Spec Steering Workflow
Use this skill when work is long, interruptible, multi-phase, or needs recovery in a new session.
Start or recommend a spec when any of these are true:
- The task is likely to take more than 20 minutes.
- The task has more than one deliverable.
- The task needs staged execution.
- The task is likely to be interrupted.
- The task needs research plus execution.
- The task must survive across sessions.
- The user asks for plan first, then execution.
This skill manages execution state with workspace files:
specs/active/<spec-id>/specs/archive/<spec-id>/steering/
Default workflow:
- Read
steering/workflow.mdandsteering/preferences.md. - If resuming, read
handoff.md, thentasks.md, thenmeta.json. - Work only on the current batch.
- After each batch, or every 20-30 minutes, write a checkpoint.
- Before stopping, update
handoff.mdandmeta.json.
Valid checkpoint types are only:
doneblockedfailed
Do not treat "working on it", "continue", or "in progress" as valid progress reports.
Use {baseDir}/scripts/specctl.py for these operations:
init <spec-id> --title "<title>" --kind <kind>checkpoint <spec-id> --type done|blocked|failed --batch <batch-id> --next "<next action>"status <spec-id>resume <spec-id>validate <spec-id>archive <spec-id>set-status <spec-id> --status ready|review|completed [--phase <phase>] [--next "<next action>"]doctor
Read references only as needed:
{baseDir}/references/workflow-rules.mdfor trigger and lifecycle rules{baseDir}/references/checkpoint-rules.mdfor checkpoint requirements{baseDir}/references/recovery-rules.mdfor resume order and stale-state rules{baseDir}/references/integration-rules.mdfor coexistence with other skills{baseDir}/references/template-contracts.mdfor file contracts and required fields
Use templates from {baseDir}/assets/templates/. Keep the skill lean: detailed rules belong in references/, file bodies belong in assets/templates/, and only execution state belongs in workspace specs/ and steering/.