# To Spec

> Spec-writing stage skill for the architect factory: synthesizes the run's conversation, repo evidence, and research findings into `docs/spec/<run>.md` after grounding. Invoked by the strategist subagent the orchestrator dispatches during `/architect` intake — or directly by the orchestrator in `/architect-fast` (that skill's stage-skill deltas apply) — before decomposition into issues.

- Skill: `danmcinerney/to-spec` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add danmcinerney/to-spec`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/danmcinerney/to-spec/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Research & Search
- Author: danmcinerney (https://skillmd.com/u/danmcinerney)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/danmcinerney/to-spec

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<!-- Adapted from mattpocock/skills (MIT). -->

# To Spec

Synthesize the spec from what grounding, intake, and research evidence
already surfaced; do not interview. Anything genuinely unanswered goes
through step 4.

## Process

1. Read the codebase-design
   vocabulary (`skills/codebase-design/SKILL.md`) before writing a line. Reuse its module, interface, seam,
   adapter, depth, and locality terms exactly; never substitute component,
   service, boundary, or API for module or interface.
2. Name the seam(s) this run will exercise before drafting any section.
   Existing seams are preferred to new ones, at the highest point possible;
   the ideal number is one. Record them under `## Implementation decisions`.
3. Do not include specific file paths or code snippets in the spec body —
   they may end up being outdated very quickly. Exception: if a prototype
   produced a snippet that encodes a decision more precisely than prose can
   (state machine, schema, type shape), inline it within the relevant
   decision and note briefly that it came from a prototype. Trim to the
   decision-rich parts.
4. Never run the timed-ruling protocol yourself or wait on the human:
   return every open question to the orchestrator, one line each —
   `RULING NEEDED: <question> | options: <a | b> | default: <option> — <why>`
   — and it runs the protocol (`skills/architect/SKILL.md` `## Timed-ruling
   protocol`). Rulings already present in your dispatch context are decided;
   record each as an `## Assumptions` entry. (Direct orchestrator invocation
   only — `/architect-fast`: run the protocol yourself as that lane records.)
5. Shape the spec on the template below and write it to
   `docs/spec/<run>.md` in your working tree. Do NOT commit it and do NOT
   create or update the tracking issue — the spec commit and the
   tracking-issue update (spec pointer, assumptions digest, or the
   markdown-mode equivalent in `skills/architect/tracker.md`
   `## Command mapping`) are orchestrator actions after you return. End
   your reply with `SPEC DRAFT: <path>` plus any `RULING NEEDED:` lines.

## Template

Write the sections below in this order; the names are load-bearing for
hardening and decomposition, so keep them exact.

- `## Goal` — what the run adds and why, from the reader's side.
- `## Target flow` (optional) — a short numbered sequence, only when the run
  reorders or replaces a multi-step process; omit for additive or
  single-surface runs.
- `## Non-goals` — what the run deliberately leaves unchanged.
- `## Assumptions` — every timed-ruling default this run applied, one line
  each, dated.
- `## Implementation decisions` — modules, interfaces, and the seam(s) from
  step 2, described, never pathed; the one place a prototype snippet may
  appear, per step 3.
- `## Validation strategy` — how the run's own checks and the closing
  review confirm the seam(s) hold; name the check-runner and closing
  review, never new grading machinery.
- `## Domain language` — new or changed vocabulary this run introduces,
  defined once.
- `## Open human decisions` — anything unresolved once the timed-ruling
  protocol's timer expires; empty at freeze.
- `## Verified facts` — every claim sourced outside this conversation:
  source, date fetched, fact supported.
- `## Preflight evidence` — tool, auth, and repo-state evidence gathered
  before decomposition.