Software
Product requirements document
Align a product decision around a testable customer outcome.
- Problem and outcome
- Scope and exclusions
- Requirements
Documents As Working Knowledge Agents
Start with
the purpose.
Define what the document must keep true. Shape its sections and criteria. Then, only when you are ready, start an agent to maintain it within the rules and budget you set.
Starting a document never starts maintenance. You decide when the agent begins.
FIG. 001A SECTION WITH A JOB
Where our market
is moving
PURPOSEKeep the three newest changes that affect our pricing.
- Rival launched a $9 team plan
- Usage billing shipped in v4.2
- Three teams asked for annual pricing
RECOMMENDATION
OPEN QUESTIONS
SOURCES → PURPOSE → THE SECTION STAYS CURRENTIllustrative
Start with an example.
50 professional templates, with purposes, sections, criteria, and fictional examples already filled in. Preview one and adapt it to your work.
Small business
Rolling cashflow
Maintain a near-term cash view with explicit assumptions.
- Cash position
- Weekly cash movements
- Payment decisions
Professional services
New hire onboarding
Give a new employee a structured path to early confidence and contribution.
- Before the start date
- First-week access and people
- First-month contribution
Consumer services
Campaign brief
Give a campaign team a shared outcome, audience, message, and guardrails.
- Campaign objective
- Audience and message
- Deliverables and guardrails
Education
Lesson study
Plan, observe, and improve a lesson through a focused teaching inquiry.
- Learning question
- Research lesson design
- Observation evidence
Manufacturing
Manufacturing process improvement
Improve a process by defining the defect, flow, and testable countermeasure.
- Process and defect definition
- Baseline and causes
- Countermeasure trial
Already know its purpose?
Begin with a blank document01 / How it works
A document with
a job to do.
Follow the thread
01
The purpose comes first
Name what it’s for.
The rest follows.
A decision to make, a market to watch, a plan to keep honest. Tell the document and it proposes its own sections, each saying what a good answer needs—so it knows what belongs and what doesn’t.
PURPOSE → SECTIONS → CRITERIA
02
Each section keeps watch
Every section knows
what to watch.
A section follows the pages, searches, or other sections it depends on. Checking them is plain code on a schedule, and only a real change wakes that section’s agent to revise it, with its sources beside it.
INPUTS → SECTION AGENTS → CITATIONS
03
Still yours
You decide what
it becomes next.
Its agent proposes and you accept, unless you let it apply changes itself. Every run shows what it cost, within the budget you set. Edit any section yourself, any time, or hand the link to your own agent.
PROPOSAL → YOUR OK → THE NEXT VERSION
Keep our next
move informed.
PURPOSE
Understand what is changing in our market, so we can choose where to focus.
WHAT A GOOD ANSWER NEEDS
- Signals that change the decision
- Claims connected to evidence
- A useful next step
WHAT CHANGED[1]
A competitor has introduced a smaller team plan. Our small-team positioning may need a closer look.
Pricing page · example sourceAdd the new plan to the comparison and revisit our recommendation.
02 / Where it fits
Who keeps the
document current?
Each bar spans how much of a document’s upkeep a tool can take off your hands—from none on the left to all of it on the right. Open a row for the reasoning.
Pen & paperEntirely in your hands Pen & paper
You gather, connect, write, and revisit the information. A useful starting point when you want space to think.
Read the comparisonObsidianCore app Digital writing
The core app centers on local Markdown files and human-led knowledge work. Community plugins and external agents can extend this baseline.
Read the comparisonGemini NotebookFormerly NotebookLM AI assistance
A source-centered research workspace with cited answers and research tools. Deep Research can discover sources; source syncing is distinct from permission to maintain a finished document.
Read the comparisonDAWKAA document with an ongoing purpose Digital writing through Ongoing maintenance
Tell a document what it is for and it proposes its own sections. An agent per section keeps it current from the pages and searches it watches, proposing changes for you to review or applying them within a budget you set. You can also edit it directly, or hand its link to an agent you bring.
Read the comparisonNotionWith Custom Agents Digital writing through Full agents
Spans direct document editing and AI assistance through Custom Agents that run on schedules or events and act in permitted connected tools.
Read the comparisonCodaAI + automations Digital writing through Full agents
Combines human-led documents with AI content and configured automations. The right end represents connected Pack actions, not a claim that every automation is an autonomous agent.
Read the comparisonChatGPTIncluding Work AI assistance through Full agents
Ranges from conversational assistance to recurring delegated work with connected tools. Work can refresh existing artifacts, so its scope overlaps maintained documents.
Read the comparisonClaudeIncluding delegated work AI assistance through Full agents
Spans writing assistance, cited research, recurring tasks, and actions across connected tools. Claude Docs also supports living collaborative documents in beta.
Read the comparisonManusResearch followed by execution AI assistance through Full agents
General delegated workflows include parallel research, browser actions, and recurring updates to existing reports or dashboards. Actions depend on granted access and configuration.
Read the comparisonAn editorial map of workflows, not a quality score. Products overlap; permissions, plans, and integrations change their reach. Recurrence and autonomy are different: a scheduled workflow can still be tightly directed.
DAWKA covers the middle: you give the document its purpose, and its own agent keeps it current on the schedule and budget you set. You approve what changes.
An honest look at the alternativesStart with what it’s for
Name its purpose.
Keep it current.
Tell a new document what it’s forSign in, define its purpose, and generate a draft to review. Start maintenance when you are ready.
Whoever holds the link can edit,
so share it only with people and agents you trust.