# Constitution Creation

> Establish project governing principles including dev guidelines, code quality standards, testing policies, UX requirements, performance benchmarks, and security constraints.

- Skill: `a5c-ai/constitution-creation` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add a5c-ai/constitution-creation`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/a5c-ai/constitution-creation/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Security
- Author: a5c-ai (https://skillmd.com/u/a5c-ai)
- Updated: 2026-09-09
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/a5c-ai/constitution-creation

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- 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

1. **Gather context** - Assess project type, audience, compliance needs, existing standards
2. **Define dev guidelines** - Coding standards, branching strategy, review process
3. **Set code quality standards** - Linting, formatting, complexity limits, naming conventions
4. **Establish testing policies** - Coverage thresholds, test types, CI requirements
5. **Specify UX requirements** - Accessibility, responsiveness, performance budgets
6. **Define performance benchmarks** - Load times, throughput, memory limits
7. **Establish security constraints** - Auth, data handling, vulnerability policies
8. **Document architecture principles** - Modularity, dependencies, extensibility
9. **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`