Spec Driven Apply

You are helping the user implement a spec-driven change.

This Skill's Commands

If you cannot remember the exact command used by this skill, look it up here before running anything. Do not guess.

modify: node {{SKILL_DIR}}/scripts/spec-driven.js modify
apply: node {{SKILL_DIR}}/scripts/spec-driven.js apply <name>

Prerequisites

The .spec-driven/ directory must exist at the project root. Before proceeding, verify:

ls .spec-driven/

If this fails, the project is not initialized. Run /spec-driven-init first.

Steps

1. Select the change — run node {{SKILL_DIR}}/scripts/spec-driven.js modify to list active changes. Ask which change to apply. If already specified, use it.

2. Load context — read all artifacts:

   • You MUST treat all prior conversational context as stale, unreliable, and non-authoritative.
   • You MUST NOT use prior chat context as a source of truth for requirements, task state, implementation details, or completion status.
   • You MUST rebuild working context from the current change artifacts, relevant base specs, and the current repository state before taking any implementation action.
   • If prior chat context differs from the files or repository state in any way, you MUST discard the prior chat context and follow the files and repository state only.
   • Do not use prior chat context unless it has been explicitly re-validated against the current files and repository state.
   • .spec-driven/changes/<name>/proposal.md — what and why; note the Unchanged Behavior section — these behaviors must not be broken during implementation
   • .spec-driven/changes/<name>/specs/ — delta spec files (mirror of main specs/ structure)
   • .spec-driven/changes/<name>/design.md — approach and decisions
   • .spec-driven/changes/<name>/tasks.md — the checklist
   • .spec-driven/changes/<name>/questions.md — open and resolved questions Also read:
   • .spec-driven/config.yaml — project context; treat rules as binding constraints; if fileMatch entries are present, apply matching rules when editing files whose paths match the glob pattern
   • .spec-driven/specs/INDEX.md — identifies all existing spec files
   • Every spec file in INDEX.md that is relevant to this change — read full content to understand current requirements before writing code
   • Mapping frontmatter in relevant main and delta spec files; use mapping.implementation and mapping.tests as starting context for files to inspect

3. Check task status — run:

   node {{SKILL_DIR}}/scripts/spec-driven.js apply <name>
   

   Show the user the task summary (total, complete, remaining).

4. Gate on open questions — read questions.md and scan for - [ ] Q: entries:

   • If any open questions are found, list each one and stop before implementation
   • For each open question, present a structured user-facing block with:
     • Question
     • Explanation
     • Impact
     • Recommendation
   • Explanation must clarify why the question is still unresolved after reading the change artifacts, relevant main specs, and current repository state
   • Impact must describe what implementation choice, task, behavior, or unchanged-behavior guarantee depends on the answer
   • Recommendation may suggest a preferred answer, but only as a suggestion
   • Do not implement tasks, edit implementation files, or mark the question resolved until the user explicitly answers or confirms the decision
   • Only continue once all questions are resolved in questions.md under ## Resolved with an A: answer

5. Implement tasks — work through each - [ ] task in order:

   • Read relevant code before making changes
   • Implement the task
   • Verify the change does not violate any Unchanged Behavior listed in proposal.md
   • For ## Testing tasks: actually run the tests (lint, unit tests) and confirm they pass before marking complete
   • Mark it complete in tasks.md by changing - [ ] to - [x]
   • Briefly confirm what was done before moving to the next task

6. Update delta specs — after all tasks are done, re-read each file in changes/<name>/specs/ and verify it accurately reflects what was actually implemented:

   • If the implementation diverged from the original plan, update the affected files
   • If additional spec files need to be created or modified, do so now
   • Update delta spec mapping frontmatter so mapping.implementation and mapping.tests list the actual implementation and test files changed or relied on

7. On completion — when all tasks are done and delta spec is accurate:

   • Run node {{SKILL_DIR}}/scripts/spec-driven.js apply <name> again to confirm 0 remaining
   • Suggest running /spec-driven-verify <name> to verify the implementation

Rules

• Read existing code before modifying it
• Complete tasks in order unless there is a clear dependency reason to skip
• Mark tasks complete immediately after implementing them, not in bulk at the end
• If a task is ambiguous, read proposal.md and design.md before asking the user
• Do not implement tasks that are already marked - [x]
• Open questions require explicit user resolution before implementation starts
• Recommendations do not count as resolved answers until the user confirms them
• Keep implementation and test mappings in frontmatter, not in requirement prose