specsmith 0.3.5

Applied Epistemic Engineering toolkit — forge epistemically-governed scaffolds, stress-test belief systems, and run AEE pipelines.

specsmith

Applied Epistemic Engineering toolkit for AI-assisted development.

Intelligence proposes. Constraints decide. The ledger remembers.

specsmith treats belief systems like code: codable, testable, and deployable. It scaffolds epistemically-governed projects, stress-tests requirements as BeliefArtifacts, runs cryptographically-sealed trace vaults, and orchestrates AI agents under formal AEE governance.

It also co-installs the standalone epistemic Python library for direct use in any project:

from epistemic import AEESession         # works in any Python 3.10+ project
from epistemic import BeliefArtifact, StressTester, CertaintyEngine

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What is Applied Epistemic Engineering?

AEE treats requirements, decisions, and assumptions — the beliefs your project depends on — as engineering artifacts subject to the same discipline as code: version control, testing, and refactoring.

The 4-step core method: Frame → Disassemble → Stress-Test → Reconstruct

The 5 foundational axioms:

1. Observability — every belief must be inspectable
2. Falsifiability — every belief must be challengeable
3. Irreducibility — beliefs decompose to atomic primitives
4. Reconstructability — every failed belief can be rebuilt
5. Convergence — stress-test + recovery always reaches Equilibrium

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The AEE Workflow — 7 Phases

specsmith tracks your project through the full AEE development cycle:

🌱 Inception → 🏗 Architecture → 📋 Requirements → ✅ Test Spec
    → ⚙ Implementation → 🔬 Verification → 🚀 Release

specsmith phase          # show current phase + readiness checklist
specsmith phase next     # advance to the next phase (runs checks first)
specsmith phase set requirements  # jump to a specific phase
specsmith phase list     # list all phases

The current phase is persisted in scaffold.yml as aee_phase and displayed in the VS Code Governance Panel. Each phase has a checklist of file/command criteria, recommended commands, and a readiness percentage.

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Install

Recommended — global install via pipx:

pipx install specsmith                    # core CLI + epistemic library
pipx inject specsmith anthropic           # + Claude support
pipx inject specsmith openai              # + GPT / O-series support
pipx inject specsmith google-generativeai # + Gemini support

Or with pip:

pip install specsmith                     # core
pip install "specsmith[anthropic]"       # + Claude
pip install "specsmith[openai]"          # + GPT/O-series
pip install "specsmith[gemini]"          # + Gemini

Update:

pipx upgrade specsmith
specsmith self-update

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Quick Start

# New project (interactive)
specsmith init

# Adopt an existing project
specsmith import --project-dir ./my-project

# Check governance health
specsmith audit --project-dir ./my-project

# Run AEE stress-test on requirements
specsmith stress-test --project-dir ./my-project

# Full epistemic audit (certainty + logic knots + recovery proposals)
specsmith epistemic-audit --project-dir ./my-project

# Start the agentic REPL
specsmith run --project-dir ./my-project

# Check current AEE workflow phase
specsmith phase --project-dir ./my-project

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VS Code Extension

The specsmith AEE Workbench VS Code extension is the flagship client:

# Install specsmith first, then:
# VS Code: Ctrl+Shift+P → specsmith: New Agent Session
# Governance Panel: Ctrl+Shift+G

Key features:

• 5-tab Governance Panel — Project / Tools / Files / Updates & System / Actions & AI
• AEE phase indicator — shows current phase with readiness %, Next Phase button, and phase selector
• AI agent sessions — independent process per project, JSONL bridge, chat with file injection
• Live model listing — Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, Mistral, local Ollama (GPU-aware)
• Ollama integration — browse curated catalog, download models with progress, task-based suggestions
• FPGA/HDL tool support — vivado, gtkwave, vsg, ghdl, verilator, yosys, nextpnr, and 15 more
• API key management — stored in OS credential store (Windows Credential Manager / macOS Keychain)
• Update checker — PyPI version check with Install Update button, system info panel
• Auto-open — governance panel opens automatically when VS Code starts with a workspace

→ specsmith-vscode on GitHub

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Ollama — Local LLMs (Zero API Cost)

specsmith has first-class Ollama support, including:

specsmith ollama gpu                    # detect GPU and VRAM tier
specsmith ollama available              # show catalog filtered by VRAM budget
specsmith ollama available --task code  # filter by task type
specsmith ollama pull qwen2.5:14b      # download a model
specsmith ollama suggest requirements  # task-based recommendations
specsmith ollama list                  # show installed models

GPU-aware context sizing in the VS Code extension: 4K/8K/16K/32K tokens based on detected VRAM. Override with specsmith.ollamaContextLength in VS Code settings.

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FPGA / HDL Projects

specsmith supports FPGA-specific project types with full governance:

# scaffold.yml
type: fpga-rtl-xilinx
fpga_tools:
  - vivado
  - gtkwave
  - vsg
  - ghdl
  - verilator

Supported tools: Synthesis: vivado, quartus, radiant, diamond, gowin. Simulation: ghdl, iverilog, verilator, modelsim, questasim, xsim. Waveform: gtkwave, surfer. Linting: vsg, verible, svlint. Formal: symbiyosys. OSS flow: yosys, nextpnr, openFPGALoader.

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50+ CLI Commands

Governance: init import audit validate diff upgrade compress doctor export architect

AEE Epistemic: stress-test epistemic-audit belief-graph trace seal/verify/log integrate

Workflow: phase show/set/next/list ledger add/list req list/add/gaps/trace

Agent: run agent providers/tools/skills

Ollama: ollama list/available/gpu/pull/suggest

Workspace: workspace init/audit/export

VCS: commit push sync branch pr status

Tools: exec ps abort watch optimize credits self-update

Auth: auth set/list/remove/check

Patent: patent search/prior-art

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35 Project Types

Software: Python CLI/lib/web, Rust, Go, C/C++, .NET, Node.js/TypeScript, mobile, microservices, data/ML.

Hardware/Embedded: FPGA/RTL (Xilinx, Intel, Lattice, generic), Yocto BSP, embedded C/C++.

Documents: Technical specs, research papers, API specs, requirements management.

Business/Legal: Business plans, patent applications, compliance frameworks.

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epistemic Library

The standalone epistemic Python library works in any Python 3.10+ project — no specsmith coupling:

from epistemic import AEESession, BeliefArtifact, StressTester

session = AEESession("my-project", threshold=0.70)
session.add_belief(
    artifact_id="HYP-001",
    propositions=["The API always returns valid JSON"],
    epistemic_boundary=["Valid auth token required"],
)
session.accept("HYP-001")
result = session.run()
print(result.summary())
# certainty=0.55, failures=2, equilibrium=False

Use cases: linguistics research, compliance pipelines, AI alignment, patent prosecution.

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Governance Rules (H1–H13)

13 hard rules enforced by specsmith validate:

• H11 — Every loop or blocking wait must have a timeout, fallback exit, and diagnostic message.
• H12 — Windows multi-step automation goes into .cmd files, not inline shell invocations.
• H13 — Agent tools must declare epistemic contracts (what they claim and what they cannot detect).

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Documentation

specsmith.readthedocs.io — Full manual: AEE primer, command reference, project types, tool registry, governance model, Ollama guide, VS Code extension.

Links

• PyPI
• Documentation
• Changelog
• VS Code Extension
• Contributing
• Security

License

MIT — Copyright (c) 2026 BitConcepts, LLC.