spec-driven-development

Drafting a complete implementation spec before coding prevents scope creep by defining success criteria, architecture, and a change manifest upfront to align stakeholders. It enforces an approval gate before development begins.

Spec-driven development is the process of drafting a structured implementation specification before coding. Use it for new features, breaking changes, multi-file changes, and approval-required tasks to surface decisions and reduce rework.

Create an implementation spec by structuring your document with Summary, Success criteria, Architecture, Security and compliance impact, Change manifest, and Test manifest sections to guide planning and review across stakeholders.

Yes, spec-driven development supports breaking changes by producing a human-readable spec and a machine-parseable JSON sidecar stored under docs/specs, ensuring clear handoffs and an approval gate before implementation.

An approval gate before implementation surfaces decisions across stakeholders, reduces rework, and eliminates misalignment by requiring a complete spec with success criteria and change manifests before any coding begins.

Yes, the spec process produces a machine-parseable JSON sidecar stored under docs/specs with a date-based filename, alongside a human-readable spec document to enforce the approval gate before implementation.