Guide

Creating Features

Learn how to create features manually with all the details your team needs

5 min read

What you'll learn

Navigate to the features list for your project
Create a new feature using the creation form
Fill in title, intent, requirements, and scope
Set priority and category for better organization

Overview

Features are the building blocks of your project in AlphaTales. Each feature represents a distinct piece of functionality that your product will deliver. This guide walks you through creating a feature manually, filling in all the relevant fields, and saving it to your project.

Navigate to Features

Open your project and select Features from the project sidebar. The features list shows all existing features with their status, priority, category, and assignee. If no features exist yet, you will see an empty state prompting you to create your first feature.

Create a New Feature

Click the Create Feature button (or the + button) in the features list toolbar. This opens the feature creation form.

Feature Title

Enter a clear, concise title that describes the feature. The title is the only required field. Choose a name that your team will immediately understand, such as "User Authentication Flow" or "Dashboard Analytics Charts."

Feature Intent

The intent field describes the purpose of the feature -- what problem it solves, who it is for, and why it exists. This field accepts free-form text and helps provide context for everyone working on or reviewing the feature.

Tip: A well-written feature intent answers three questions: What does this feature do? Who benefits from it? Why is it needed now?

Functional Requirements

Add functional requirements as a list of testable statements written in plain language. Each requirement should describe a specific behavior the feature must exhibit. For example: "Users can reset their password via email link."

Acceptance Checks

Acceptance checks are binary, testable conditions that determine whether the feature is complete. These are similar to a definition of done. For example: "Password reset email is received within 60 seconds."

Setting Priority and Category

Priority

Set the feature priority to help your team understand what to work on first:

High -- Critical for the next release or milestone.
Medium -- Important but not blocking other work.
Low -- Nice to have, can be deferred.

Defining Scope

In Scope

List what this feature explicitly includes. Each item should be a clear statement of something the feature will deliver. This helps prevent scope creep by making boundaries visible.

Out of Scope

List what this feature explicitly excludes. Defining out-of-scope items upfront avoids misunderstandings during development and review.

Warning: Leaving scope undefined can lead to feature creep. Even a few items in the out-of-scope list help set clear boundaries for your team.

Saving the Feature

Click Save or Create to save the feature. It appears in your features list with the status and details you provided. From here, you can open the feature detail page to add more information, assign team members, or start a discussion.

Next Steps

After creating features manually, consider using AI Feature Generation to quickly produce multiple feature suggestions based on your project context. You can also open any feature to manage its full details, track status, and collaborate with your team.