Get Started with Spec-Driven Development

No better than tinkering around to understand concept. The following example follow module 9 of Microsof Learn introduction to SDD.

With the help of custom made github codespace you can jump in: - create the codespace - follow these instruction

Open in GitHub Codespaces

Open in GitHub Codespaces

Exercise scenario

You’re a software developer working for a consulting firm. Your firm is moving to a spec-driven development methodology using GitHub Spec Kit and GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code. You’re asked to start using SDD and GitHub Spec Kit as soon as possible.

One of your clients, Contoso Corporation, needs you to develop an initial MVP version for an RSS feed reader app. Contoso stakeholders documented the project goals, initial features, and technical requirements for the app. You’ll use the stakeholder documents to generate the constitution, spec, plan, and tasks documents, then implement the initial MVP version of the application. Contoso has indicated that additional features will be requested after initial sign-off.

Implementing the SDD methodology with GitHub Spec Kit ensures that the MVP app is delivered quickly, that it meets stakeholder requirements, and that new features can be rolled out seamlessly when needed.

This exercise includes the following tasks:

  • Create a project folder and initialize GitHub Spec Kit.
  • Generate the constitution using stakeholder documentation.
  • Generate the spec.md file using stakeholder documentation.
  • Generate the plan.md file using stakeholder documentation and spec.md.
  • Generate the tasks.md file using the spec.md, plan.md, and constitution.md.
  • Implement the tasks required for an MVP application.

Initialize GitHub Spec Kit

The Specify CLI is used to initialize GitHub Spec Kit in a project folder. GitHub Spec Kit uses the project folder to store configuration files, templates, scripts, and agents that support the spec-driven development workflows.

ON MacOS or Linux

specify init --here --integration copilot --script sh

This command specifies the following parameters:

  • --here: initializes GitHub Spec Kit in the current directory.
  • --integration copilot: configures the project to use GitHub Copilot as the AI assistant.
  • --script sh - Specifies that Bash / Zsh scripts will be used.
Tip

On Windows you must replace --script sh by --script ps for PowerShell scripts.

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        GitHub Spec Kit - Spec-Driven Development Toolkit

Warning: Current directory is not empty (4 items)
Template files will be merged with existing content and may overwrite existing
files.
Do you want to continue? [y/N]:

[...]

Selected coding agent integration: copilot
Selected script type: sh
Initialize Specify Project
├── ● Check required tools (ok)
├── ● Select coding agent integration (copilot)
├── ● Select script type (sh)
├── ● Install integration (GitHub Copilot)
├── ● Install shared infrastructure (scripts (sh) + templates)
├── ● Ensure scripts executable (5 updated)
├── ● Constitution setup (copied from template)
├── ● Install git extension (existing repo detected; extension installed)
├── ● Install bundled workflow (speckit installed)
└── ● Finalize (project ready)

Project ready.

This is normal since the codespace already devcontainer.json, README and LICENSE files. once answered y for yes The specify init command generates 66 new artifacts and completes the following actions:

  • Creates agent prompt files in the .github/agents/ and .github/prompts/ directories.
  • Creates template files in the .specify/memory/ and .specify/templates/ directories.
  • Creates script files in the .specify/scripts/powershell/ directory.
  • Creates a settings.json file in the .vscode/ directory.
  • Displays a success message (“Project ready”).
  • Suggests some optional next steps.
 .                        (root)
 ├── .github/
 │   ├── agents/          (executable workflows that can be triggered via commands)
 │   └── prompts/         (prompt files that provide detailed instructions for each of the agent workflows)
 ├── .specify/            (configuration)
 │   ├── memory/          (stores the project constitution)
 │   ├── scripts/bash/    (uses automation utilities (scripts) for creating features, setting up plans, and managing the specification workflow)
 │   └── templates/       (provides standardized markdown formats for specs, plans, tasks, and checklists to ensure consistent documentation across all features)
 └── .vscode/             (Visual Studio Code configuration)

Inside Copilot chat panel, type /specify and you should see autocomplete suggestions that show the available commands:

  • /speckit.analyze: Analyze the project and generate a specification.
  • /speckit.checklist: Validate specification completeness.
  • /speckit.clarify: Refine specifications through question and answer process.
  • /speckit.constitution: Define project governing principles.
  • /speckit.implement: Execute the implementation.
  • /speckit.plan: Generate technical implementation plans.
  • /speckit.specify: Create feature specifications.
  • /speckit.tasks: Break down work into actionable tasks.
  • /speckit.taskstoissues: Convert the tasks in tasks.md into GitHub issues.
Note

If the ‘/speckit.’ commands don’t appear, try closing and then reopening the project’s codespace.

Constitution

GitHub Spec Kit includes several resources that help you create and maintain the constitution.md file:

  • .specify/memory/constitution.md file contains a template for the constitution document.
  • .github/agents/speckit.constitution.agent.md file contains detailed instructions that are used to generate (or update) the constitution.md file.
  • .github/prompts/speckit.constitution.prompt.md file contains a “routing stub” that tells Copilot Chat to run the agent named speckit.constitution when the /speckit.constitution command is invoked.
  • /speckit.constitution command is used to generate a constitution.md file for the project.
/speckit.constitution
  --text
"Code projects emphasize security, maintainability, and code quality. Ensure
that all principles are specific, actionable, and relevant to the project context."
  --files
.StakeholderDocuments/ProjectGoals.md
.StakeholderDocuments/AppFeatures.md
.StakeholderDocuments/TechStack.md

spec.md

plan.md

tasks.md

Implementing

NOTES

  • add files to version control to monitor changes at each steps
  • artifacts are created in both .specify/... and .github/...
  • Note de sécurité : le CLI recommande d’ajouter .github/ (ou une partie) au .gitignore pour éviter de fuiter des tokens/credentials si Copilot les y stocke The recommended workflow from here:

┌────────────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Commande │ Rôle │ ├────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ /speckit.constitution │ Établir les principes du projet │ ├────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ /speckit.specify │ Créer la spécification de base (à partir de vos docs .stakeholder-documents/) │ ├────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ /speckit.clarify (optionnel) │ Lever les ambiguïtés avant de planifier │ ├────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ /speckit.plan │ Créer le plan d’implémentation │ ├────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ /speckit.checklist (optionnel) │ Valider la complétude des exigences │ ├────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ /speckit.tasks │ Générer les tâches actionables │ ├────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ /speckit.analyze (optionnel) │ Rapport de cohérence inter-artefacts │ ├────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ /speckit.implement │ Exécuter l’implémentation

Important

Claude Sonnet 4.6 - High