchy: The MCP connects directly to your IDE or AI assistant, letting you discover capabilities from code structure, extract features from routes and components, and generate documentation from your codebase itself.

Prerequisites

Set up MCP integration

Follow the MCP Integration guide to connect Product Graph to your IDE or AI assistant.

Access your codebase

Ensure your AI assistant can read your codebase. In Cursor or similar tools, simply open your project.

Mapping Code to Artifacts

Artifact	Code Pattern
Product	README, root architecture, rollup of capabilities
Capabilities	Feature directories, services
Features	Routes, components
Requirements	Validation logic, business rules
Acceptance Criteria	Test files
Core Entities	Database models, types

Best Practices

Start small: Begin with one capability, validate the workflow, then expand
Review AI output: The AI may combine concepts that should be separate or miss edge cases
Get approval first: Ask the AI to summarize proposed changes before executing
Iterate: Create structure first with basic content, then enrich over time

Workflow

Each prompt follows the same workflow:

Understand the Template

The AI retrieves the artifact template from Product Graph to learn what information is required.

Discover

The AI analyzes your codebase for relevant information based on the artifact type.

Pull Existing Data

The AI fetches any existing artifacts from Product Graph to avoid duplicates.

Reconcile

The AI creates a matrix comparing what it found in code vs. what exists in Product Graph, identifying additions, updates, and removals.

Approval

You review the reconciliation matrix and approve before any changes are made.

Prompts

Product

# Product Artifact Generation

## Objective
Analyze the codebase for <product-name>, reconcile with existing Product Graph data, and propose updates.

**Important:** Do not modify Product Graph without explicit user approval.

---

## Workflow

### Phase 1: Understand the Template
Use the Product Graph MCP to pull the Product artifact template and understand the required information.

### Phase 2: Discovery
Analyze the repository for product information:
- README and root-level documentation
- Directory structure and architecture
- Problem solved and target users

### Phase 3: Pull Existing Data
Use the Product Graph MCP to fetch the current Product artifact.

### Phase 4: Reconciliation
Create a matrix comparing discovered vs existing content:

| Section | In Code | In Graph | Action | Evidence |
|---------|---------|----------|--------|----------|
| Example 1 | ✅ | ❌ | **ADD** | README.md |
| Example 2 | ✅ | ✅ | **KEEP** | - |
| Example 3 | ⚠️ | ✅ | **UPDATE** | Changed in code |

---

**Approval Required:** Present the reconciliation matrix and wait for approval before updating the Product artifact.

Capabilities

# Capability Discovery

## Objective
Analyze the codebase to identify capabilities for <product-name>, reconcile with existing Product Graph data, and propose a capability map.

**Important:** Do not modify Product Graph without explicit user approval.

---

## Workflow

### Phase 1: Understand the Template
Use the Product Graph MCP to pull the Capability artifact template and understand the required information.

### Phase 2: Discovery
Analyze the repository for capabilities:
- Feature directories and service modules
- API routes and entry points
- README and documentation references

### Phase 3: Pull Existing Data
Use the Product Graph MCP to fetch current capabilities.

### Phase 4: Reconciliation
Create a matrix:

| Capability | In Code | In Graph | Action | Evidence |
|------------|---------|----------|--------|----------|
| Example 1 | ✅ | ❌ | **ADD** | src/auth/ |
| Example 2 | ✅ | ✅ | **KEEP** | - |
| Example 3 | ❌ | ✅ | **REMOVE** | Deprecated |

---

**Approval Required:** Present the reconciliation matrix and wait for approval before creating capabilities.

Features

# Feature Extraction

## Objective
Extract features for the <capability-name> capability, reconcile with existing Product Graph data, and propose updates.

**Important:** Do not modify Product Graph without explicit user approval.

---

## Workflow

### Phase 1: Understand the Template
Use the Product Graph MCP to pull the Feature artifact template and understand the required information.

### Phase 2: Discovery
Analyze the repository for features under <capability-name>:
- Routes, components, and handlers
- User-facing functionality
- Code references

### Phase 3: Pull Existing Data
Use the Product Graph MCP to fetch current features for <capability-name>.

### Phase 4: Reconciliation
Create a matrix:

| Feature | In Code | In Graph | Action | Evidence |
|---------|---------|----------|--------|----------|
| Example 1 | ✅ | ❌ | **ADD** | src/routes/... |
| Example 2 | ✅ | ✅ | **KEEP** | - |
| Example 3 | ❌ | ✅ | **REMOVE** | Deprecated |

---

**Approval Required:** Present the reconciliation matrix and wait for approval before creating features.

Requirements

# Requirement Generation

## Objective
Generate requirements for the <feature-name> feature, reconcile with existing Product Graph data, and propose updates.

**Important:** Do not modify Product Graph without explicit user approval.

---

## Workflow

### Phase 1: Understand the Template
Use the Product Graph MCP to pull the Requirement artifact template and understand the required information.

