Working with Briefs
Briefs are build specs generated for each priority.
Brief Sections
Every brief contains 5 sections:
1. What to Build
Clear, actionable task statement. One sentence describing exactly what to implement.
2. Why It Matters
Business context - who's affected, revenue impact, urgency level.
3. Customer Voice
Real quotes from feedback:
- Key Quote - The most impactful verbatim quote (5-20 words)
- Supporting Quotes - 3 additional quotes with user type and emotion
4. Files to Touch
Suggested code locations (requires GitHub connection):
- File paths with (new) or (modify) labels
- Based on your connected repository structure
5. Done When
Clear exit criteria: what defines success.
Briefs may also include conditional sections when relevant:
- What Circuit Remembers — previous ships, corrections and related context (see Memory)
- Competitive Context — when customers mention competitors, a short summary of who and why
Brief Status
| Status | Meaning | Next Action |
|---|---|---|
| Ready | Waiting for action | Start building |
| Building | In progress | Complete and ship |
| Shipped | Complete | Customers notified |
Working with Briefs
View a brief: Click any priority to expand and see the brief inline.
Edit a brief: Click the edit icon to open the full brief in an editor. Make your changes, then click Save to apply. Changes are saved as a new version.
Refresh brief: Click the refresh icon to regenerate with the latest feedback data. A Refresh badge appears automatically when new feedback has changed the scope since the brief was last generated.
Version history: Click V1, V2, etc. to compare previous versions. Two triggers create a new version: new feedback arriving on a shipped brief (automatic) or you editing or refreshing a brief (manual). All versions are kept indefinitely.
Export to coding tools:
- Click Copy to grab the brief, then paste into your coding tool (Cursor, Claude Code, etc.)
Export as markdown:
- Click Export on any brief to download as a markdown file
- Or use batch export: select multiple priorities from the list, then click Export to download all their briefs at once
Keyboard navigation:
- ← → arrow keys to move between briefs
- Enter to expand a priority
What Briefs Remember
After a few ships, briefs show what Circuit remembers: previous ships, corrections and related context. If the team has shipped something similar before, the brief surfaces it. This helps avoid duplicate work and build on past decisions.
See the Memory article for how this works.
What Happens When You Ship
When you click "Mark as Shipped", the Share Back dialog opens.
1. Choose your channels
| Channel | What happens |
|---|---|
| Branded notification sent to eligible customers | |
| Widget banner | Banner shown in the float widget for returning visitors |
| Both | Email + widget banner (default) |
2. Review recipients
The dialog lists every customer eligible for notification — those who submitted via widget with an email on file. Each shows their email, name (if available) and a feedback snippet. Uncheck any recipient to skip them individually.
Click Skip to send nothing and keep the brief as Shipped without notifying anyone.
3. Customise the email
Notification emails use your workspace branding: company name, logo URL, accent colour, footer text and sender display name. Configure in Settings → Integrations → Widget → Notification branding. Without custom branding, Circuit's default styling applies.
4. Status changes to Shared
After sending, the brief moves to Shared — the final stage in the pipeline. Shared means the feature shipped and customers were notified.
A ship memory is recorded at this point: theme, volume and customer segment at time of ship. This is what Circuit learns from over time.