Prerequisites

Relevant source files

The following files were used as context for generating this wiki page:

• README.md
• CONTRIBUTING.md
• src/specify_cli/init.py
• scripts/check-task-prerequisites.sh
• templates/tasks-template.md
• spec-driven.md

To effectively use and contribute to the spec-kit project, a specific set of tools and environmental configurations must be in place. These prerequisites ensure that the Spec-Driven Development (SDD) workflow, powered by the specify CLI and AI coding agents, functions correctly. The requirements span the operating system, core development tools, Python environment, and specific AI agent command-line interfaces.

This document outlines the necessary components for both running the SDD process and for local development on the spec-kit itself. The specify CLI includes checks to validate some of these prerequisites during initialization.

Sources: README.md:86-93, CONTRIBUTING.md:11-15

Core System Requirements

The foundational layer of prerequisites includes the operating system and essential software development tools.

Tool	Version / Information	Description
Operating System	Linux/macOS	Required for running the toolchain. WSL2 is the supported method for Windows users.
Python	3.11+	The minimum required version for running the specify CLI and associated scripts.
uv	Latest	The recommended Python package manager for installing and managing dependencies.
Git	Latest	Required for version control, branch management, and downloading the project template.

Sources: README.md:87-93, CONTRIBUTING.md:12-14, src/specify_cli/init.py:4-5

AI Coding Agents

A key component of the Spec-Driven Development workflow is an AI coding agent. The spec-kit is designed to work with several specific agents, and their corresponding CLI tools are often required.

Agent	CLI Tool	Checked by specify init?
GitHub Copilot	N/A (IDE Integration)	No
Claude Code	claude	Yes
Gemini CLI	gemini	Yes

The specify init command will verify the presence of the claude or gemini CLI tools unless the --ignore-agent-tools flag is used.

This diagram shows the logic within the specify init command for selecting and verifying an AI agent.

Tool Verification

The specify CLI uses a helper function check_tool to determine if a command-line tool is available in the system's PATH.

# src/specify_cli/__init__.py:366-374
def check_tool(tool: str, install_hint: str) -> bool:
    """Check if a tool is installed."""
    if shutil.which(tool):
        return True
    else:
        console.print(f"[yellow]⚠️  {tool} not found[/yellow]")
        console.print(f"   Install with: [cyan]{install_hint}[/cyan]")
        return False

Sources: src/specify_cli/init.py:366-374

Python Dependencies

The specify-cli tool itself has a set of Python dependencies required for its operation. These are managed by uv.

Package	Description
typer	Used for creating the command-line interface.
rich	Powers the rich text formatting, progress bars, and panels in the console output.
platformdirs	Used for determining platform-specific directory paths (though not explicitly used in the provided init logic).
readchar	Enables cross-platform single-character input for the interactive arrow-key selection menu.
httpx	Used for making HTTP requests to the GitHub API to download project templates.

These dependencies are defined in the header of the main CLI script.

# src/specify_cli/__init__.py:3-9
# requires-python = ">=3.11"
# dependencies = [
#     "typer",
#     "rich",
#     "platformdirs",
#     "readchar",
#     "httpx",
# ]

Sources: src/specify_cli/init.py:3-9

Workflow-Specific Prerequisites

Within the Spec-Driven Development process, certain commands have their own prerequisites, which are checked by helper scripts.

/tasks Command Prerequisites

The /tasks command, which generates an executable task list, depends on the prior completion of the /plan command. This is enforced by scripts/check-task-prerequisites.sh.

The script's primary responsibilities are:

1. Verify it is running on a feature branch.
2. Check that the feature directory (specs/[branch-name]/) exists.
3. Crucially, ensure that plan.md exists within the feature directory.

This sequence diagram illustrates the prerequisite check when the /tasks command is invoked.

The script explicitly checks for the implementation plan file:

# scripts/check-task-prerequisites.sh:28-32
# Check for implementation plan (required)
if [[ ! -f "$IMPL_PLAN" ]]; then
    echo "ERROR: plan.md not found in $FEATURE_DIR"
    echo "Run /plan first to create the plan."
    exit 1
fi

This ensures that tasks are only generated after a technical plan has been established, enforcing the structured SDD workflow.

Sources: scripts/check-task-prerequisites.sh:28-32, spec-driven.md:200-204