<strong>An open source toolkit that allows you to focus on product scenarios and predictable outcomes instead of vibe coding every piece from scratch.</strong>
Spec-Driven Development **flips the script** on traditional software development. For decades, code has been king — specifications were just scaffolding we built and discarded once the "real work" of coding began. Spec-Driven Development changes this: **specifications become executable**, directly generating working implementations rather than just guiding them.
Install once and use everywhere. Pin a specific release tag for stability (check [Releases](https://github.com/github/spec-kit/releases) for the latest):
If your environment blocks access to PyPI or GitHub, see the [Enterprise / Air-Gapped Installation](./docs/installation.md#enterprise--air-gapped-installation) guide for step-by-step instructions on using `pip download` to create portable, OS-specific wheel bundles on a connected machine.
Launch your AI assistant in the project directory. Most agents expose spec-kit as `/speckit.*` slash commands; Codex CLI in skills mode uses `$speckit-*` instead.
Use the **`/speckit.constitution`** command to create your project's governing principles and development guidelines that will guide all subsequent development.
/speckit.specify Build an application that can help me organize my photos in separate photo albums. Albums are grouped by date and can be re-organized by dragging and dropping on the main page. Albums are never in other nested albums. Within each album, photos are previewed in a tile-like interface.
/speckit.plan The application uses Vite with minimal number of libraries. Use vanilla HTML, CSS, and JavaScript as much as possible. Images are not uploaded anywhere and metadata is stored in a local SQLite database.
> Community extensions are independently created and maintained by their respective authors. GitHub and the Spec Kit maintainers may review pull requests that add entries to the community catalog for formatting, catalog structure, or policy compliance, but they do **not review, audit, endorse, or support the extension code itself**. The Community Extensions website is also a third-party resource. Review extension source code before installation and use at your own discretion.
| AI-Driven Engineering (AIDE) | A structured 7-step workflow for building new projects from scratch with AI assistants — from vision through implementation | `process` | Read+Write | [aide](https://github.com/mnriem/spec-kit-extensions/tree/main/aide) |
| Archive Extension | Archive merged features into main project memory. | `docs` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-archive](https://github.com/stn1slv/spec-kit-archive) |
| Azure DevOps Integration | Sync user stories and tasks to Azure DevOps work items using OAuth authentication | `integration` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-azure-devops](https://github.com/pragya247/spec-kit-azure-devops) |
| Checkpoint Extension | Commit the changes made during the middle of the implementation, so you don't end up with just one very large commit at the end | `code` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-checkpoint](https://github.com/aaronrsun/spec-kit-checkpoint) |
| Cleanup Extension | Post-implementation quality gate that reviews changes, fixes small issues (scout rule), creates tasks for medium issues, and generates analysis for large issues | `code` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-cleanup](https://github.com/dsrednicki/spec-kit-cleanup) |
| Fleet Orchestrator | Orchestrate a full feature lifecycle with human-in-the-loop gates across all SpecKit phases | `process` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-fleet](https://github.com/sharathsatish/spec-kit-fleet) |
| Iterate | Iterate on spec documents with a two-phase define-and-apply workflow — refine specs mid-implementation and go straight back to building | `docs` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-iterate](https://github.com/imviancagrace/spec-kit-iterate) |
| Jira Integration | Create Jira Epics, Stories, and Issues from spec-kit specifications and task breakdowns with configurable hierarchy and custom field support | `integration` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-jira](https://github.com/mbachorik/spec-kit-jira) |
| Learning Extension | Generate educational guides from implementations and enhance clarifications with mentoring context | `docs` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-learn](https://github.com/imviancagrace/spec-kit-learn) |
| MAQA Azure DevOps Integration | Azure DevOps Boards integration for MAQA — syncs User Stories and Task children as features progress | `integration` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-maqa-azure-devops](https://github.com/GenieRobot/spec-kit-maqa-azure-devops) |
