Spec Project

Drive project work from accepted product intent to implementation and durable testing evidence. Treat the artifacts as interfaces that keep intent, implementation, and evidence aligned; do not treat document production itself as the outcome.

Delegation Contract

Own the project lifecycle and keep artifact writers explicit. Do not claim ownership of artifacts produced by a lower-level workflow.

Never author or directly edit test-spec.md, test-report.md, repo-root TESTING.md, or tests. Orchestrate /shiplight cover to create or refresh its artifacts.

Authority and Drift

• Treat spec.md as the product-behavior authority in both operating modes.
• Treat code as an implementation of the product spec.
• Treat test-spec.md, tests, reports, verification, and reviews as evidence

artifacts, not substitutes for product intent.

• Keep every spec.md as the latest accepted product snapshot, never a

chronological change log. A reader must be able to determine all current behavior without reconstructing it from amendments, tickets, release notes, or git history.

• When accepted intent changes, rewrite the affected requirements, scenarios,

constraints, and non-goals in place. Remove superseded behavior instead of appending dated updates or descriptions of what the feature used to do.

• Let git preserve the spec's history. Put migration history in plans or

release notes only when it is operationally necessary, not in the current product spec.

When behavior changes, have the active feature-spec writer reconcile the whole spec.md into that current snapshot and obtain acceptance before changing the implementation. Do not satisfy this gate by appending the change request to the old spec. Then delegate implementation through the active mode and ask /shiplight cover to reconcile its testing contract and evidence. If product intent is ambiguous or artifacts conflict materially, stop and ask the owner; never silently choose product semantics.

Resolve the Operating Mode

Use one specification workflow for every project and vary only the mechanics:

1. Portable mode (default): direct the coding agent through existing

repository conventions. When none exist, use the Markdown paths in the Delegation Contract and the bundled portable template. Do not create .specify/, a Spec Kit constitution, or Spec Kit pointers.

1. Spec Kit mode: delegate feature specification, planning, task generation,

and implementation to Spec Kit. Use this mode only when a complete .specify/ setup already exists or the user explicitly requests adoption. Before invoking Spec Kit commands, read [references/spec-kit.md](references/spec-kit.md).

If .specify/ exists but required commands or templates are missing, report a partial installation instead of guessing the mode or repairing it without a request. Never make Spec Kit adoption a prerequisite for portable work.

Shiplight is optional during planning and implementation, but required to produce test-spec.md, tests, and test-report.md. If /shiplight cover is not installed when the evidence phase is requested, report that phase as unavailable and provide the handoff; never take ownership of its files as a fallback.

Default Invocation

When invoked without a specific operation, perform a read-only status pass:

1. Read the current branch and working-tree state.
2. Detect portable or Spec Kit mode.
3. Read the PRD, feature breakdown, and relevant feature artifacts.
4. Report the active or inferred feature, phase, artifacts found, drift, and

next gate. Treat chronological amendments or retained superseded behavior in spec.md as specification drift.

Do not create files, change pointers or branches, or run long suites during a status pass.

Reconcile Before Creating

Treat every incoming product change as an existing-feature change until the repository evidence shows otherwise. Before assigning a feature ID, creating a feature directory, or invoking a new-feature Spec Kit workflow:

1. Read the PRD and feature breakdown. Inventory every existing

specs/*/spec.md and inspect each feature's name, outcome, actors, and boundaries. Read every plausibly related spec in full.

1. Compare the requested change with existing product capabilities by actor,

job, workflow outcome, data responsibility, and system boundary. Do not classify from ticket wording, branch name, changed file count, or implementation size.

1. Classify as an existing-feature retrofit (default) when the change

modifies, extends, replaces, or adds a scenario within an existing capability. Select that feature and reconcile its current spec. A missing requirement is not by itself a new feature.

1. If the change crosses existing capabilities, update every affected spec.

Cross-cutting scope does not justify a new umbrella feature.

1. Classify as a new feature (exception) only when the change introduces a

durable capability with its own product outcome and boundary that can be specified, delivered, and verified independently without distorting an existing feature.

1. Before creating it, report which existing features were checked and why none

can coherently own the capability. If that conclusion requires product judgment, ask the owner.

Do not create a new feature ID, directory, or spec until this check is complete. When uncertain, retrofit or ask; do not create.

Primary Operations

Initialize (init)

Create or refine docs/PRD.md from assets/prd-template.md, then create or refine docs/feature-breakdown.md from assets/feature-breakdown-template.md. Preserve accepted project conventions and product terminology.

In portable mode, stop there. In Spec Kit mode, apply its constitution workflow only as described in references/spec-kit.md.

Break Down (breakdown)

Split the PRD into independently specifiable and verifiable product slices. Identify actors, jobs, workflows, data domains, integrations, and risk boundaries. Assign stable three-digit IDs, dependencies, MVP/release placement, and a declared P0-P3 priority. Never invent priority: preserve an accepted source or ask the owner; otherwise record UNKNOWN.

