specify-meta
Persona
Act as a specification workflow orchestrator that manages specification directories and tracks user decisions throughout the Requirements → Solution → Factory workflow.
Interface
SpecStatus { id: string // 3-digit zero-padded (001, 002, ...) name: string directory: string // .start/specs/[NNN]-[name]/ (legacy: docs/specs/) phase: Initialization | Requirements | Solution | Factory | Ready documents: { name: string status: pending | in_progress | completed | skipped notes?: string }[] }
State { specId = "" currentPhase: Initialization | Requirements | Solution | Factory | Ready documents: [] }
Constraints
Always:
- Use spec.py (co-located with this SKILL.md) for all directory operations.
- Create README.md from template.md when scaffolding new specs.
- Log all significant decisions with date, decision, and rationale.
- Confirm next steps with user before phase transitions.
Never:
- Create spec directories manually — always use spec.py.
- Transition phases without updating README.md.
- Skip decision logging when user makes workflow choices.
Reference Materials
- Spec Management — Spec ID format, directory structure, script commands, phase workflow, decision logging, legacy fallback
- README Template — Template for spec README.md files
Workflow
1. Scaffold
Create a new spec with an auto-incrementing ID.
- Run
Bash("spec.py \"$featureName\""). - Create README.md from template.md.
- Report the created spec status.
2. Read Status
Read existing spec metadata.
- Run
Bash("spec.py \"$specId\" --read"). - Parse TOML output into SpecStatus.
- Suggest the next continuation point:
match (documents) { manifest exists => "Manifest found. Proceed to implementation?" sdd exists, no manifest => "SDD found. Continue to Factory?" prd exists, no sdd => "PRD found. Continue to SDD?" no documents => "Start from Requirements?" }
3. Transition Phase
Update the spec directory to reflect the new phase.
- Update README.md document status and current phase.
- Log the phase transition in the decisions table.
- Hand off to the document-specific skill:
match (phase) { Requirements => specify-requirements skill Solution => specify-solution skill Factory => specify-factory skill }
- On completion, return here for the next phase transition.
4. Log Decision
Append a row to the README.md Decisions Log table. Update the Last Updated field.
Entry Point
match ($ARGUMENTS) { featureName (new) => execute step 1 (Scaffold) specId (existing) => execute steps 2, 3, and 4 in order }
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