From requirements in any format to verified implementation
Project description
intake
From requirements in any format to verified implementation.
intake is an open-source CLI tool that acts as a universal bridge between real-world requirements and AI coding agents. It accepts requirements from multiple sources and formats — Jira exports, Confluence pages, PDFs, Markdown, YAML, images, DOCX, free text — and transforms them into a normalized, verifiable spec that any AI agent can consume.
It's not an IDE. It's not an agent. It doesn't generate code. intake is preparation infrastructure: the missing step between "we have some requirements somewhere" and "an agent implements with automatic verification."
intake = Chaotic requirements (N sources, N formats) → Executable spec → Any AI agent
How It Works
INGEST (parsers) → ANALYZE (LLM) → GENERATE (spec files) → VERIFY (acceptance checks) → EXPORT (agent-ready output)
intake processes requirements through a 5-phase pipeline:
- Ingest — Parse any input format into normalized
ParsedContent - Analyze — LLM extracts structured requirements, detects conflicts, deduplicates
- Generate — Produce 6 spec files +
spec.lock.yaml - Verify — Run executable acceptance checks against the implementation
- Export — Generate agent-ready output (architect, Claude Code, Cursor, generic)
The 6 Spec Files
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
requirements.md |
What to build. Functional and non-functional requirements in EARS format. |
design.md |
How to build it. Architecture, interfaces, technical decisions. |
tasks.md |
In what order. Atomic tasks with dependencies. |
acceptance.yaml |
How to verify. Executable checks: commands, patterns, file existence. |
context.md |
Project context for the agent: stack, conventions, current state. |
sources.md |
Full traceability: every requirement mapped to its original source. |
Installation
pip install intake-ai-cli
Requires Python 3.12+. The CLI command is intake.
Development Setup
git clone https://github.com/your-org/intake-cli.git
cd intake-cli
pip install -e ".[dev]"
Quick Start
# Check your environment
intake doctor
# Generate a spec from a single source
intake init "OAuth2 authentication system" -s requirements.md
# Generate from multiple sources
intake init "Payments feature" -s jira.json -s confluence.html -s notes.md
# Use a preset for quick configuration
intake init "API gateway" -s reqs.yaml --preset enterprise
# Export for a specific agent
intake init "User endpoint" -s reqs.pdf --format architect
Supported Input Formats
| Format | Extensions | Parser |
|---|---|---|
| Markdown | .md |
Front matter, heading-based sections |
| Plain text | .txt, stdin (-) |
Paragraph sections, Slack dumps |
| YAML / JSON | .yaml, .yml, .json |
Structured requirements |
.pdf |
Text + tables via pdfplumber | |
| DOCX | .docx |
Text, tables, headings, metadata via python-docx |
| Jira export | .json (auto-detected) |
Issues, comments, links, priorities |
| Confluence export | .html (auto-detected) |
Clean Markdown via BS4 + markdownify |
| Images | .png, .jpg, .webp, .gif |
LLM vision analysis |
Format is auto-detected by file extension and content inspection. Jira JSON exports and Confluence HTML exports are distinguished automatically from generic JSON/HTML files.
Commands
| Command | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
intake init |
Generate a spec from requirement sources | Available |
intake add |
Add sources to an existing spec (incremental) | Available |
intake verify |
Verify implementation against the spec | Available |
intake export |
Export spec to agent-ready format | Available |
intake show |
Show spec summary | Available |
intake list |
List all specs in the project | Available |
intake diff |
Compare two spec versions | Available |
intake doctor |
Check environment and configuration health | Available |
intake doctor --fix |
Auto-fix environment issues (install deps, create config) | Available |
Configuration
intake works with zero configuration — only an LLM API key is needed. For customization, create a .intake.yaml:
llm:
model: claude-sonnet-4
max_cost_per_spec: 0.50
temperature: 0.2
project:
name: my-project
language: en
spec:
output_dir: ./specs
requirements_format: ears # ears | user-stories | bdd | free
design_depth: moderate # minimal | moderate | detailed
task_granularity: medium # coarse | medium | fine
risk_assessment: true
export:
default_format: generic # architect | claude-code | cursor | kiro | generic
Presets
Skip the config file and use a preset:
intake init "My feature" -s reqs.md --preset minimal # Fast, cheap, prototyping
intake init "My feature" -s reqs.md --preset standard # Balanced (default)
intake init "My feature" -s reqs.md --preset enterprise # Detailed, full traceability
Configuration Priority
CLI flags > .intake.yaml > preset > hardcoded defaults
Examples
See the examples/ directory for ready-to-run scenarios:
| Example | Description |
|---|---|
from-markdown |
Single Markdown file with OAuth2 requirements |
from-jira |
Jira JSON export with 3 issues |
from-scratch |
Free-text meeting notes |
multi-source |
