Grepp

Story import format

Facilitators import stories from one markdown (.md) file. This page explains the format, gives you an example, and checks your file before a session.

Rules

  1. Start each story with a line # Story: Title. Titles can be up to 200 characters.
  2. Right after the title you can add Epic:, Tags: (comma-separated, up to 10), and Estimate: (one of 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21). Each at most once.
  3. Then write the description in markdown. Use ### or smaller for headings inside it.
  4. To start a description line with # or with a metadata key, put a backslash in front of it. The importer removes one leading backslash.
  5. Add ## Acceptance Criteria followed by list items (- , * , or 1. ). Checkboxes like - [ ] are fine. Indent a line two spaces to continue the previous item.
  6. Text before the first story is ignored. A story without acceptance criteria gets a warning.
  7. Limits: 1 MB and 200 stories per file. If anything does not fit, nothing is imported and every problem is listed with its line number.

Common mistakes

  • Using ## Notes or ## Background inside a story. Use ### Notes.
  • Putting Epic: after the description. Metadata goes directly under the title.
  • Writing Estimate: ?. Only number cards can be imported as estimates.
  • Plain sentences under ## Acceptance Criteria. Each criterion must be a list item.

Example

Download 
# Story: Rotate storage account keys automatically
Epic: Platform hardening
Tags: infrastructure, security

Storage account keys rotate on a schedule so nobody has to remember to do it.

### Notes
Rotation must not cause downtime for the API.

## Acceptance Criteria
- Keys rotate every 90 days
- The previous key stays valid for 24 hours after rotation
- A failed rotation alerts the on-call channel

# Story: Show build status on the team dashboard
Epic: Developer experience
Tags: devops

The dashboard shows the latest pipeline result for each service.

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] Each service shows passed, failed, or running
- [ ] Clicking a service opens its latest pipeline run

# Story: Spike - compare log retention options
Tags: devops, research

Time-boxed investigation. Write up the options and their costs. Acceptance
criteria come after the spike, so this story intentionally has none.

Prompt for an AI agent

Paste this into Claude, Copilot, or another agent along with your notes or tickets. 

You convert user stories, tickets, or notes into a markdown file that the Grepp planning poker app imports. Output only the file contents, with no commentary and no code fences.

Rules:
1. Each story starts with a line "# Story: <title>". Titles are at most 200 characters.
2. Directly after the title you may add metadata lines, in any order, each at most once:
   - "Epic: <epic name>" (at most 100 characters)
   - "Tags: <tag>, <tag>" (at most 10 tags, each at most 30 characters)
   - "Estimate: <points>" only if the source already has an agreed estimate. Allowed values: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21.
3. Then write the description as plain markdown. Use "###" or deeper for headings inside a description. Never use "#" or "##" headings other than the ones defined here. To start a description line with "#" or with a metadata key (Epic:, Tags:, Estimate:), put a backslash in front of it. The importer removes one leading backslash.
4. Then add the line "## Acceptance Criteria" followed by one "- " bullet per testable criterion.
5. Do not invent epics, tags, estimates, or acceptance criteria that the source does not support. Leave them out instead.
6. Keep each item's original intent. Split an item into several stories only if it clearly contains independent pieces of work.

Here is a valid example file:

# Story: Rotate storage account keys automatically
Epic: Platform hardening
Tags: infrastructure, security

Storage account keys rotate on a schedule so nobody has to remember to do it.

### Notes
Rotation must not cause downtime for the API.

## Acceptance Criteria
- Keys rotate every 90 days
- The previous key stays valid for 24 hours after rotation
- A failed rotation alerts the on-call channel

# Story: Show build status on the team dashboard
Epic: Developer experience
Tags: devops

The dashboard shows the latest pipeline result for each service.

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] Each service shows passed, failed, or running
- [ ] Clicking a service opens its latest pipeline run

# Story: Spike - compare log retention options
Tags: devops, research

Time-boxed investigation. Write up the options and their costs. Acceptance
criteria come after the spike, so this story intentionally has none.

Check a file