| MAQA CI/CD Gate | Auto-detects GitHub Actions, CircleCI, GitLab CI, and Bitbucket Pipelines. Blocks QA handoff until pipeline is green. | `process` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-maqa-ci](https://github.com/GenieRobot/spec-kit-maqa-ci) |
| MAQA GitHub Projects Integration | GitHub Projects v2 integration for MAQA — syncs draft issues and Status columns as features progress | `integration` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-maqa-github-projects](https://github.com/GenieRobot/spec-kit-maqa-github-projects) |
| MAQA Jira Integration | Jira integration for MAQA — syncs Stories and Subtasks as features progress through the board | `integration` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-maqa-jira](https://github.com/GenieRobot/spec-kit-maqa-jira) |
| MAQA Linear Integration | Linear integration for MAQA — syncs issues and sub-issues across workflow states as features progress | `integration` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-maqa-linear](https://github.com/GenieRobot/spec-kit-maqa-linear) |
| Onboard | Contextual onboarding and progressive growth for developers new to spec-kit projects. Explains specs, maps dependencies, validates understanding, and guides the next step | `process` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-onboard](https://github.com/dmux/spec-kit-onboard) |
| Plan Review Gate | Require spec.md and plan.md to be merged via MR/PR before allowing task generation | `process` | Read-only | [spec-kit-plan-review-gate](https://github.com/luno/spec-kit-plan-review-gate) |
| Project Health Check | Diagnose a Spec Kit project and report health issues across structure, agents, features, scripts, extensions, and git | `visibility` | Read-only | [spec-kit-doctor](https://github.com/KhawarHabibKhan/spec-kit-doctor) |
| Project Status | Show current SDD workflow progress — active feature, artifact status, task completion, workflow phase, and extensions summary | `visibility` | Read-only | [spec-kit-status](https://github.com/KhawarHabibKhan/spec-kit-status) |
| Repository Index | Generate index for existing repo for overview, architecture and module level. | `docs` | Read-only | [spec-kit-repoindex](https://github.com/liuyiyu/spec-kit-repoindex) |
| Spec Refine | Update specs in-place, propagate changes to plan and tasks, and diff impact across artifacts | `process` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-refine](https://github.com/Quratulain-bilal/spec-kit-refine) |
| Spec Sync | Detect and resolve drift between specs and implementation. AI-assisted resolution with human approval | `docs` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-sync](https://github.com/bgervin/spec-kit-sync) |
| TinySpec | Lightweight single-file workflow for small tasks — skip the heavy multi-step SDD process | `process` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-tinyspec](https://github.com/Quratulain-bilal/spec-kit-tinyspec) |
| V-Model Extension Pack | Enforces V-Model paired generation of development specs and test specs with full traceability | `docs` | Read+Write | [spec-kit-v-model](https://github.com/leocamello/spec-kit-v-model) |
> Community presets are independently created and maintained by their respective authors. GitHub and the Spec Kit maintainers may review pull requests that add entries to the community catalog for formatting, catalog structure, or policy compliance, but they do **not review, audit, endorse, or support the preset code itself**. Review preset source code before installation and use at your own discretion.
The following community-contributed presets customize how Spec Kit behaves — overriding templates, commands, and terminology without changing any tooling. Presets are available in [`catalog.community.json`](presets/catalog.community.json):
| Canon Core | Adapts original Spec Kit workflow to work together with Canon extension | 2 templates, 8 commands | — | [spec-kit-canon](https://github.com/maximiliamus/spec-kit-canon) |
| VS Code Ask Questions | Enhances the clarify command to use `vscode/askQuestions` for batched interactive questioning. | 1 command | — | [spec-kit-presets](https://github.com/fdcastel/spec-kit-presets) |
> Community walkthroughs are independently created and maintained by their respective authors. They are **not reviewed, nor endorsed, nor supported by GitHub**. Review their content before following along and use at your own discretion.
See Spec-Driven Development in action across different scenarios with these community-contributed walkthroughs:
- **[Greenfield .NET CLI tool](https://github.com/mnriem/spec-kit-dotnet-cli-demo)** — Builds a Timezone Utility as a .NET single-binary CLI tool from a blank directory, covering the full spec-kit workflow: constitution, specify, plan, tasks, and multi-pass implement using GitHub Copilot agents.
