docs: update RFC, user guide, and API reference for multi-catalog support

- RFC: replace FUTURE FEATURE section with full implementation docs,
  add catalog stack resolution order, config file examples, merge
  conflict resolution, and install_allowed behavior
- EXTENSION-USER-GUIDE.md: add multi-catalog section with CLI examples
  for catalogs/catalog-add/catalog-remove, update catalog config docs
- EXTENSION-API-REFERENCE.md: add CatalogEntry class docs, update
  ExtensionCatalog docs with new methods and result annotations,
  add catalog CLI commands (catalogs, catalog add, catalog remove)

Also fix extension_catalogs command to correctly show "Using built-in
default catalog stack" when config file exists but has empty catalogs

Co-authored-by: mnriem <15701806+mnriem@users.noreply.github.com>
This commit is contained in:
copilot-swe-agent[bot]
2026-02-27 21:06:18 +00:00
committed by Manfred Riem
parent 50c605ed5f
commit ad591607ea
4 changed files with 281 additions and 47 deletions

View File

@@ -868,7 +868,7 @@ Spec Kit uses two catalog files with different purposes:
- **Purpose**: Organization's curated catalog of approved extensions
- **Default State**: Empty by design - users populate with extensions they trust
- **Usage**: Default catalog used by `specify extension` CLI commands
- **Usage**: Primary catalog (priority 1, `install_allowed: true`) in the default stack
- **Control**: Organizations maintain their own fork/version for their teams
#### Community Reference Catalog (`catalog.community.json`)
@@ -879,16 +879,16 @@ Spec Kit uses two catalog files with different purposes:
- **Verification**: Community extensions may have `verified: false` initially
- **Status**: Active - open for community contributions
- **Submission**: Via Pull Request following the Extension Publishing Guide
- **Usage**: Browse to discover extensions, then copy to your `catalog.json`
- **Usage**: Secondary catalog (priority 2, `install_allowed: false`) in the default stack — discovery only
**How It Works:**
**How It Works (default stack):**
1. **Discover**: Browse `catalog.community.json` to find available extensions
2. **Review**: Evaluate extensions for security, quality, and organizational fit
3. **Curate**: Copy approved extension entries from community catalog to your `catalog.json`
4. **Install**: Use `specify extension add <name>` (pulls from your curated catalog)
1. **Discover**: `specify extension search` searches both catalogs — community extensions appear automatically
2. **Review**: Evaluate community extensions for security, quality, and organizational fit
3. **Curate**: Copy approved entries from community catalog to your `catalog.json`, or add to `.specify/extension-catalogs.yml` with `install_allowed: true`
4. **Install**: Use `specify extension add <name>` — only allowed from `install_allowed: true` catalogs
This approach gives organizations full control over which extensions are available to their teams while maintaining a shared community resource for discovery.
This approach gives organizations full control over which extensions can be installed while still providing community discoverability out of the box.
### Catalog Format
@@ -961,30 +961,89 @@ specify extension info jira
### Custom Catalogs
**⚠️ FUTURE FEATURE - NOT YET IMPLEMENTED**
Spec Kit supports a **catalog stack** — an ordered list of catalogs that the CLI merges and searches across. This allows organizations to benefit from org-approved extensions, an internal catalog, and community discovery all at once.
The following catalog management commands are proposed design concepts but are not yet available in the current implementation:
#### Catalog Stack Resolution
```bash
# Add custom catalog (FUTURE - NOT AVAILABLE)
specify extension add-catalog https://internal.company.com/spec-kit/catalog.json
The active catalog stack is resolved in this order (first match wins):
# Set as default (FUTURE - NOT AVAILABLE)
specify extension set-catalog --default https://internal.company.com/spec-kit/catalog.json
1. **`SPECKIT_CATALOG_URL` environment variable** — single catalog replacing all defaults (backward compat)
2. **Project-level `.specify/extension-catalogs.yml`** — full control for the project
3. **User-level `~/.specify/extension-catalogs.yml`** — personal defaults
4. **Built-in default stack** — `catalog.json` (install_allowed: true) + `catalog.community.json` (install_allowed: false)
# List catalogs (FUTURE - NOT AVAILABLE)
specify extension catalogs
#### Default Built-in Stack
When no config file exists, the CLI uses:
| Priority | Catalog | install_allowed | Purpose |
|----------|---------|-----------------|---------|
| 1 | `catalog.json` (org-approved) | `true` | Extensions your org approves for installation |
| 2 | `catalog.community.json` (community) | `false` | Discovery only — browse but not install |
This means `specify extension search` surfaces community extensions out of the box, while `specify extension add` is still restricted to org-approved entries.
#### `.specify/extension-catalogs.yml` Config File
```yaml
catalogs:
- name: "org-approved"
url: "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/spec-kit/main/extensions/catalog.json"
priority: 1 # Highest — only approved entries can be installed
install_allowed: true
- name: "internal"
url: "https://internal.company.com/spec-kit/catalog.json"
priority: 2
install_allowed: true
- name: "community"
url: "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/spec-kit/main/extensions/catalog.community.json"
priority: 3 # Lowest — discovery only, not installable
install_allowed: false
```
**Proposed catalog priority** (future design):
A user-level equivalent lives at `~/.specify/extension-catalogs.yml`. When a project-level config is present, it takes full control and the built-in defaults are not applied.
1. Project-specific catalog (`.specify/extension-catalogs.yml`) - *not implemented*
2. User-level catalog (`~/.specify/extension-catalogs.yml`) - *not implemented*
3. Default GitHub catalog
#### Catalog CLI Commands
#### Current Implementation: SPECKIT_CATALOG_URL
```bash
# List active catalogs with name, URL, priority, and install_allowed
specify extension catalogs
**The currently available method** for using custom catalogs is the `SPECKIT_CATALOG_URL` environment variable:
# Add a catalog (project-scoped)
specify extension catalog add --name "internal" --install-allowed \
https://internal.company.com/spec-kit/catalog.json
# Add a discovery-only catalog
specify extension catalog add --name "community" \
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/spec-kit/main/extensions/catalog.community.json
# Remove a catalog
specify extension catalog remove internal
# Show which catalog an extension came from
specify extension info jira
# → Source catalog: org-approved
```
#### Merge Conflict Resolution
When the same extension `id` appears in multiple catalogs, the higher-priority (lower priority number) catalog wins. Extensions from lower-priority catalogs with the same `id` are ignored.
#### `install_allowed: false` Behavior
Extensions from discovery-only catalogs are shown in `specify extension search` results but cannot be installed directly:
```
⚠ 'linear' is available in the 'community' catalog but installation is not allowed from that catalog.
To enable installation, add 'linear' to an approved catalog (install_allowed: true) in .specify/extension-catalogs.yml.
```
#### `SPECKIT_CATALOG_URL` (Backward Compatibility)
The `SPECKIT_CATALOG_URL` environment variable still works — it is treated as a single `install_allowed: true` catalog, **replacing both defaults** for full backward compatibility:
```bash
# Point to your organization's catalog