Spec Kit Implement Skill

When to Use

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

Inputs

specs//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

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").

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:

| 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

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

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):

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

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

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

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 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. 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//tasks.md with completed tasks checked off Any generated/updated ignore files (e.g., .gitignore , .dockerignore , .eslintignore , .prettierignore )