- **[Greenfield Spring Boot + React platform](https://github.com/mnriem/spec-kit-spring-react-demo)** — Builds an LLM performance analytics platform (REST API, graphs, iteration tracking) from scratch using Spring Boot, embedded React, PostgreSQL, and Docker Compose, with a clarify step and a cross-artifact consistency analysis pass included.
- **[Brownfield ASP.NET CMS extension](https://github.com/mnriem/spec-kit-aspnet-brownfield-demo)** — Extends an existing open-source .NET CMS (CarrotCakeCMS-Core, ~307,000 lines of C#, Razor, SQL, JavaScript, and config files) with two new features — cross-platform Docker Compose infrastructure and a token-authenticated headless REST API — demonstrating how spec-kit fits into existing codebases without prior specs or a constitution.
- **[Brownfield Java runtime extension](https://github.com/mnriem/spec-kit-java-brownfield-demo)** — Extends an existing open-source Jakarta EE runtime (Piranha, ~420,000 lines of Java, XML, JSP, HTML, and config files across 180 Maven modules) with a password-protected Server Admin Console, demonstrating spec-kit on a large multi-module Java project with no prior specs or constitution.
- **[Brownfield Go / React dashboard demo](https://github.com/mnriem/spec-kit-go-brownfield-demo)** — Demonstrates spec-kit driven entirely from the **terminal using GitHub Copilot CLI**. Extends NASA's open-source Hermes ground support system (Go) with a lightweight React-based web telemetry dashboard, showing that the full constitution → specify → plan → tasks → implement workflow works from the terminal.
- **[Greenfield Spring Boot MVC with a custom preset](https://github.com/mnriem/spec-kit-pirate-speak-preset-demo)** — Builds a Spring Boot MVC application from scratch using a custom pirate-speak preset, demonstrating how presets can reshape the entire spec-kit experience: specifications become "Voyage Manifests," plans become "Battle Plans," and tasks become "Crew Assignments" — all generated in full pirate vernacular without changing any tooling.
- **[Greenfield Spring Boot + React with a custom extension](https://github.com/mnriem/spec-kit-aide-extension-demo)** — Walks through the **AIDE extension**, a community extension that adds an alternative spec-driven workflow to spec-kit with high-level specs (vision) and low-level specs (work items) organized in a 7-step iterative lifecycle: vision → roadmap → progress tracking → work queue → work items → execution → feedback loops. Uses a family trading platform (Spring Boot 4, React 19, PostgreSQL, Docker Compose) as the scenario to illustrate how the extension mechanism lets you plug in a different style of spec-driven development without changing any core tooling — truly utilizing the "Kit" in Spec Kit.
> Community projects listed here are independently created and maintained by their respective authors. They are **not reviewed, nor endorsed, nor supported by GitHub**. Review their source code before installation and use at your own discretion.
- **[cc-spex](https://github.com/rhuss/cc-spex)** - A Claude Code plugin that adds composable traits on top of Spec Kit with [Superpowers](https://github.com/obra/superpowers)-based quality gates, spec/code review, git worktree isolation, and parallel implementation via agent teams.
- **[Spec Kit Assistant](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=rfsales.speckit-assistant)** — A VS Code extension that provides a visual orchestrator for the full SDD workflow (constitution → specification → planning → tasks → implementation) with phase status visualization, an interactive task checklist, DAG visualization, and support for Claude, Gemini, GitHub Copilot, and OpenAI backends. Requires the `specify` CLI in your PATH.
