Halakhot Pesukot generally follows the order of the Talmud, only occasionally combining isolated or scattered halakhot. The author makes use of the halakhic Midrashim and the Tosefta and there are a few quotations from the Jerusalem Talmud and the Sefer ha-Ma’asim. In addition there are cited many explanations and traditions of the savoraim handed down by the geonim, and mention is made of some of the scholars belonging to the period of the savoraim. Although much of the material in the Pesukot Halakhot corresponds to that of the She'iltot of R. Aha and it is therefore probable that the author utilized it, it is also possible that both drew upon a common source, a collection of early interpretations available in the academy. Although the geonim ascribe the work to R. Yehudai Gaon, it should not be assumed that he compiled it himself. In order to explain away the fact that many of the halakhot in the Halakhot Pesukot differed from the accepted halakhah, the geonim and rishonim propagated the tradition that Yehudai was blind and that his disciples wrote the work ascribed to him. Yehudai is in fact frequently mentioned in the work, generally as rosh metivta, and his son, Joseph, is also mentioned once in the Hilkhot Re’u, the Hebrew translation of the work. The translation, executed in Erez Israel, is the first of halakhic material from Aramaic into Hebrew to survive. Its literary standard is not high and many passages which it was difficult to translate were left in the original Aramaic. The translation contains many of the peculiarities of the style and script characteristic of the Jerusalem Talmud and the Sefer ha-Ma'asim. In consequence of this work, Yehudai achieved a reputation enjoyed by few in his time. Pirkoi ben Baboi, his pupil, says of his master, "for many years there has been none like him... and he never said anything that he had not heard from his teacher... and Mar Yehudai of blessed memory added, 'I have never given any answer to a question for which there was no proof from the Talmud and I learned the law from my teacher, who had it from his own teacher.'" The intent of the above is apparently to emphasize the fact that the work is based on the two pillars of Talmud and tradition and, indeed, it contains no independent views, giving only the words of the talmudic sages or the traditions of the savoraim and early geonim.

Halakhot Pesukot filled a great need. Yehudai was in constant contact with the communities outside Babylon which turned to him with halakhic problems, and his realization that not every one could find his way in the Talmud, and that it was impossible to turn to the geonim with every problem, led him to take on himself the task of giving the essence of the Talmud, the halakhic conclusion without the involved discussion. The work became indispensable almost as soon as it appeared, "most people turning to the digested halakhot saying, 'what concern have we with the Talmud?'" Paltoi, the gaon of Pumbedita, opposed this practice, fearing it would cause people to abandon the study of Torah (Hemdah Genuzah, no. 110).