/speckit.init

/speckit.init

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Command Instructions

.specify/

github/spec-kit

Steps

1. Check for existing setup: Look for

   .specify/

   in the project root. If it already exists, stop and tell the user to run

   /speckit.init.update

   instead.
2. Clone upstream:
   bash

   UPSTREAM_DIR=$(mktemp -d)
   git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/github/spec-kit.git "$UPSTREAM_DIR"

   If the clone fails, report the error and stop.
3. Copy files from upstream into the project root, preserving the paths exactly:

   Upstream source	Local destination
   .specify/memory/constitution.md	.specify/memory/constitution.md
   .specify/scripts/bash/common.sh	.specify/scripts/bash/common.sh
   .specify/scripts/bash/setup-plan.sh	.specify/scripts/bash/setup-plan.sh
   .specify/scripts/bash/check-prerequisites.sh	.specify/scripts/bash/check-prerequisites.sh
   .specify/scripts/bash/update-agent-context.sh	.specify/scripts/bash/update-agent-context.sh
   .specify/scripts/bash/create-new-feature.sh	.specify/scripts/bash/create-new-feature.sh
   .specify/templates/agent-file-template.md	.specify/templates/agent-file-template.md
   .specify/templates/checklist-template.md	.specify/templates/checklist-template.md
   .specify/templates/tasks-template.md	.specify/templates/tasks-template.md
   .specify/templates/spec-template.md	.specify/templates/spec-template.md
   .specify/templates/plan-template.md	.specify/templates/plan-template.md

   Create any intermediate directories as needed. Preserve file permissions (especially executable bits on shell scripts).
4. Clean up:
   bash

   rm -rf "$UPSTREAM_DIR"

5. Detect project name: Try in order —

   git remote get-url origin

   (extract repo name from URL),

   package.json

   name

   field,

   mix.exs

   app name, directory basename. Use this as

   PROJECT_NAME

   .
6. Personalize

   .specify/memory/constitution.md

   : Replace placeholder tokens in the downloaded file:

   • [PROJECT_NAME]

     → detected project name

   • [YYYY-MM-DD]

     → today's date in ISO format
7. Create

   .specify/specs/

   : Make this directory for feature specification artifacts (one subdirectory per feature). This directory is not present in upstream.
8. Update

   .gitignore

   : Only if

   .gitignore

   exists and does not already contain

   .specify/

   . Append

   .specify/

   as a new line. If no

   .gitignore

   exists, skip and note it.
9. Report all directories and files created with their paths.
10. Present the SDD workflow overview:

    Spec-Driven Development workflow:
      /speckit.constitution  → Define governing principles (run once per project)
      /speckit.specify       → Write a feature spec
      /speckit.clarify       → Resolve ambiguities in the spec
      /speckit.plan          → Generate technical plan + data model + contracts
      /speckit.analyze       → Validate consistency across artifacts (read-only)
      /speckit.tasks         → Generate phase-based task breakdown
      /speckit.checklist     → Create quality checklists for the spec
      /speckit.implement     → Execute implementation phase by phase
      /speckit.taskstoissues → Convert tasks into GitHub issues

11. Next step: "Run

    /speckit.constitution

    to complete your project constitution with project-specific principles, then

    /speckit.specify

    to write your first feature spec."