Spec Kit Implement Skill

When to Use

• The plan and tasks are complete and you are ready to implement.

Inputs

• specs/<feature>/tasks.md and plan.md
• Optional artifacts: data-model.md, contracts/, research.md, quickstart.md
• User constraints (e.g., scope, testing expectations)

If tasks are missing or incomplete, ask the user to run speckit-tasks first.

Workflow

1. Run .specify/scripts/bash/check-prerequisites.sh --json --require-tasks --include-tasks from repo root and parse FEATURE_DIR and AVAILABLE_DOCS list. All paths must be absolute. For single quotes in args like "I'm Groot", use escape syntax: e.g 'I'''m Groot' (or double-quote if possible: "I'm Groot").

2. Check checklists status (if FEATURE_DIR/checklists/ exists):

   • Scan all checklist files in the checklists/ directory

   • For each checklist, count:

     • Total items: All lines matching - [ ] or - [X] or - [x]
     • Completed items: Lines matching - [X] or - [x]
     • Incomplete items: Lines matching - [ ]

   • Create a status table:

     textCopy

     | Checklist | Total | Completed | Incomplete | Status |
     |-----------|-------|-----------|------------|--------|
     | ux.md     | 12    | 12        | 0          | ✓ PASS |
     | test.md   | 8     | 5         | 3          | ✗ FAIL |
     | security.md | 6   | 6         | 0          | ✓ PASS |
     

   • Calculate overall status:

     • PASS: All checklists have 0 incomplete items
     • FAIL: One or more checklists have incomplete items

   • If any checklist is incomplete:

     • Display the table with incomplete item counts
     • STOP and ask: "Some checklists are incomplete. Do you want to proceed with implementation anyway? (yes/no)"
     • Wait for user response before continuing
     • If user says "no" or "wait" or "stop", halt execution
     • If user says "yes" or "proceed" or "continue", proceed to step 3

   • If all checklists are complete:

     • Display the table showing all checklists passed
     • Automatically proceed to step 3

3. Load and analyze the implementation context:

   • REQUIRED: Read tasks.md for the complete task list and execution plan
   • REQUIRED: Read plan.md for tech stack, architecture, and file structure
   • IF EXISTS: Read data-model.md for entities and relationships
   • IF EXISTS: Read contracts/ for API specifications and test requirements
   • IF EXISTS: Read research.md for technical decisions and constraints
   • IF EXISTS: Read quickstart.md for integration scenarios

4. Project Setup Verification:

   • REQUIRED: Create/verify ignore files based on actual project setup:

   Detection & Creation Logic:

   • Check if the following command succeeds to determine if the repository is a git repo (create/verify .gitignore if so):

     shCopy

     git rev-parse --git-dir 2>/dev/null
     

   • Check if Dockerfile* exists or Docker in plan.md → create/verify .dockerignore

   • Check if .eslintrc* exists → create/verify .eslintignore

   • Check if eslint.config.* exists → ensure the config's ignores entries cover required patterns

   • Check if .prettierrc* exists → create/verify .prettierignore

   • Check if .npmrc or package.json exists → create/verify .npmignore (if publishing)

   • Check if terraform files (*.tf) exist → create/verify .terraformignore

   • Check if .helmignore needed (helm charts present) → create/verify .helmignore

   If ignore file already exists: Verify it contains essential patterns, append missing critical patterns only If ignore file missing: Create with full pattern set for detected technology

   Common Patterns by Technology (from plan.md tech stack):

   • Node.js/JavaScript/TypeScript: node_modules/, dist/, build/, *.log, .env*
   • Python: __pycache__/, *.pyc, .venv/, venv/, dist/, *.egg-info/
   • Java: target/, *.class, *.jar, .gradle/, build/
   • C#/.NET: bin/, obj/, *.user, *.suo, packages/
   • Go: *.exe, *.test, vendor/, *.out
   • Ruby: .bundle/, log/, tmp/, *.gem, vendor/bundle/
   • PHP: vendor/, *.log, *.cache, *.env
   • Rust: target/, debug/, release/, *.rs.bk, *.rlib, *.prof*, .idea/, *.log, .env*
   • Kotlin: build/, out/, .gradle/, .idea/, *.class, *.jar, *.iml, *.log, .env*
   • C++: build/, bin/, obj/, out/, *.o, *.so, *.a, *.exe, *.dll, .idea/, *.log, .env*
   • C: build/, bin/, obj/, out/, *.o, *.a, *.so, *.exe, Makefile, config.log, .idea/, *.log, .env*
   • Swift: .build/, DerivedData/, *.swiftpm/, Packages/
   • R: .Rproj.user/, .Rhistory, .RData, .Ruserdata, *.Rproj, packrat/, renv/
   • Universal: .DS_Store, Thumbs.db, *.tmp, *.swp, .vscode/, .idea/

   Tool-Specific Patterns:

   • Docker: node_modules/, .git/, Dockerfile*, .dockerignore, *.log*, .env*, coverage/
   • ESLint: node_modules/, dist/, build/, coverage/, *.min.js
   • Prettier: node_modules/, dist/, build/, coverage/, package-lock.json, yarn.lock, pnpm-lock.yaml
   • Terraform: .terraform/, *.tfstate*, *.tfvars, .terraform.lock.hcl
   • Kubernetes/k8s: *.secret.yaml, secrets/, .kube/, kubeconfig*, *.key, *.crt

5. Parse tasks.md structure and extract:

   • Task phases: Setup, Tests, Core, Integration, Polish
   • Task dependencies: Sequential vs parallel execution rules
   • Task details: ID, description, file paths, parallel markers [P]
   • Execution flow: Order and dependency requirements

6. Execute implementation following the task plan:

   • Phase-by-phase execution: Complete each phase before moving to the next
   • Respect dependencies: Run sequential tasks in order, parallel tasks [P] can run together
   • Follow TDD approach: Execute test tasks before their corresponding implementation tasks
   • File-based coordination: Tasks affecting the same files must run sequentially
   • Validation checkpoints: Verify each phase completion before proceeding

7. Implementation execution rules:

   • Setup first: Initialize project structure, dependencies, configuration
   • Tests before code: If you need to write tests for contracts, entities, and integration scenarios
   • Core development: Implement models, services, CLI commands, endpoints
   • Integration work: Database connections, middleware, logging, external services
   • Polish and validation: Unit tests, performance optimization, documentation

8. Progress tracking and error handling:

   • Report progress after each completed task
   • Halt execution if any non-parallel task fails
   • For parallel tasks [P], continue with successful tasks, report failed ones
   • Provide clear error messages with context for debugging
   • Suggest next steps if implementation cannot proceed
   • IMPORTANT For completed tasks, make sure to mark the task off as [X] in the tasks file.

9. Completion validation:

   • Verify all required tasks are completed
   • Check that implemented features match the original specification
   • Validate that tests pass and coverage meets requirements
   • Confirm the implementation follows the technical plan
   • Report final status with summary of completed work

Note: This skill assumes a complete task breakdown exists in tasks.md. If tasks are incomplete or missing, suggest running speckit-tasks first to regenerate the task list.

Outputs

• Implementation changes in the codebase
• Updated specs/<feature>/tasks.md with completed tasks checked off
• Any generated/updated ignore files (e.g., .gitignore, .dockerignore, .eslintignore, .prettierignore)