Acceptance criteria translate a goal into observable conditions. They can describe required behavior, boundaries, error cases, performance, security or user outcomes and give developers and reviewers a shared basis for deciding whether work is done.
Coding agents benefit from criteria that are independently verifiable and divided across small phases. Criteria should state the desired outcome rather than overprescribe an implementation, leaving room for sound engineering while preventing ambiguous completion.
Acronyms and aliases
acceptance criteria variantdefinition of done variant
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
What makes acceptance criteria useful for artificial intelligence agents?
Clear criteria give the agent a bounded target and let independent checks determine whether the result meets the intended behavior.
How are acceptance criteria different from a task description?
A task description explains what to build, while acceptance criteria state the observable conditions that must be true for the result to be accepted.
