Specification Writing

Overview

Write comprehensive feature specifications from business-level descriptions. Produces requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, and scope boundaries that define WHAT to build without prescribing HOW.

When to Use

• Defining a new feature before planning or implementation
• Formalizing vague feature requests into structured requirements
• Clarifying scope boundaries for a feature area
• Establishing acceptance criteria for user stories

Key Principle

Specifications describe desired behavior from the user's perspective. They define what the system should do, not how it should be built. Business value must be explicit in every requirement.

Process

1. Elicit requirements - Extract functional and non-functional requirements from feature description
2. Write user stories - Author stories in standard format with personas
3. Define acceptance criteria - Testable conditions for each story (Given/When/Then)
4. Identify edge cases - Error scenarios and boundary conditions
5. Clarify gaps - Surface and resolve ambiguities and contradictions
6. Document assumptions - Make implicit assumptions explicit
7. Define scope - Clearly delineate in-scope vs. out-of-scope
8. Human review - Approve specification before planning

Tool Use

Invoke via babysitter process: methodologies/spec-kit/spec-kit-specification Full pipeline: methodologies/spec-kit/spec-kit-orchestrator