- **[SpecKit Companion](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=alfredoperez.speckit-companion)** — A VS Code extension that brings a visual GUI to Spec Kit. Browse specs in a rich markdown viewer with clickable file references, create specifications with image attachments, comment and refine each step inline (GitHub-style review), track your progress through the SDD workflow with a visual phase stepper, and manage steering documents like constitutions and templates.
| [Codex CLI](https://github.com/openai/codex) | ✅ | Requires `--ai-skills`. Codex recommends [skills](https://developers.openai.com/codex/skills) and treats [custom prompts](https://developers.openai.com/codex/custom-prompts) as deprecated. Spec-kit installs Codex skills into `.agents/skills` and invokes them as `$speckit-<command>`. |
| [Pi Coding Agent](https://pi.dev) | ✅ | Pi doesn't have MCP support out of the box, so `taskstoissues` won't work as intended. MCP support can be added via [extensions](https://github.com/badlogic/pi-mono/tree/main/packages/coding-agent#extensions) |
After running `specify init`, your AI coding agent will have access to these slash commands for structured development. If you pass `--ai <agent> --ai-skills`, Spec Kit installs agent skills instead of slash-command prompt files; `--ai-skills` requires `--ai`.
#### Core Commands
Essential commands for the Spec-Driven Development workflow:
| `--ai-skills` | Flag | Install Prompt.MD templates as agent skills in agent-specific `skills/` directory (requires `--ai`). Extension commands are also auto-registered as skills when extensions are added later. |
| `SPECIFY_FEATURE` | Override feature detection for non-Git repositories. Set to the feature directory name (e.g., `001-photo-albums`) to work on a specific feature when not using Git branches.<br/>\*\*Must be set in the context of the agent you're working with prior to using `/speckit.plan` or follow-up commands. |
## 🧩 Making Spec Kit Your Own: Extensions & Presets
Spec Kit can be tailored to your needs through two complementary systems — **extensions** and **presets** — plus project-local overrides for one-off adjustments:
- **Templates** are resolved at **runtime** — Spec Kit walks the stack top-down and uses the first match.
- Project-local overrides (`.specify/templates/overrides/`) let you make one-off adjustments for a single project without creating a full preset.
- **Extension/preset commands** are applied at **install time** — when you run `specify extension add` or `specify preset add`, command files are written into agent directories (e.g., `.claude/commands/`).
- If multiple presets or extensions provide the same command, the highest-priority version wins. On removal, the next-highest-priority version is restored automatically.
- If no overrides or customizations exist, Spec Kit uses its core defaults.
Use **extensions** when you need functionality that goes beyond Spec Kit's core. Extensions introduce new commands and templates — for example, adding domain-specific workflows that are not covered by the built-in SDD commands, integrating with external tools, or adding entirely new development phases. They expand *what Spec Kit can do*.
```bash
# Search available extensions
specify extension search
# Install an extension
specify extension add <extension-name>
```
For example, extensions could add Jira integration, post-implementation code review, V-Model test traceability, or project health diagnostics.
See the [Extensions README](./extensions/README.md) for the full guide and how to build and publish your own. Browse the [community extensions](#-community-extensions) above for what's available.
Use **presets** when you want to change *how* Spec Kit works without adding new capabilities. Presets override the templates and commands that ship with the core *and* with installed extensions — for example, enforcing a compliance-oriented spec format, using domain-specific terminology, or applying organizational standards to plans and tasks. They customize the artifacts and instructions that Spec Kit and its extensions produce.
```bash
# Search available presets
specify preset search
# Install a preset
specify preset add <preset-name>
```
For example, presets could restructure spec templates to require regulatory traceability, adapt the workflow to fit the methodology you use (e.g., Agile, Kanban, Waterfall, jobs-to-be-done, or domain-driven design), add mandatory security review gates to plans, enforce test-first task ordering, or localize the entire workflow to a different language. The [pirate-speak demo](https://github.com/mnriem/spec-kit-pirate-speak-preset-demo) shows just how deep the customization can go. Multiple presets can be stacked with priority ordering.
See the [Presets README](./presets/README.md) for the full guide, including resolution order, priority, and how to create your own.
