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To Spec TEXT

Synthesizes the current conversation and codebase context into a structured technical specification document. Publishes the resulting spec to the project issue tracker with the 'ready-for-agent' label.

2 uses this weeksource mattpococklicence MIT
Quality gate: FAIL · better answers · measured 2026-10-24
Blind-judged against the bare model on 2 requests: average lift -18.0 points (specificity, structure, method, fit).
won 0/2, lift -18.0, tokens ×70.65
Security scan: clean · 2026-10-24 · 2 files · ran in sandbox
no network calls, shell tricks, credential access or instruction tampering found in its files.

Try asking

Say it in your own words; the assistant finds this recipe by itself. Examples:

“Vi har talt nok om den nye onboarding-proces. Lav en specifikation og send den til vores issue tracker.”
“Synkroniser vores samtale om cache-strategien til et formelt dokument og publicer det.”
“Jeg er klar til at kode. Opret en spec for den nye API-endpoint baseret på vores diskussion.”
“We've discussed the new login flow enough; please turn this into a spec and post it to Jira.”
“Synthesize our chat about the payment gateway integration into a formal specification document.”
“I'm ready to start development. Create the spec for the user profile update feature based on what we just talked about.”
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Good for

specificationissue-trackersynthesisdocumentationworkflowplanningcodebase-analysisuser-stories

Not for

Do not use this skill if the user is still in the ideation phase and requires clarification or interviewing to define the problem. It is not for writing code, executing tests, or performing code reviews. If the user wants to create a new issue from scratch without prior conversation context, a generic issue creation skill is more appropriate.

Details

When it is the right choice

Use this skill when the user has finished discussing a feature or bug fix and wants to formalize the discussion into a spec without further questions. It is appropriate when the context is sufficient to define the problem, solution, and implementation details. It is ideal for transitioning from brainstorming to actionable development tasks in an issue tracker.

The full recipe the assistant reads

This skill takes the current conversation context and codebase understanding and produces a spec. Do NOT interview the user; just synthesize what you already know.

The issue tracker and triage label vocabulary should have been provided to you. If not, tell the user to run /setup-matt-pocock-skills.

Process

  1. Explore the repo to understand the current state of the codebase, if you haven't already. Use the project's domain glossary vocabulary throughout the spec, and respect any ADRs in the area you're touching.

  2. Sketch out the seams at which you're going to test the feature. Existing seams should be preferred to new ones. Use the highest seam possible. If new seams are needed, propose them at the highest point you can. The fewer seams across the codebase, the better - the ideal number is one.

Check with the user that these seams match their expectations.

  1. Write the spec using the template below, then publish it to the project issue tracker. Apply the ready-for-agent triage label - no need for additional triage.

Problem Statement

The problem that the user is facing, from the user's perspective.

Solution

The solution to the problem, from the user's perspective.

User Stories

A LONG, numbered list of user stories. Each user story should be in the format of:

  1. As an , I want a , so that

1. As a mobile bank customer, I want to see balance on my accounts, so that I can make better informed decisions about my spending

This list of user stories should be extremely extensive and cover all aspects of the feature.

Implementation Decisions

A list of implementation decisions that were made. This can include:

  • The modules that will be built/modified
  • The interfaces of those modules that will be modified
  • Technical clarifications from the developer
  • Architectural decisions
  • Schema changes
  • API contracts
  • Specific interactions

Do NOT include specific file paths or code snippets. They may end up being outdated very quickly.

Exception: if a prototype produced a snippet that encodes a decision more precisely than prose can (state machine, reducer, schema, type shape), inline it within the relevant decision and note briefly that it came from a prototype. Trim to the decision-rich parts, not a working demo, just the important bits.

Testing Decisions

A list of testing decisions that were made. Include:

  • A description of what makes a good test (only test external behavior, not implementation details)
  • Which modules will be tested
  • Prior art for the tests (i.e. similar types of tests in the codebase)

Out of Scope

A description of the things that are out of scope for this spec.

Further Notes

Any further notes about the feature.

Files in this skill (3)
  • LICENSE
  • SKILL.md
  • agents/openai.yaml
Where it comes from

Vendored from mattpocock/skills, commit 5beb35b040e3, path skills/engineering/to-spec, licence MIT. The upstream licence file ships inside the skill.