Spec Workflow

This is a structured approach to feature development that breaks work into five sequential phases: research, requirements, design, tasks, and implementation. You start with `/ralph-specum:start` and it walks you through creating markdown artifacts for each phase before autonomous execution begins. The quick mode skips the interviews and runs straight through. What's interesting is the epic triage system for large features, it decomposes them into smaller dependency-aware specs and tracks them in a shared state file. If you like planning before coding and want Claude to follow a consistent methodology instead of just starting to write code, this gives you that structure. The phase artifacts live in `./specs/<name>/` so you have a paper trail of decisions.

GitHub stars: 340
last updated: May 19, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add tzachbon/smart-ralph --skill spec-workflow --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Spec Workflow

Spec-driven development transforms feature requests into structured specs through sequential phases, then executes them task-by-task.

Decision Tree: Where to Start

Situation	Command
New feature, want guidance	`/ralph-specum:start <name> <goal>`
New feature, skip interviews	`/ralph-specum:start <name> <goal> --quick`
Large feature needing decomposition	`/ralph-specum:triage <goal>`
Resume existing spec	`/ralph-specum:start` (auto-detects)
Jump to specific phase	`/ralph-specum:<phase>`

Single Spec Flow

start/new -> research -> requirements -> design -> tasks -> implement
                         ^
                         optional prototype overlay, then return

Each phase produces a markdown artifact under the resolved <basePath>/. Normal mode pauses for approval between phases. Quick mode runs all phases then auto-starts execution.

SKILL.md on GitHub