Spec Kit

A CLI and template system for Specification-Driven Development (SDD)

Bootstrap projects with structured specifications, implementation plans, and task breakdowns that AI coding agents can execute.

What is Spec Kit?

Spec Kit provides a methodology and toolchain where specifications drive implementation, not the other way around. Instead of writing code and documenting after the fact, you define what you want in structured specs, and AI agents generate implementation from those specs.

The core workflow:

1. /speckit.constitution — Define project principles and architectural constraints (once per project)
2. /speckit.specify — Describe a feature in natural language, get a structured specification
3. /speckit.plan — Generate a technical implementation plan from the spec
4. /speckit.tasks — Break the plan into dependency-ordered, executable tasks
5. /speckit.implement — Execute the task list

See the pipeline diagram for all 10 steps including optional quality gates (/speckit.clarify, /speckit.analyze, /speckit.test).

Key Features

• Template System — Structured templates for specs, plans, tasks, checklists, and project constitutions
• Multi-Agent Support — Works with Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Cursor, Codex, Windsurf, and 12+ other AI agents
• Domain Analysis — Extract business entities, rules, and integration patterns from JSON/CSV data files
• Extension System — Plugin architecture with manifest schema, official + community catalogs
• Cross-Platform — Every automation script has both Bash and PowerShell variants
• MCP Server — Expose spec-kit tools via the Model Context Protocol

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Git
• Access to EQUAStart/spec-kit-template (org member)
• An AI coding agent (Claude Code, Copilot, Gemini CLI, etc.)

Connect a Project (Recommended)

# From your project root — adds .speckit/ submodule + creates symlinks
/path/to/spec-kit-template/scripts/bash/speckit-bootstrap.sh

# Or with explicit remote
speckit-bootstrap.sh --remote https://github.com/EQUAStart/spec-kit-template.git

This adds the toolkit as a submodule and creates symlinks. Your toolkit auto-syncs with upstream on every /speckit.* command — no manual updates needed. See the installation guide to compare install methods.

Project Structure

spec-kit-main/
├── src/
│   ├── specify_cli/           # CLI application (Typer + Rich)
│   └── speckit_mcp/           # MCP server (FastMCP)
├── templates/                 # Master SDD templates
│   ├── spec-template.md       # Feature specification
│   ├── plan-template.md       # Implementation plan
│   ├── tasks-template.md      # Task breakdown
│   ├── checklist-template.md  # Quality checklist
│   ├── constitution-template.md # Project constitution
│   └── commands/              # AI agent slash commands
├── extensions/                # Extension system + catalogs
├── scripts/                   # Bash + PowerShell automation
├── sample-data/               # Example datasets (financial, ecommerce, CRM)
├── tests/                     # Pytest test suite
└── docs/                      # Documentation (DocFX)

The SDD Methodology

Spec Kit implements Specification-Driven Development — a methodology where specifications are the primary artifact and code is the generated output. See spec-driven.md for the full philosophy.

Core principles:

• Specifications as the source of truth — code serves specifications, not the other way around
• Executable specifications — precise enough to generate working systems
• Constitutional governance — immutable architectural principles (Articles I-IX) enforced through template gates
• Test-first thinking — test scenarios are part of the specification, not an afterthought

Documentation

• Quick Start Guide — Step-by-step SDD workflow
• Installation — Connecting to the shared toolkit
• Adding to an Existing Project — Bootstrapping, overrides, CI/CD
• Upgrading & Syncing — Auto-sync, pinning, troubleshooting
• Local Development — Contributing and iterating locally
• Domain Analysis Usage — Automated entity extraction from data files
• Extension Development — Building spec-kit extensions

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License — see LICENSE for details.