Technical Requirements Document (TRD)

Overview

A Technical Requirements Document (TRD) defines how a system or feature will be built. It translates the product requirements from the PRD into concrete technical specifications -- architecture, APIs, data models, security controls, performance targets, and deployment strategy. The TRD is the engineering team's blueprint for implementation.

The TRD sits downstream of the PRD and upstream of implementation:

PRD ("What are we building?") --> TRD ("How do we build it?") --> Implementation + ADRs

Standard TRD Structure

1. Title and Metadata

Document identification, ownership, and status tracking.

2. System Overview

High-level description of the system, its purpose, and how it fits into the broader architecture.