Show HN: ReqText – Create and Manage PRDs as a Local Markdown File

10 hours ago 3

Plan your project in Markdown — and let ReqText handle the structure.ReqText turns a simple Markdown file into a live, editable project outline.Numbering, hierarchy, and status are updated automatically — right in your editor or terminal.

Your Markdown file is the single source of truth. ReqText’s CLI and terminal editor keep it clean, versioned, and always up to date.

Quick Start:

Node.js Download Node.js

Copy the following command to install ReqText, initialize a new project and launch the terminal tree editor!

npm install reqtext && npx reqt init "My Project" && npx reqt editor

Both reqtext and reqt are valid commands. For convenience, reqt is the preferred shorthand.

Please see the Contributing Guide for details on how to contribute to ReqText.

Note from Fred: I'm building ReqText based on how I work, but I want to know how you work too! If you have ideas for features or improvements, please try out the tool and open an issue on GitHub. I want to make ReqText the best tool it can be for managing requirements.

The terminal editor provides an interactive tree view to create, navigate, and structure your .reqt items. It's the primary interface for building your requirement hierarchy quickly and visually.

Sample Tree View from reqt editor

0: ReqText_Demo - IN DEV ├── 0.1: Design Level Reqts - DESIGN ├── 0.2: AI Instruction Level - INSTRUCT ├── 1: Feature 1 - IN DEV │ └── 1.1: Requirement 1 - IN DEV │ └── 1.2.1: Design Detail - DESIGN └── 2: Feature 2 - PLANNED

Note: The selected item is highlighted and can be navigated using the arrow keys. You can add, delete, and edit items directly from this view.

Command line interface (CLI) for ReqText provides a set of commands to manage your requirements project, including initialization, item management, and README generation.

Project name can be entered in "" or with spaces, the init command will replace spaces with underscores.

The init command will create a .reqt directory in your root that will hold the following files: - config.reqt.json - The config file for the project - itemTemplate.reqt.json - The template for new items. This can be edited at any time, but will not back populate existing items unless exported to markdown and imported back. - .reqt.json - A data back up of your project.

.reqt.md - The Source of truth for the project in your root directory.

Command Description

version, --version, -v	Show version number
help, --help, -h	Show help text
init <project name>	Initialize a new ReqText project
editor	Launch the interactive terminal editor
clean, -c	Ensure all items have a valid reqt_id.

Note: The main purpose of clean is if an AI coding tool adds an item directly in your markdown file. clean will ensure all items have a valid reqt_id.

Command Description Usage Example

add-item, -a	Add an item to the end of the project	reqt add-item "New Item"
add-after, -aa	Add an item after a specific outline ID	reqt add-after 1.2 "New Subitem"
delete, -d	Delete an item by outline number	reqt delete 1.3
make-children, -mc	Demote an item (and its children)	reqt make-children 1.2
make-sibling, -ms	Promote an item (and its children)	reqt make-sibling 1.2
edit-title, -et	Edit the title of an item by outline ID	reqt edit-title 1.2 "Updated Title"
set-status, -ss	Set the status of an item	reqt set-status 1.2 NEW

Command Description

generate-readme, -grm	Generate README.md from the .reqt.json source of truth

The generation is driven by the README field in the .reqt.md.

To exclude an item from the README generation, set the README field to exclude.

ReqText Terminal Tree Editor Key Bindings

Key Action

↑ / ↓	Navigate requirements
k / j	Move item up/down
→ / ←	Demote/Promote (indent/outdent)
a	Add new item after current
d	Delete selected item
e	Edit item title
r	Reload data
q / Ctrl+C	Quit and clear console