Combining Markdown + Jira JSON + text notes |
Architecture
src/intake/
├── cli.py # Click CLI — thin adapter, no logic
├── config/ # Pydantic v2 models, presets, layered loader
│ ├── schema.py # 6 config models (LLM, Project, Spec, Verification, Export, Security)
│ ├── presets.py # minimal / standard / enterprise presets
│ ├── loader.py # Layered merge: defaults → preset → YAML → CLI
│ └── defaults.py # Centralized constants
├── ingest/ # Phase 1 — 8 parsers, registry, auto-detection
│ ├── base.py # ParsedContent dataclass + Parser Protocol
│ ├── registry.py # Auto-detection + parser dispatch
│ ├── markdown.py # .md with YAML front matter
│ ├── plaintext.py # .txt, stdin, Slack dumps
│ ├── yaml_input.py # .yaml/.yml/.json structured input
│ ├── pdf.py # .pdf via pdfplumber
│ ├── docx.py # .docx via python-docx
│ ├── jira.py # Jira JSON exports (API + list format)
│ ├── confluence.py # Confluence HTML via BS4 + markdownify
│ └── image.py # Image analysis via LLM vision
├── analyze/ # Phase 2 — LLM orchestration (async)
│ ├── analyzer.py # Orchestrator: extraction → dedup → risk → design
│ ├── prompts.py # 3 system prompts (extraction, risk, design)
│ ├── models.py # 10 dataclasses for analysis pipeline
│ ├── extraction.py # LLM JSON → typed AnalysisResult
│ ├── dedup.py # Jaccard word similarity deduplication
│ ├── conflicts.py # Conflict validation
│ ├── questions.py # Open question validation
│ ├── risks.py # Risk assessment parsing
│ └── design.py # Design output parsing (tasks, checks)
├── generate/ # Phase 3 — Jinja2 template rendering
│ ├── spec_builder.py # Orchestrates 6 spec files + lock
│ └── lock.py # spec.lock.yaml for reproducibility
├── verify/ # Phase 4 — Acceptance check engine
│ ├── engine.py # 4 check types: command, files_exist, pattern_*
│ └── reporter.py # Terminal (Rich), JSON, JUnit XML reporters
├── export/ # Phase 5 — Agent-ready output
│ ├── base.py # Exporter Protocol
│ ├── registry.py # Format-based exporter dispatch
│ ├── architect.py # pipeline.yaml generation
│ └── generic.py # SPEC.md + verify.sh generation
├── diff/ # Spec comparison
│ └── differ.py # Compare two specs by requirement/task IDs
├── doctor/ # Environment health checks
│ └── checks.py # Python, API keys, deps, config validation
├── llm/ # LiteLLM wrapper (used by analyze/ only)
│ └── adapter.py # Async completion, retry, cost tracking, budget
├── templates/ # Jinja2 templates for spec generation
│ ├── requirements.md.j2 # FR, NFR, conflicts, open questions
│ ├── design.md.j2 # Components, files, tech decisions
│ ├── tasks.md.j2 # Task summary + detailed sections
│ ├── acceptance.yaml.j2 # Executable acceptance checks
│ ├── context.md.j2 # Project context for agents
│ └── sources.md.j2 # Source traceability mapping
└── utils/ # Shared utilities (logging, cost, detection)
├── file_detect.py # Extension-based format detection
├── project_detect.py # Auto-detect tech stack from project files
├── cost.py # Cost accumulation with per-phase breakdown
└── logging.py # structlog configuration
Key design principles:
- Protocol over ABC — All extension points use
typing.Protocol - Dataclasses for pipeline data, Pydantic for config — Never mixed
- Async only in analyze/ — Everything else is synchronous
- Offline mode — Parsing, verification, export, diff, doctor all work without LLM
- No magic strings — All constants defined explicitly
- Budget enforcement — LLM cost tracked per call with configurable limits
Integration
With architect
intake init "Auth system" -s reqs.md --format architect
architect pipeline specs/auth-system/pipeline.yaml
With Claude Code
intake init "Payments" -s reqs.pdf --format claude-code
# Generates CLAUDE.md + tasks + verify.sh
With CI/CD
# GitHub Actions
- name: Verify spec compliance
run: |
pip install intake-ai-cli
intake verify specs/auth-system/ -p . --format junit
Development
# Run tests
python -m pytest tests/ -v
# Run tests with coverage
python -m pytest tests/ --cov=intake --cov-report=term-missing
# Lint
ruff check src/ tests/
# Type check (strict)
mypy src/ --strict
Current test suite: 313 tests, 83% coverage.
Implementation Status
| Phase | Module | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 — Ingest | ingest/ (8 parsers + registry) |
Implemented |
| Phase 2 — Analyze | analyze/ (orchestrator + 7 sub-modules) |
Implemented |
| Phase 3 — Generate | generate/ (spec builder + 6 templates + lock) |
Implemented |
| Phase 4 — Verify | verify/ (engine + 3 reporters) |
Implemented |
| Phase 5 — Export | export/ (architect + generic) |
Implemented |
| Standalone | doctor/, config/, llm/, utils/ |
Implemented |
| Standalone | diff/ (spec differ) |
Implemented |
| CLI | All 8 commands wired end-to-end | Implemented |
Model Support
intake uses LiteLLM for LLM abstraction, supporting 100+ models:
- Anthropic: Claude Sonnet, Claude Opus, Claude Haiku
- OpenAI: GPT-4o, GPT-4, GPT-3.5
- Google: Gemini Pro, Gemini Flash
- Local models: Ollama, vLLM, etc.
Set your API key:
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
# or
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
License
MIT
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