Spec Kit Check Skill

Run specify check to verify that the Spec Kit CLI and required tools (git, AI agents, editors) are installed and detectable. Use this after speckit-install or speckit-initial to confirm the environment, or when the user reports that slash commands are missing or specify does not work.

When to Use

• After initializing a project with speckit-initial to confirm the environment.
• When slash commands do not appear or the user says "specify not working".
• In CI or scripts to ensure dependencies are present before running Spec Kit steps.

Prerequisites

• Specify CLI must be installed (see speckit-install). If specify is not in PATH, direct the user to speckit-install before running specify check.

Workflow

1. Ensure CLI is available

   • If the user has not installed the CLI or reports "specify: command not found", direct them to speckit-install first. Do not run specify check until specify is available.

2. Run the check

   • From the project root (or target directory): specify check
   • The command reports which tools are detected (e.g. git, claude, gemini, code, cursor-agent, windsurf, qwen, opencode, codex, shai, qoder) and which are missing or not in PATH.

3. Interpret the output

   • All required tools present: Environment is ready; suggest proceeding with speckit-constitution or speckit-specify.
   • CLI missing: Direct to speckit-install.
   • Agent or editor missing: Suggest installing the corresponding Agent/editor or adding its executable to PATH. If the user only needs templates and .specify/ (no slash commands), suggest re-running speckit-initial with --ignore-agent-tools.

4. Summarize and recommend

   • Provide a short summary: what is OK, what is missing.
   • Give concrete next steps: install CLI (speckit-install), re-init with different agent (speckit-initial), or fix PATH / install Agent.

Outputs

• Summary: Which tools are detected and which are missing.
• Recommendations: List of next actions (install CLI, run init, install Agent, add to PATH, or use specify init --ignore-agent-tools).

Next Steps

• If something is missing: use speckit-install (for CLI) or speckit-initial (to re-init or use --ignore-agent-tools), or install the missing Agent/editor.
• If check passes: proceed with speckit-constitution or speckit-specify.

Example Output (reference)

See examples/sample-output.md for an example of specify check output and how to interpret it.

Troubleshooting

• "specify: command not found": Use speckit-install.
• Agent reported as missing: Ensure the Agent app is installed and its CLI or executable is on PATH; or use specify init --ignore-agent-tools if only templates are needed.
• Git missing: Install git or run specify init --no-git if git is not required for the workflow.

References

• GitHub spec-kit — CLI: specify check