Specification Management

Central hub for specification-driven development workflows. This skill provides navigation to specialized skills for different specification formats and workflows.

When to Use This Skill

Keywords: specifications, requirements, acceptance criteria, spec-driven development, SDD, EARS, Gherkin, Kiro, Spec Kit, BDD, user stories, feature specifications, canonical spec

Use this skill when:

• Starting a new specification-driven workflow
• Converting between specification formats
• Understanding available specification providers
• Navigating to specialized authoring skills
• Working with the canonical specification model

Quick Decision Tree

What do you want to do?

1. Start Spec Kit 5-phase workflow → Use /spec:speckit:run or see speckit-workflow skill
2. Generate a specification → Use /spec:specify command
3. Write EARS requirements → See ears-authoring skill
4. Write Gherkin scenarios → See gherkin-authoring skill
5. Sync with AWS Kiro → See kiro-integration skill
6. Check requirement quality → See requirements-quality skill
7. Understand canonical format → See canonical-spec-format skill
8. Convert between formats → Use /spec:convert command

Specification Providers

The canonical specification model (ADR-115) supports multiple providers:

Provider	Format	Best For
ears	EARS syntax	Precise, unambiguous requirements
gherkin	.feature files	BDD tests with Reqnroll
kiro	AWS Kiro	IDE integration with steering files
speckit	GitHub Spec Kit	AI agent prompts, 5-phase workflow
adr	MADR format	Architecture decisions
userstory	Agile format	Product backlog items
canonical	YAML/JSON	Direct canonical format

Spec Kit 5-Phase Workflow

The GitHub Spec Kit workflow guides feature development:

Phase	Artifact	Purpose
0	.constitution.md	Project principles and constraints
1	feature.md	Specification from requirements
2	design.md	Implementation approach
3	tasks.md	Task breakdown
4	Code	Guided implementation

Full workflow: Use /spec:speckit:run or invoke the speckit-workflow skill.

Canonical Specification Model

All providers transform to/from the canonical model:

id: "SPEC-001"
title: "Feature Title"
type: feature | bug | chore | spike | tech-debt

context:
  problem: "Description of the problem"
  motivation: "Business value"

requirements:
  - id: "REQ-001"
    text: "EARS-formatted requirement"
    priority: must | should | could | wont
    ears_type: ubiquitous | state-driven | event-driven | unwanted | complex | optional
    acceptance_criteria:
      - id: "AC-001"
        given: "Precondition"
        when: "Action"
        then: "Expected outcome"

traceability:
  adr_refs: ["ADR-115"]
  requirement_refs: ["FR-001"]

metadata:
  status: draft
  created: "YYYY-MM-DD"
  provider: canonical
  bounded_context: "WorkManagement"

Full schema: See canonical-spec-format skill or .work/schemas/canonical-spec.schema.json

Available Commands

Generic Workflow Commands

Command	Purpose
/spec:specify	Phase 1: Generate specification from requirements
/spec:plan	Phase 2: Generate implementation plan
/spec:tasks	Phase 3: Generate task breakdown
/spec:implement	Phase 4: Guide implementation
/spec:validate	Validate specification against schema
/spec:refine	AI-assisted specification refinement
/spec:audit	Audit specification quality
/spec:convert	Convert between formats

Provider Deep-Dive Commands

Command	Purpose
/spec:ears:author	Interactive EARS pattern authoring
/spec:ears:convert	Convert to/from EARS format
/spec:gherkin:author	Interactive Gherkin scenario authoring
/spec:gherkin:convert	Convert to/from .feature files
/spec:kiro:sync	Sync with AWS Kiro specifications
/spec:speckit:run	Execute full Spec Kit 5-phase workflow
/spec:adr:create	Create ADR from specification context
/spec:userstory:author	Author user stories with acceptance criteria
/spec:constitution	Create or update project constitution
/spec:status	Show specification status dashboard

Delegation Pattern

This skill delegates to specialized skills for detailed guidance:

Topic	Delegate To
EARS patterns	ears-authoring skill
Gherkin/BDD	gherkin-authoring skill
AWS Kiro	kiro-integration skill
Spec Kit workflow	speckit-workflow skill
Quality criteria	requirements-quality skill
Canonical format	canonical-spec-format skill
Official Claude Code docs	docs-management skill

Repository Infrastructure

This plugin integrates with .work/ infrastructure:

Resource	Purpose
.work/schemas/canonical-spec.schema.json	Canonical specification JSON Schema
.work/prompts/specify.prompt.md	Generation template for Phase 1
.work/templates/EARS-REQUIREMENT-TEMPLATE.md	EARS pattern reference
.work/decisions/ADR-115-*	Specification Provider Abstraction

Related Skills

• ears-authoring - EARS requirement pattern authoring
• gherkin-authoring - Gherkin/BDD scenario authoring
• kiro-integration - AWS Kiro specification sync
• speckit-workflow - GitHub Spec Kit 5-phase workflow
• requirements-quality - INVEST criteria and quality assessment
• canonical-spec-format - Canonical specification reference
• docs-management - Official Claude Code documentation

References

Detailed Documentation:

• Canonical Format Reference
• Provider Matrix
• Workflow Phases

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Last Updated: 2025-12-24