Spec Drift Check

Spec Drift Check

Use this skill when drift assessment is the current phase for one feature.

Shared Contracts

Load this shared shortcut first:

• ../references/shared-specialist-contract.md

Open the deeper canonical shared references only when the shortcut is insufficient for the current situation.

Purpose

Decide whether a request, artifact, or implementation change stays within the current spec contract.

Use this skill for:

• checking whether implementation has moved ahead of artifacts
• checking whether a new request exceeds spec.md
• deciding whether a discrepancy is clarification or true drift
• updating drift.md with a concise structured note

Read Order

• .codex/prompts/speckit.analyze.md first
• .codex/prompts/speckit.constitution.md if present
• specs/<feature>/spec.md
• specs/<feature>/plan.md if present
• specs/<feature>/tasks.md if present
• specs/<feature>/implementation-status.md if present
• specs/<feature>/review.md if present
• specs/<feature>/drift.md if present
• changed code or requested changes that may exceed scope

Shared template:

• ../references/drift-report-template.md

Owned Outputs

• one drift assessment
• drift.md updates when drift is confirmed
• advisory route-back recommendation when scope has been exceeded

Phase-Specific Rejected Criteria

Return rejected if the request is actually asking for new specification authoring rather than drift assessment.

Phase-Specific Blocked Criteria

Return blocked if scope alignment cannot be determined from available artifacts and code evidence.

Procedure

1. identify the current scope boundary from spec.md
2. compare proposed or implemented behavior against that boundary
3. treat clarifications that do not expand behavior as in scope
4. treat new behavior, new integrations, new surfaces, or materially broader scope as drift
5. update drift.md using the shared template when drift is confirmed
6. recommend the earliest phase that must be revisited