Specify Workflow

Constitutional governance via .specify/ and the speckit command family

What is .specify/?

The .specify/ directory contains ADLC's constitutional governance framework:

• Constitution (.specify/memory/constitution.md): 7 non-negotiable principles, 58 checkpoints
• Evidence gates: HITL approval requirements for deploy, commit, and cost decisions
• NATO prevention: Anti-pattern detection blocking claims without evidence

This is distinct from --team pm (component selection) — .specify/ provides the governance layer that enforces coordination, evidence, and quality gates regardless of which team bundle is active.

Speckit Command Family

Command	Purpose	Phase
speckit.constitution	Display active principles and checkpoints	Any
speckit.specify	Generate structured specifications from requirements	PLAN
speckit.plan	Create implementation plans with governance gates	PLAN
speckit.tasks	Decompose plans into tracked tasks	PLAN/BUILD
speckit.implement	Execute tasks with evidence collection	BUILD
speckit.analyze	Assess codebase against constitution	TEST
speckit.checklist	Run checkpoint validation	TEST/DEPLOY
speckit.retrospective	Kolb Cycle reflective learning	OPERATE
speckit.improve	6-phase continuous improvement cycle	OPERATE
speckit.clarify	Structured requirement clarification	PLAN

Typical Workflow

speckit.constitution    # Review active principles
       ↓
speckit.specify         # Generate spec from requirements
       ↓
speckit.plan            # Create governance-gated plan
       ↓
speckit.tasks           # Decompose into tracked tasks
       ↓
speckit.implement       # Execute with evidence
       ↓
speckit.checklist       # Validate against 58 checkpoints
       ↓
speckit.retrospective   # Reflect and improve

How .specify/ Complements --team pm

Aspect	.specify/	--team pm
Function	Governance framework	CLI bundle selector
Provides	58 checkpoints, HITL gates, NATO prevention	36 commands + 65 PM skills
When used	Always active (constitutional layer)	When PM workflows are needed
Overlap	None — different purposes	None — different purposes

Comparison with GitHub spec-kit

ADLC's speckit commands share naming conventions with GitHub spec-kit:

Aspect	GitHub spec-kit	ADLC speckit
Runtime	Python CLI (pip install spec-kit)	Claude Code slash commands (zero install)
Agent support	20+ AI agents (Claude, GPT, Gemini, etc.)	9 constitutional agents (Claude-only)
Governance	Spec-driven workflow	58-checkpoint constitutional governance + HITL gates
Unique to ADLC	—	speckit.retrospective (Kolb Cycle), speckit.improve (6-phase), NATO prevention

Decision: ADLC keeps independent speckit implementation. The governance layer (58 checkpoints, Kolb Cycle, NATO prevention, evidence gates) has no equivalent in GitHub spec-kit.

Reference

• Constitution: .specify/memory/constitution.md
• Speckit commands: .claude/commands/speckit.*.md