AsyncStandup Bot

Productivity

Original Idea

Async Standup Bot A Slack/Discord bot that collects daily standups asynchronously across time zones, threads discussions, and surfaces blockers to the right people without another meeting.

Product Requirements Document (PRD): AsyncStandup Bot (v2026.1)

1. Executive Summary

The AsyncStandup Bot is a cross-platform (Slack/Discord) productivity tool designed for high-performance distributed teams. By automating status collection across time zones, utilizing AI to summarize progress, and surfacing blockers via smart integrations (Jira/GitHub), the bot eliminates the need for daily synchronous meetings. It empowers teams to protect "Deep Work" time while ensuring transparency and alignment through an asynchronous, threaded communication model.

2. Problem Statement

Distributed teams in 2026 face significant "meeting fatigue." Synchronous daily standups are often:

  1. Time-Zone Hostile: Forcing members in APAC and EMEA to join late at night or early in the morning.
  2. Low Signal-to-Noise: Spending 15 minutes to hear 2 minutes of relevant updates.
  3. Disconnected from Work: Status updates are manual and often diverge from actual Jira tickets or GitHub PR activity.
  4. Ephemeral: Blockers discussed in meetings are often forgotten if not immediately documented.

3. Goals & Success Metrics

  • Goal 1: Reduce total time spent in synchronous standup meetings by 80%.
  • Goal 2: Increase developer "Deep Work" blocks by 2+ hours daily.
  • Goal 3: Provide 100% visibility on blockers within 30 minutes of them being reported.

Success Metrics (KPIs)

  • Participation Rate: % of active users submitting daily updates (Target: >90%).
  • Blocker Resolution Velocity: Average time from blocker flag to "Resolved" status.
  • Sentiment Score: Weekly team health average via AI analysis (Target: >4.0/5.0).
  • Integration Accuracy: % of standup entries that correctly link to a Jira/GitHub entity.

4. User Personas

| Persona | Pain Point | Goal | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Sarah (Engineering Manager) | Can't attend 3 different standups for 3 sub-teams. | Get a 1-minute high-level summary of all teams and blockers. | | David (Senior Developer) | Standups interrupt his peak "flow" state at 10:00 AM. | Submit updates at his own pace; see what colleagues are doing without a meeting. | | Alex (Product Owner) | Needs to know if features are on track without "pestering" devs. | Real-time visibility into Jira ticket progress via standup automation. |

5. User Stories

  • As a Developer, I want the bot to prompt me at my local 9:00 AM so I don't have to remember to post.
  • As a Developer, I want my recent GitHub PRs to be suggested in the update so I don't have to type everything manually.
  • As an EM, I want to receive an "Urgent Blocker" DM the moment a team member flags one.
  • As a Team Member, I want a "Weekly AI Wrap-up" so I can see what we accomplished without scrolling through 5 days of chat history.

6. Functional Requirements

6.1. Standup Engine

  • Timezone-Aware Scheduling: Support for individual user local times using the Temporal API.
  • Multi-Platform Support: Native integration with Slack Block Kit and Discord Embeds via a Hexagonal Architecture.
  • Customizable Templates: Admins can define question sets (e.g., "Yesterday," "Today," "Blockers," "Vibe Check").

6.2. AI & Summarization

  • Threaded Aggregation: Automate the creation of a daily summary post where individual updates are nested as threads.
  • AI Synthesis: Use LlamaIndex + GPT-5.1 to generate a 3-sentence executive summary of the team's daily progress.
  • Action Item Extraction: Automatically detect and format "To-Do" items mentioned in text.

6.3. Integrations (MCP-Powered)

  • GitHub/Jira Context: Use the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to fetch the last 24h of PRs and tickets for the user to select and include in their update.
  • Calendar Sync: Detect "Out of Office" or "Holiday" status via Google/Outlook API and skip prompts automatically.

7. Technical Requirements

7.1. Tech Stack (2026 Standards)

  • Backend: Node.js v24.13.0 (LTS) with Express v5.2.1.
  • Frontend (Dashboard): React v19.2.3 and Tailwind CSS v4.1.18.
  • Database: PostgreSQL with ltree extension for hierarchical threading and Row-Level Security (RLS).
  • Scheduling: Croner for in-memory scheduling with AWS EventBridge Scheduler for serverless persistence.
  • Infrastructure: AWS Lambda (with SnapStart), SQS (Provisioned Mode), and RDS Proxy.

7.2. Architecture

  • Pattern: Ports & Adapters (Hexagonal). Core logic is agnostic of messaging platform.
  • Messaging: SQS-first ingestion to handle Slack's 3-second timeout requirement.