### When to Use Which
| Goal | Use |
| --- | --- |
| Add a brand-new command or workflow | Extension |
| Customize the format of specs, plans, or tasks | Preset |
| Integrate an external tool or service | Extension |
| Enforce organizational or regulatory standards | Preset |
| Ship reusable domain-specific templates | Either — presets for template overrides, extensions for templates bundled with new commands |
The CLI will check if you have Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Cursor CLI, Qwen CLI, opencode, Codex CLI, Qoder CLI, Tabnine CLI, Kiro CLI, Pi, Forge, or Mistral Vibe installed. If you do not, or you prefer to get the templates without checking for the right tools, use `--ignore-agent-tools` with your command:
You will know that things are configured correctly if you see the `/speckit.constitution`, `/speckit.specify`, `/speckit.plan`, `/speckit.tasks`, and `/speckit.implement` commands available.
The first step should be establishing your project's governing principles using the `/speckit.constitution` command. This helps ensure consistent decision-making throughout all subsequent development phases:
/speckit.constitution Create principles focused on code quality, testing standards, user experience consistency, and performance requirements. Include governance for how these principles should guide technical decisions and implementation choices.
This step creates or updates the `.specify/memory/constitution.md` file with your project's foundational guidelines that the AI agent will reference during specification, planning, and implementation phases.
With your project principles established, you can now create the functional specifications. Use the `/speckit.specify` command and then provide the concrete requirements for the project you want to develop.
Develop Taskify, a team productivity platform. It should allow users to create projects, add team members,
assign tasks, comment and move tasks between boards in Kanban style. In this initial phase for this feature,
let's call it "Create Taskify," let's have multiple users but the users will be declared ahead of time, predefined.
I want five users in two different categories, one product manager and four engineers. Let's create three
different sample projects. Let's have the standard Kanban columns for the status of each task, such as "To Do,"
"In Progress," "In Review," and "Done." There will be no login for this application as this is just the very
first testing thing to ensure that our basic features are set up. For each task in the UI for a task card,
you should be able to change the current status of the task between the different columns in the Kanban work board.
You should be able to leave an unlimited number of comments for a particular card. You should be able to, from that task
card, assign one of the valid users. When you first launch Taskify, it's going to give you a list of the five users to pick
from. There will be no password required. When you click on a user, you go into the main view, which displays the list of
projects. When you click on a project, you open the Kanban board for that project. You're going to see the columns.
You'll be able to drag and drop cards back and forth between different columns. You will see any cards that are
assigned to you, the currently logged in user, in a different color from all the other ones, so you can quickly
see yours. You can edit any comments that you make, but you can't edit comments that other people made. You can
delete any comments that you made, but you can't delete comments anybody else made.
```
After this prompt is entered, you should see Claude Code kick off the planning and spec drafting process. Claude Code will also trigger some of the built-in scripts to set up the repository.
Once this step is completed, you should have a new branch created (e.g., `001-create-taskify`), as well as a new specification in the `specs/001-create-taskify` directory.
The produced specification should contain a set of user stories and functional requirements, as defined in the template.
At this stage, your project folder contents should resemble the following:
With the baseline specification created, you can go ahead and clarify any of the requirements that were not captured properly within the first shot attempt.
You should run the structured clarification workflow **before** creating a technical plan to reduce rework downstream.
2. Optionally follow up with ad-hoc free-form refinement if something still feels vague.
If you intentionally want to skip clarification (e.g., spike or exploratory prototype), explicitly state that so the agent doesn't block on missing clarifications.
For each sample project or project that you create there should be a variable number of tasks between 5 and 15
tasks for each one randomly distributed into different states of completion. Make sure that there's at least
one task in each stage of completion.
```
You should also ask Claude Code to validate the **Review & Acceptance Checklist**, checking off the things that are validated/pass the requirements, and leave the ones that are not unchecked. The following prompt can be used:
```text
Read the review and acceptance checklist, and check off each item in the checklist if the feature spec meets the criteria. Leave it empty if it does not.
```
It's important to use the interaction with Claude Code as an opportunity to clarify and ask questions around the specification - **do not treat its first attempt as final**.
