checklist · amigos 45-minute agenda

Amigos · 45-minute agenda

Read in 30 seconds before the session. Set the timer. The session is bounded; if 45 minutes is not enough, the story is too large.

TIP

The PO holds the timer. Each segment is short on purpose — overrun is the signal that the story needs splitting, not extending. Each item carries a because: link.

Before the session

• [ ] The story passes DoR before amigos.because: amigos is not for surfacing every DoR gap — Practice
• [ ] All three roles present. Two roles is not amigos. Reschedule. because: the third role catches the gap the other two would have shipped — Canon
• [ ] Each role has read the brief before walking in.because: sessions where one role reads during run 1.5× longer — Evidence · Practice

The 45 minutes

Minute	Action	Lead	because:
0–5	PO reads story aloud · journey on screen	PO	The trio sees the moment
5–15	Walk the states section together	All	States ship late if missed at scope
15–30	Write Gherkin collaboratively	QA leads Then, Dev leads When, PO leads Given	Each role brings what others cannot
30–40	Attack each scenario · where else does this break?	QA leads	Resistance is the discipline
40–45	Sign-off · three signatures	All	The story is amigos-complete

At sign-off, all three confirm

• [ ] ≥3 Gherkin scenarios written, at least one negative case.because: stories without negatives ship features that break on second use — Practice · Story writing
• [ ] Every Given names the person's situation, not system state.because: Gherkin that loses the person becomes Gherkin QA cannot defend — Canon
• [ ] No scenario describes implementation.because: scenarios constrain behaviour; the developer chooses the how — Practice · Step 5
• [ ] Three signatures.because: two-role amigos is not amigos — see above

Honest outcomes

The session ends in one of three ways. Name which.

• [ ] Story ready. Sign and proceed to sprint.
• [ ] Story too large. Split. Both halves return to amigos.
• [ ] Brief is wrong. Send story back to Feature Brief level. Rare and important.

because: amigos is the chain's last cheap discovery checkpoint before code — Canon

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If 45 minutes was not enough, do not extend. The story is too large. Split it.

See also

• Practice — Holding amigos
• Template — Gherkin scenario set
• Canon — What We Shape · Amigos & Gherkin
• Clinic — A story without a state