prd-06-admin-config

PRD Admin Config

Purpose

Define backend and operations controls only when they are required for launch, safety, or maintainability.

The default stance is conservative: no admin feature should be added unless it protects launch, reduces real operational risk, or is explicitly required by the business.

Inputs

• Business boundary.
• Rule model.
• Page and flow specs.
• Known operations process, if available.

Process

1. Identify operations actions required for this version.
2. Identify configuration values that cannot safely be hardcoded.
3. Identify emergency controls.
4. Identify admin validation and operation logs.
5. Split admin requirements into Must-have, Can hardcode this version, and Later.

Admin config rules

• Do not add a config item just because it might be useful someday.
• For every config item, explain the cost of not having it.
• Prefer hardcoded defaults when the value is stable and the launch risk is low.
• Add operation logs when manual actions can affect user rights, money, resources, rankings, or eligibility.
• If operations can misconfigure something harmful, specify validation or confirmation.
• If this version does not need admin or operations controls, say so explicitly and keep the artifact short.
• Do not fill admin tables with speculative modules just to make the section look complete.
• Do not create an admin page merely because a value exists. A page is justified only when a named operator must inspect or change the value during launch, rollback, compliance review, or routine operations.
• If a value is still a product, data, legal, or technical decision, do not mark it as configurable as a way to postpone the decision. Choose a conservative default when responsible; otherwise send it back to the owning stage.
• Prefer emergency kill switches and narrow safety controls over broad manual tuning surfaces.

Challenge pass

Before handing off to data and acceptance:

1. For each config item, ask whether the feature can launch safely with a hardcoded value.
2. For each admin page or module, name the real operator action it enables.
3. For each manual action, name the harm caused by a wrong operation.
4. Delete or defer any config whose main purpose is "future flexibility".
5. If an admin item exists because a rule is undecided, return to prd-03-rule-modeler or prd-02-business-boundary instead of adding a setting. If the decision cannot be resolved from existing evidence with high confidence, ask the user before handing off.