You can now be specific about the tech stack and other technical requirements. You can use the `/speckit.plan` command that is built into the project template with a prompt like this:
Check the `research.md` document to ensure that the right tech stack is used, based on your instructions. You can ask Claude Code to refine it if any of the components stand out, or even have it check the locally-installed version of the platform/framework you want to use (e.g., .NET).
Additionally, you might want to ask Claude Code to research details about the chosen tech stack if it's something that is rapidly changing (e.g., .NET Aspire, JS frameworks), with a prompt like this:
```text
I want you to go through the implementation plan and implementation details, looking for areas that could
benefit from additional research as .NET Aspire is a rapidly changing library. For those areas that you identify that
require further research, I want you to update the research document with additional details about the specific
versions that we are going to be using in this Taskify application and spawn parallel research tasks to clarify
any details using research from the web.
```
During this process, you might find that Claude Code gets stuck researching the wrong thing - you can help nudge it in the right direction with a prompt like this:
```text
I think we need to break this down into a series of steps. First, identify a list of tasks
that you would need to do during implementation that you're not sure of or would benefit
from further research. Write down a list of those tasks. And then for each one of these tasks,
I want you to spin up a separate research task so that the net results is we are researching
all of those very specific tasks in parallel. What I saw you doing was it looks like you were
researching .NET Aspire in general and I don't think that's gonna do much for us in this case.
That's way too untargeted research. The research needs to help you solve a specific targeted question.
With the plan in place, you should have Claude Code run through it to make sure that there are no missing pieces. You can use a prompt like this:
```text
Now I want you to go and audit the implementation plan and the implementation detail files.
Read through it with an eye on determining whether or not there is a sequence of tasks that you need
to be doing that are obvious from reading this. Because I don't know if there's enough here. For example,
when I look at the core implementation, it would be useful to reference the appropriate places in the implementation
details where it can find the information as it walks through each step in the core implementation or in the refinement.
```
This helps refine the implementation plan and helps you avoid potential blind spots that Claude Code missed in its planning cycle. Once the initial refinement pass is complete, ask Claude Code to go through the checklist once more before you can get to the implementation.
You can also ask Claude Code (if you have the [GitHub CLI](https://docs.github.com/en/github-cli/github-cli) installed) to go ahead and create a pull request from your current branch to `main` with a detailed description, to make sure that the effort is properly tracked.
> Before you have the agent implement it, it's also worth prompting Claude Code to cross-check the details to see if there are any over-engineered pieces (remember - it can be over-eager). If over-engineered components or decisions exist, you can ask Claude Code to resolve them. Ensure that Claude Code follows the [constitution](base/memory/constitution.md) as the foundational piece that it must adhere to when establishing the plan.
### **STEP 6:** Generate task breakdown with /speckit.tasks
With the implementation plan validated, you can now break down the plan into specific, actionable tasks that can be executed in the correct order. Use the `/speckit.tasks` command to automatically generate a detailed task breakdown from your implementation plan:
```text
/speckit.tasks
```
This step creates a `tasks.md` file in your feature specification directory that contains:
- **Task breakdown organized by user story** - Each user story becomes a separate implementation phase with its own set of tasks
- **Dependency management** - Tasks are ordered to respect dependencies between components (e.g., models before services, services before endpoints)
- **Parallel execution markers** - Tasks that can run in parallel are marked with `[P]` to optimize development workflow
- **File path specifications** - Each task includes the exact file paths where implementation should occur
- **Test-driven development structure** - If tests are requested, test tasks are included and ordered to be written before implementation
- **Checkpoint validation** - Each user story phase includes checkpoints to validate independent functionality
The generated tasks.md provides a clear roadmap for the `/speckit.implement` command, ensuring systematic implementation that maintains code quality and allows for incremental delivery of user stories.
Once the implementation is complete, test the application and resolve any runtime errors that may not be visible in CLI logs (e.g., browser console errors). You can copy and paste such errors back to your AI agent for resolution.
For support, please open a [GitHub issue](https://github.com/github/spec-kit/issues/new). We welcome bug reports, feature requests, and questions about using Spec-Driven Development.
