Spec-First Development Workflow

engineering

Spec-First Development Workflow is a Claude Code skill that makes you describe what you are building before writing code. It opens the development cycle. Use it for a new project or feature, vague requirements, or a task longer than half an hour. Four gated phases with human review at each: specify, plan, tasks, implement. The model first lists its assumptions and waits for corrections. The spec has six areas: objective, build and test commands, project structure, code style, testing strategy, and always, ask first, never boundaries. A vague request such as make it faster becomes measurable success criteria. If a request bundles several independent capabilities, a module map with build order comes first, then a spec per module. Plans and tasks are saved in the repository, each task with acceptance criteria and a check; the spec stays current as decisions change. Not for one-line fixes.