revspec 0.5.3

Terminal-based spec review tool with real-time AI conversation

Revspec

A review tool for AI-generated spec documents with real-time AI conversation. Comment on specific lines, get AI replies instantly, resolve discussions, submit for rewrites, and approve — all without leaving the terminal.

Demo

Why

When an AI generates a spec, the human review step breaks the agentic loop. You have to open the file separately, read it, then type unstructured feedback. Revspec closes this loop with a TUI that lets you comment inline and discuss with the AI in real-time — like a chatroom anchored to the spec.

Install

pipx install revspec

Or with pip:

pip install revspec

Requires Python 3.11+. No native dependencies.

Claude Code plugin

Install the /revspec skill for Claude Code:

claude install icyrainz/revspec-py

This adds the /revspec slash command. After generating or editing a spec, use /revspec (or /revspec <path>) to launch an interactive review session with real-time AI conversation.

From source

git clone https://github.com/icyrainz/revspec-py.git
cd revspec-py
uv venv && uv pip install hatchling editables && uv pip install -e . --no-build-isolation

Usage

revspec spec.md

Opens a TUI with vim-style navigation. Press c on any line to open a thread and start commenting.

Live AI Integration

Revspec communicates with AI coding tools (Claude Code, etc.) via CLI subcommands:

revspec watch <file.md>

Blocks until the reviewer acts, then returns structured output:

=== New Comments ===
Thread: x1a3f (line 14)
  Context:
      12: The system uses polling...
    > 14: it sends a notification via webhook.
      16: resource state.
  [reviewer]: this is unclear

To reply: revspec reply spec.md x1a3f "<your response>"
When done replying, run: revspec watch spec.md

Watch exits on three events:

• Comment/reply — returns thread content for AI to respond
• Submit (S) — returns resolved thread summaries for AI to rewrite the spec
• Approve (A) — spec is finalized
• Session end — reviewer quit the TUI

revspec reply <file.md> <threadId> "<text>"

Sends an AI reply that appears instantly in the reviewer's TUI.

The loop

1. AI generates spec
2. AI launches: revspec spec.md (in tmux pane)
3. AI runs: revspec watch spec.md (blocks)
4. Reviewer comments → AI replies → watch again
5. Reviewer resolves threads → presses S (submit)
6. Watch returns resolved thread summaries → AI rewrites spec
7. TUI reloads with new spec → reviewer continues reviewing
8. Repeat 3-7 until A (approve)

Round Diff View

After each submit/rewrite cycle, the TUI shows an inline unified diff of what changed:

• Red ghost rows with - prefix for removed lines
• Green-tinted rows with + prefix for added/changed lines
• [DIFF +N -M] indicator in the top bar showing change counts
• Toggle with \d, navigate hunks with ]d/[d

The diff auto-appears on reload and persists until approve. Each round diffs against the immediately previous version.

Markdown rendering

Revspec renders markdown in-place:

• Headings — colored and bold, #–######
• Inline — bold, italic, bold-italic, strikethrough, code, links
• Fenced code blocks — markers dimmed, body in green
• Tables — box-drawing borders, header row bolded, auto-column-widths
• Lists — unordered, ordered, task lists
• Blockquotes — bar gutter, italicized text
• Cursor line highlighting and search highlights

Testing

just test             # Unit + integration (pytest)
just pytest-watch     # Watch mode

432 tests covering state, protocol, markdown, watch, reply, renderer, diff_state, and bugfixes.

Protocol

Communication happens through a JSONL file (spec.review.jsonl) — append-only, both sides write to it. The JSONL is the single source of truth for the review session.

Event types

{"type":"comment","threadId":"x1a3f","line":14,"author":"reviewer","text":"unclear","ts":1710400000}
{"type":"reply","threadId":"x1a3f","author":"owner","text":"I'll fix it","ts":1710400005}
{"type":"resolve","threadId":"x1a3f","author":"reviewer","ts":1710400010}
{"type":"submit","author":"reviewer","ts":1710400050}
{"type":"approve","author":"reviewer","ts":1710400060}
{"type":"session-start","author":"reviewer","ts":1710400065}
{"type":"session-end","author":"reviewer","ts":1710400070}

The submit event acts as a round delimiter — the AI rewrites the spec, and the TUI reloads. Events before a submit reference the previous spec version. The session-start event marks where a new review session begins — only events after the last session-start are replayed on startup.

Thread statuses: open (awaiting AI reply), pending (AI replied, awaiting reviewer), resolved, outdated.

Keybindings

Navigation

Key	Action
j/k	Move cursor down/up
gg / G	Go to top / bottom
Ctrl+D/U	Half page down/up
H/M/L	Jump to screen top / middle / bottom
zz	Center cursor line in viewport
/	Search (smartcase)
n/N	Next/prev search match
Esc	Clear search highlights
]t/[t	Next/prev thread
]r/[r	Next/prev unread AI reply
]d/[d	Next/prev diff hunk
]1/[1	Next/prev h1 heading
]2/[2	Next/prev h2 heading
]3/[3	Next/prev h3 heading
Ctrl+O/I	Jump list back/forward
''	Jump to previous position

Review

Key	Action
c	Open thread / comment on line
r	Resolve thread (toggle)
R	Resolve all pending
dd	Delete thread (with confirm)
t	List threads (Ctrl+F to filter all/active/resolved)
S	Submit for rewrite (AI updates spec, TUI reloads)
A	Approve spec (finalize and exit)

Toggles

Key	Action
\w	Toggle line wrapping
\n	Toggle line numbers
\d	Toggle diff view

Commands

Key	Action
:q	Quit (warns if unresolved threads)
:q!	Force quit (also :wq!, :qa!, etc.)
:{N}	Jump to line N
:wrap	Toggle line wrapping
:diff	Toggle diff view
:submit	Submit for rewrite
:approve	Approve spec
:resolve	Resolve thread
:reload	Reload spec
:help	Show help
Ctrl+R	Reload spec (when modified externally)
Ctrl+C	Force quit
?	Help

Thread popup

The thread popup has two vim-style modes, indicated by border color and label:

• Insert mode (mauve border) — type your comment, Tab sends (stays in insert mode for chat-like flow), Esc switches to normal mode
• Normal mode (blue/green border) — j/k and Ctrl+D/U scroll the conversation, gg/G top/bottom, i/c to reply, r to resolve, q/Esc to close. Border is green when resolved, blue when open.

License

MIT