a5c-ai - Formalizing existing project standards into a constitution
- Updating governance principles for an evolving project
- Before writing specifications for a new feature area
Distinction from Specification
- Constitution: Defines project-wide governance (HOW the project operates)
- Specification: Defines feature-level requirements (WHAT to build)
Process
- Gather context - Assess project type, audience, compliance needs, existing standards
- Define dev guidelines - Coding standards, branching strategy, review process
- Set code quality standards - Linting, formatting, complexity limits, naming conventions
- Establish testing policies - Coverage thresholds, test types, CI requirements
- Specify UX requirements - Accessibility, responsiveness, performance budgets
- Define performance benchmarks - Load times, throughput, memory limits
- Establish security constraints - Auth, data handling, vulnerability policies
- Document architecture principles - Modularity, dependencies, extensibility
- Human review - Approve constitution before proceeding
Tool Use
Invoke via babysitter process: methodologies/spec-kit/spec-kit-specification (constitution phase)
Full pipeline: methodologies/spec-kit/spec-kit-orchestrator