### Phase 2: Discovery
Analyze the repository for requirements under <feature-name>:
- Validation logic, conditionals, and business rules
- Error handling and edge cases
- Performance or security patterns

### Phase 3: Pull Existing Data
Use the Product Graph MCP to fetch current requirements for <feature-name>.

### Phase 4: Reconciliation
Create a matrix:

| Requirement | In Code | In Graph | Action | Evidence |
|-------------|---------|----------|--------|----------|
| Example 1 | ✅ | ❌ | **ADD** | src/validation/... |
| Example 2 | ✅ | ✅ | **KEEP** | - |
| Example 3 | ❌ | ✅ | **REMOVE** | Deprecated |

---

**Approval Required:** Present the reconciliation matrix and wait for approval before creating requirements.

Acceptance Criteria

# Acceptance Criteria Generation

## Objective
Create acceptance criteria for requirement <requirement-id>, reconcile with existing Product Graph data, and propose updates.

**Important:** Do not modify Product Graph without explicit user approval.

---

## Workflow

### Phase 1: Understand the Template
Use the Product Graph MCP to pull the Acceptance Criteria artifact template and understand the required information.

### Phase 2: Discovery
Analyze the repository for acceptance criteria under <requirement-id>:
- Test files and assertions
- Edge cases and error handling
- Happy path, boundary, and failure scenarios

### Phase 3: Pull Existing Data
Use the Product Graph MCP to fetch current acceptance criteria for <requirement-id>.

### Phase 4: Reconciliation
Create a matrix:

| Acceptance Criteria | In Code | In Graph | Action | Evidence |
|---------------------|---------|----------|--------|----------|
| Example 1 | ✅ | ❌ | **ADD** | tests/... |
| Example 2 | ✅ | ✅ | **KEEP** | - |
| Example 3 | ❌ | ✅ | **REMOVE** | Deprecated |

---

**Approval Required:** Present the reconciliation matrix and wait for approval before creating acceptance criteria.

Core Entities

# Core Entity Discovery

## Objective
Identify core entities for <product-name>, reconcile with existing Product Graph data, and propose updates.

**Important:** Do not modify Product Graph without explicit user approval.

---

## Workflow

### Phase 1: Understand the Template
Use the Product Graph MCP to pull the Core Entity artifact template and understand the required information.

### Phase 2: Discovery
Analyze the repository for core entities:
- Database schemas and migrations
- TypeScript interfaces and type definitions
- Validation schemas

### Phase 3: Pull Existing Data
Use the Product Graph MCP to fetch current core entities.

### Phase 4: Reconciliation
Create a matrix:

| Core Entity | In Code | In Graph | Action | Evidence |
|-------------|---------|----------|--------|----------|
| Example 1 | ✅ | ❌ | **ADD** | src/models/... |
| Example 2 | ✅ | ✅ | **KEEP** | - |
| Example 3 | ❌ | ✅ | **REMOVE** | Deprecated |

---

**Approval Required:** Present the reconciliation matrix and wait for approval before creating core entities.

User Types

# User Type Identification

## Objective
Identify user types for <product-name>, reconcile with existing Product Graph data, and propose updates.

**Important:** Do not modify Product Graph without explicit user approval.

---

## Workflow

### Phase 1: Understand the Template
Use the Product Graph MCP to pull the User Type artifact template and understand the required information.

### Phase 2: Discovery
Analyze the repository for user types:
- Auth roles, permissions, and user models
- UI patterns and feature access controls
- Different workflows for different user categories

### Phase 3: Pull Existing Data
Use the Product Graph MCP to fetch current user types.

### Phase 4: Reconciliation
Create a matrix:

| User Type | In Code | In Graph | Action | Evidence |
|-----------|---------|----------|--------|----------|
| Example 1 | ✅ | ❌ | **ADD** | src/auth/... |
| Example 2 | ✅ | ✅ | **KEEP** | - |
| Example 3 | ❌ | ✅ | **REMOVE** | Deprecated |

---

**Approval Required:** Present the reconciliation matrix and wait for approval before creating user types.

Quickstart

Features

Demos

Guides

Onboard an Existing Product

Prerequisites

Mapping Code to Artifacts

Best Practices

Workflow

Prompts

Product

Capabilities

Features

Requirements

Acceptance Criteria

Core Entities

User Types

Next Steps

MCP Integration

Product Artifacts

​Prerequisites

​Mapping Code to Artifacts

​Best Practices

​Workflow

​Prompts

​Product

​Capabilities

​Features

​Requirements

​Acceptance Criteria

​Core Entities

​User Types

​Next Steps

MCP Integration

Product Artifacts

Prerequisites

Mapping Code to Artifacts

Best Practices

Workflow

Prompts

Product

Capabilities

Features

Requirements

Acceptance Criteria

Core Entities

User Types

Next Steps