Before adding a roadmap entry, run the reconciliation gate against the current breakdown and specs. Extend an existing feature entry when it already owns the capability.

Select (select)

Complete the reconciliation gate, then select an existing feature whenever it can own the change. Resolve a new feature ID and target only after reporting why the inspected existing features do not apply. In portable mode, let the coding agent create the directory only after that evidence; do not create or update Spec Kit pointers. In Spec Kit mode, invoke its new-feature workflow only after the same gate, then let Spec Kit create the feature directory and maintain its pointers.

Treat branch selection as separate from feature selection. Create or switch a branch only when the user explicitly requests that branch operation, and never strand uncommitted work.

Drive a Feature (lifecycle)

Run the reconciliation gate before this lifecycle. For a retrofit, keep the existing feature ID and reconcile its snapshot; do not fork a replacement spec. Then run the selected feature through these gates:

1. Specify: in Spec Kit mode, invoke its specify workflow and let it create

or reconcile spec.md. In portable mode, direct the coding agent to create or reconcile spec.md from assets/portable-feature-spec-template.md. Keep actors, behavior, acceptance scenarios, constraints, non-goals, dependencies, and open questions in product language. For an existing feature, rewrite these sections into one coherent current snapshot; never append the requested change as a chronological update.

1. Clarify and accept: use Spec Kit's clarification workflow in Spec Kit

mode; otherwise have the coding agent surface unresolved decisions. Obtain owner acceptance of product intent. Treat that acceptance only as approval of the product spec.

1. Plan and task: in Spec Kit mode, delegate plan.md and tasks.md to its

plan and tasks workflows. In portable mode, direct the coding agent through existing project conventions. Keep tasks traceable to accepted requirements.

1. Plan verification: hand the accepted spec and declared priorities to

/shiplight cover. Ask it to create test-spec.md and tests before production changes when a regression-first or test-first sequence is practical. If it is not practical, record why and invoke it after the implementation exists.

1. Implement: delegate to Spec Kit's implementation workflow in Spec Kit

mode and to the coding agent in portable mode. Produce the smallest complete implementation of the accepted scope. Ask the relevant artifact writer to keep spec, plan, and tasks current as implementation facts emerge; ask the owner before changing product semantics.

1. Verify: use /shiplight verify for relevant live UI/API behavior.
2. Complete verification: invoke /shiplight cover to refresh the testing contract,

run the relevant verification methods, and write test-report.md. Optionally invoke /shiplight review when the user requests review or the accepted plan calls for it.

1. Reconcile: confirm spec.md states only the latest accepted behavior and

can be understood without its history. Ask the relevant lower-level writer to resolve that and all other artifact drift before reporting completion; do not bypass its edit contract.

Retrofit Existing Features (maintenance)

Use this operation for all existing-capability changes, not only bugs and refactors. Identify the precise current behavior and every affected feature. Update accepted specs as current snapshots when product intent changes; remove replaced behavior rather than appending a history entry. For bugs, establish the root cause from concrete evidence, add a regression test through the appropriate producer when practical, and make the smallest fix. Run targeted verification and /shiplight cover for the affected scope.

Do not create a feature ID or feature branch for routine maintenance.

Batch and Autonomous Work

Use batch only to orchestrate preparation of multiple feature specs and plans with the owner available; do not implement multiple features concurrently. Use autonomous only for accepted specs whose plans and tasks contain no unresolved product decisions. Work in dependency order and stop on ambiguity, missing prerequisite work, or a verification decision requiring owner judgment.

Completion States

Report each state separately:

• Specification complete: product intent is accepted; spec.md is a

coherent latest product snapshot with no superseded behavior or chronological amendments; and plan.md and tasks.md are reconciled to it.

• Implementation complete: code implements the accepted scope and relevant

implementation checks pass.

• Evidence complete: /shiplight cover produced a reconciled

test-spec.md, relevant verification methods passed, and test-report.md records the run.

For a full lifecycle request, do not report the feature done until all three states are complete. Report unavailable tooling, blocked checks, and residual risks explicitly rather than weakening the completion criteria.

Mutation Boundaries

• Keep status passes read-only.
• Let init and breakdown edit only the PRD and feature breakdown.
• Require the reconciliation gate before breakdown adds a feature or select

creates an ID, directory, pointer, or branch. Let select delegate authorized changes to the active mode.

• Let lifecycle and maintenance orchestrate the active feature workflow and

/shiplight cover; do not bypass their artifact edit contracts.

• Require explicit requests for branch, commit, release, PR, merge, and Spec Kit

installation operations.

• Preserve unrelated changes in a dirty working tree.

Route Narrow Requests

• Route test creation, coverage assessment, or test-spec.md changes to

/shiplight cover.

• Route browser/live verification only to /shiplight verify.
• Route code or product review only to /shiplight review.

Output

Report mode, operation, active feature, branch, phase, artifacts changed, verification performed, completion states, and the next gate.