8. Data Model

Workspace

  • workspace_id: UUID (PK)
  • platform: Enum (Slack, Discord)
  • access_token: Encrypted (DPoP-bound)
  • settings: JSONB (Default prompt times, enabled integrations)

StandupSubmission

  • submission_id: UUID (PK)
  • user_id: UUID (FK)
  • workspace_id: UUID (FK)
  • content: JSONB (Answers to questions)
  • thread_path: ltree (e.g., StandupDay_2026_01_20.User_123)
  • has_blockers: Boolean
  • external_refs: Array (Jira IDs, GitHub PR links)

9. API Specification (Internal)

POST /v1/events/slack

  • Description: Receives webhooks from Slack.
  • Security: Validates X-Slack-Signature.
  • Payload: Slack Event Wrapper.
  • Response: 200 OK (Immediate, moves processing to SQS).

GET /v1/analytics/participation

  • Query Params: workspace_id, start_date, end_date.
  • Response: 
    {
  "period": "2026-W03",
  "completion_rate": 0.94,
  "blockers_raised": 5,
  "avg_response_time": "14m"
}

10. UI/UX Requirements

  • The Dashboard: "Bento Box" style modular grid.
  • Visual Style: High-density, dark-mode first.
  • Charts: Accessible Tremor components with keyboard navigation (Arrow key support for data points).
  • The Bot UI:
    • Slack: Uses Modal views for submission.
    • Discord: Uses Slash commands and ephemeral responses.

11. Non-Functional Requirements

  • Performance: 99th percentile response time < 500ms for the "Gatekeeper" Lambda.
  • Security: OAuth 2.1 compliance with PKCE. Mandatory token rotation every 12 hours.
  • Isolation: Row-Level Security (RLS) ensuring Workspace A cannot see Workspace B data.
  • Accessibility: WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance for the analytics dashboard.

12. Out of Scope

  • Live video/audio recording within the bot.
  • Full project management features (replacing Jira).
  • Direct payroll or HRIS integrations.

13. Risks & Mitigations

| Risk | Impact | Mitigation | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Slack Rate Limits | High | Use EventBridge API Destinations to throttle outbound messages to 1 req/sec. | | AI Hallucination | Medium | Provide "Source Links" next to AI summaries so users can verify the raw data. | | Clock Drift/DST | Low | Standardize all backend operations on UTC and use Temporal API for local TZ conversions. |

14. Implementation Tasks

Phase 1: Project Setup & Core Infra

  • [ ] Initialize Node.js v24.13.0 project with ESM.
  • [ ] Set up Express v5.2.1 with TypeScript 5.x.
  • [ ] Configure Tailwind CSS v4.1.18 with the new CSS-first engine.
  • [ ] Provision AWS RDS instance with PostgreSQL and enable ltree extension.
  • [ ] Implement Row-Level Security (RLS) middleware for tenant isolation.

Phase 2: Multi-Platform Bot Architecture

  • [ ] Create IMessagingAdapter interface for platform agnosticism.
  • [ ] Implement Slack Adapter using @slack/bolt (v2026 update).
  • [ ] Implement Discord Adapter using discord.js.
  • [ ] Set up AWS SQS FIFO queues for event ingestion.
  • [ ] Build the "Gatekeeper" Lambda with SnapStart enabled to handle 3s timeout.

Phase 3: Standup Logic & Timezone Engine

  • [ ] Implement scheduling logic using Croner and Temporal.ZonedDateTime.
  • [ ] Create the "Master Cron" hourly sweep for 9:00 AM local time detection.
  • [ ] Build the dynamic form builder for standup questions.
  • [ ] Implement the Submission logic with ltree for threaded channel posting.

Phase 4: AI & External Integrations

  • [ ] Integrate LlamaIndex with GPT-5.1 for summary generation.
  • [ ] Set up Model Context Protocol (MCP) clients for Jira and GitHub.
  • [ ] Build the context-fetching service to suggest recent PRs to users.
  • [ ] Implement blocker detection and automated DM alerts to team leads.

Phase 5: Analytics Dashboard (Bento UI)

  • [ ] Build React 19 dashboard using Server Components.
  • [ ] Implement Bento Box layout using Tailwind v4 Grid.
  • [ ] Integrate Tremor charts with keyboard accessibility support.
  • [ ] Set up OAuth 2.1 flow with PKCE for dashboard login.

Phase 6: Compliance & Launch

  • [ ] Implement SOC2-compliant logging via AWS CloudWatch.
  • [ ] Perform internal penetration test on OAuth flow.
  • [ ] Conduct accessibility audit (WCAG 2.1 AA).
  • [ ] Deploy to AWS Production environment using Graviton4 instances.