Managing Specifications

Managing specifications through their lifecycle involves moving specs from draft to active to completed status. The system automatically enforces a three-folder structure, limits you to three active specs at once, and updates timestamps and progress tracking based on completion checkboxes in your spec documents.

Specification metadata validation enforces consistency across frontmatter fields, dependencies, risks, acceptance criteria, and test scenarios. The system prevents invalid state transitions and maintains metadata integrity throughout the lifecycle, rejecting specs that fail validation before allowing status changes.

Progress tracking on active specifications happens automatically through checkboxes within your spec documents. The system calculates and updates progress status in real time, allowing you to monitor completion across all three concurrent active specs without manual updates.

The system enforces a maximum of three active specs at any time. When you attempt to activate a fourth spec, the enforcement blocks the transition, requiring you to complete or move an existing active spec to completed status first.

Dependencies and risks in specification frontmatter are validated for consistency and correctness during status transitions. The system checks that all declared dependencies exist, risks are properly documented, and acceptance criteria align with test scenarios before allowing specs to move through lifecycle stages.