How do I install the Init Spec skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add guillevc/init-spec in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

What does the Init Spec skill do?

Bootstrap a living spec on an existing codebase by extracting the terms and decisions already baked into the code. Run once when adopting living-spec. User-invoked. It is listed under Coding & Dev Tools on SkillMD.

Is Init Spec safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Init Spec?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Init Spec free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Init Spec?

guillevc (@guillevc) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Init Spec by guillevc — Agent Skill

Name: Init Spec
Author: guillevc

File contents

Init-spec

Cold-start the living spec on a repo that has none: reverse-engineer the vocabulary and decisions already implicit in the code. You propose; record writes; the human ratifies. Runs once, at adoption.

Steps

Check it's needed. If a spec exists, stop and point the human at record and audit. Check every home record writes to: docs/GLOSSARY.md, docs/decisions/, and the agent doc CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md for an existing glossary or ADR section, its fallback home when no docs/ structure exists.
Survey. Read the code, README, and agent doc. Pull the ubiquitous language (recurring domain nouns) and the decisions baked in (datastore, protocols, hard limits, deliberate deviations).
Filter hard. Keep only ADR-worthy decisions: hard to reverse, surprising, a real trade-off. Most code choices fail; drop them. Keep terms that are load-bearing vocabulary, not incidental.
Propose. Present the draft: terms (one-line meaning) and decisions (1-3 sentence rationale). The human edits, cuts, approves.
Write the approved set via record.

Frequently asked questions

Init Spec